Disabled people to benefit from free of charge phone assistance in Moldova
17:03 | 03.04.2019 Category: Official
Chisinau, 3 April /MOLDPRES/ - The people with disabilities will benefit from free of charge phone assistance. The cabinet today approved a regulation on the organization and work of the service of free phone assistance for people with special needs and minimum quality standards, the government’s communication and protocol department has reported.
This service is aimed at preventing and reducing the infringement of the rights of the disabled persons. When calling the free of charge phone number, people with special needs will receive information support, counseling, will be able to report suspect cases of violation of rights or risky situations. The cases identified will be redirected to the competent bodies and partner organizations.
The service will have a free of charge phone number, which will be available 24 hours, with simultaneous access in Moldova and from abroad. The cost of the internal call is borne by the provider and the one of the external calls – by the caller. The service can be contacted also through WhatsApp, Viber, Skype or SMS.
The consultancy services will be provided by an accredited provider, contracted by the Health, Labour and Social Protection Ministry. The service is meant both for persons with disabilities and their families, members of the community and professionals in the sector. More than 963,000 lei is provided for in the state budget for the work of the service in 2019.
The service of free of charge phone assistance for disabled people was launched in January 2017, within a project piloted by the civil society and financed by EU. During two years, more than 3,200 calls were received, up by 22 per cent in 2018 against 2017.
The service represents an answer of the state to the cut in the number of cases of violation of the rights of persons with special needs, as well as to the implementation of the commitments assumed through the ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. More than 180,000 people with special needs live in Moldova.