Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- ACCESS, a joint project of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of Uzbekistan and the United Nations Development Program is holding a Project Board meeting devoted to the annual report on project’s activity in 2009. Established Interagency Coordination Council of the ACCESS project is gathering every year to oversee and review tasks completed by the project and to set new agenda for the project for a coming year.

ACCESS established in August 2008 has worked in four directions: accessibility, civic consciousness, employment, and social support.

Under the agenda of public awareness campaign 120 informative banners have been posted in cities of Tashkent, Samarkand, Qarshi and Bukhara. More than 30,000 posters were distributed among the partner organizations. Around 700 social service specialists, over 60 representatives of NGOs, over 60 journalists, 210 students of specialized colleges and 58 chiefs of enterprises were trained on the subject of understanding disability.

In 2008-2009, ACCESS held two international forums on “Inclusive Education of Children”. In cooperation with the State Architecture and Construction Committee, the project agreed to ensure accessibility of all newly-projected public buildings, especially in pilot regions (Samarkand, Shahrisabz and the Yunusabad district of Tashkent). Currently, 60 percent of existing public buildings are accessible for people with disability.

As the employment issue is a priority for the Uzbekistan government, ACCESS supports local employment centers in the pilot regions to employ people with disability. It assisted more than 330 people with disability to find jobs in the cities of Samarkand, Shahrisabz and the Yunusabad district of Tashkent. For better communication, ACCESS created its web site www.dostup.uz where all job- seekers with disability can apply for vacancies. With a help of ACCESS, three clubs of people with disability were opened in order to enhance employment opportunities for people with disability.

ACCESS announced a contest for “The Best Media Product” on coverage of problems of people with disability and raising public awareness on the issue. 23 journalists with over 60 reports competed and only four won the contest. They are:

1st award: -Valentina Pavlovskaya, “Chirchik Newspaper” reporter (awarded with PC)
2nd award: Munavvara Ismailova, “S-Iqbol TV” reporter (awarded with printer)
3rd award: Nodira Zakirova, “Bir Safda” reporter (awarded with printer)
4th award: Dilshoda Hamdamova, “Uzbekistan Radio” channel reporter, (awarded with camera).

ACCESS has recently announced a new contest for “The Best Business Plan” in establishing successful social enterprises. The contest is open for all nongovernmental organization specialized or not specialized on social problems and products, business entrepreneurships. By the end of the contest, only six social enterprises will be announced winners and awarded with financial or technical assistance offered by the ACCESS project.