Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- The Republican Center for the Social Adaptation of Children (RCSAC), with the assistance of the American non-governmental organization Vatandosh-Connect, received a grant from the US State Department for the implementation of the Poverty Spotlight project. 

This project is being successfully implemented all over the world and is highly effective in combating poverty. Its pilot projects will be launched in Tashkent and Ferghana.

The Republican Center for the Social Adaptation of Children is a non-governmental non-profit organization. The center is engaged in the provision of comprehensive medical and social, psychological and pedagogical assistance and advisory and legal assistance to children of socially vulnerable groups of the population and their families (children with disabilities, children left without parental care, as well as children of the social and legal risk group).

“This project was proposed to us by the President of the Vatandosh-Connect organization Ulugbek Kasimov, our compatriot who has lived in the United States for many years,” says the director of the RCSAC Vasilya Alimova. After a while, we received a grant for its implementation, and today the work on its implementation is at the start. The launch of pilot projects is planned in Tashkent and Ferghana, in these cities mahallas will be selected, in which we will conduct a survey, together with government organizations we will develop poverty indicators and, based on its results, we will work with the population to overcome material difficulties with opportunities for families to reach a higher standard of living.”

“We created the Vatandosh Connect organization, having international experience and experts in the socio-economic field, with the aim of providing expert assistance to our compatriots in Uzbekistan on various issues. Thus, we assisted in obtaining two grants to the Republican Center for Adaptation of Children in Tashkent: prevention of "Domestic violence", which is aimed at working with families in which there is a possibility of both psychological and physical violence. The work will be done with both the victim and the aggressor and is thus more effective. The second project that we are working on together with the RCSAC is the Poverty Spotlight, we very much hope that this project will become additional help for our compatriots and will help solve the material condition of dozens of families.

The Poverty Spotlight method developed by the Fund of Paraguay - (Fundación Paraguaya) today this method has been successfully adopted in the United States. Project tools enable families to assess poverty levels and implement personalized strategies to overcome their specific challenges. Poverty Spotlight defines how to energize the family and not be poor in 6 dimensions:

1. Income and employment

With adequate income and employment, families can tackle the other five dimensions of poverty.

2. Health and the environment

Families must take care of their personal health and environment in order to live in a thriving, productive community.

3. Housing and infrastructure

Without the right living conditions or the right infrastructure, families' daily lives are difficult and can be jeopardized.

4. Education and culture

With the right education, families can develop their trust, experience and skills to generate income and contribute to society.

5. Participation in community projects

By participating regularly in groups and using their voice to be heard, families can see the changes they want in their communities.

6. Motivation

With proper self-esteem and motivation, families will actively seek solutions to their problems and think of others before making decisions.

These dimensions are further subdivided into 50 indicators. Each indicator is represented by three pictures and simple explanations that the family uses to complete the self-assessment of the survey. Each image represents a situation that defines extreme poverty (red), poverty (yellow), and non-poverty (green). This helps to determine the state of the family for each specific indicator.

The self-assessment survey is conducted using software that can be used on computers, tablets or mobile phones. Its results are easy to visualize by showing families their strengths in green and areas for improvement in yellow and red.

Another project with which RCSAC is working today is a company on non-violence in the family.

“The surge in domestic violence amid coronavirus quarantines has raised awareness of the issue and opened up opportunities for change activists. An important step was the Law on Protection of Women from Oppression and Violence, adopted in September 2019. Another grant that we received thanks to our work with the Vatandosh Connect project in the field of protecting or raising awareness of women who are subjected to infringement of their rights by the abuser,” said Vasilya Sattarovna.

“We are trying to attract the most famous experts for the implementation of social projects and the project on non-violence in the family will be implemented by an expert from Australia, professor, Andrew Turnell, who is one of the creators of the Poverty Spotlight approach, Ulugbek Kasimov emphasized.“ The campaign on non-violence in the family in Uzbekistan will allow victims of violence bravely stand up for their rights and feel protected. We also call on the media to help the RCSAC in covering the implementation of projects, so that as many citizens as possible are aware of what measures the state is taking to protect them and eradicate poverty.”

“I am very happy to help Uzbekistan adapt the Poverty Spotlight project, which today is successfully working all over the world,” said Andrew Turnell, “I am deeply convinced that Uzbekistan is a country of tolerant attitude towards people, a country famous for its age-old traditions of hospitality, respect for family values and love for children. People with huge hearts live here who are always ready to help and together we can overcome any difficulties and help families, cope with their problems and raise happy children.”