PRESS-RELEASE: Demonstration of an innovative method of societal integration for people with mental disorders

Almaty, Kazakhstan - February 4, 2016, the Psychoanalytic Association is holding a press conference on "A Training Cafe as a Social Enterprise for People with Mental Health Difficulties" as part of the Initiative to Support Effective Governance on the "From Segregation to Social Inclusion!" project. Proposals will be made regarding the improvement of their employment situation through the creation of social cafes.

The goal of the project is to create a step-by-step methodology for opening a training cafe as a social enterprise for people with mental health problems; develop a set of recommendations to improve the implementation mechanisms of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; and fill in gaps in the Standards for the Provision of Special Social Services and the Labor Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Representatives of authorized bodies and non-governmental and international organizations will take part in the press conference.

The Psychoanalytic Association has been implementing a “training cafe” model of social enterprise in Almaty since 2015, where people with mental disabilities are employed. The training-cafe is an innovation for Kazakhstan and CIS countries (there are analogs in Turkey and the Czech Republic). For employees with special needs, working in a cafe is an opportunity to receive professional training and a job, as well as the opportunity to be in daily contact with the public in a natural environment.

The "From Segregation to Social Inclusion!" project is being implemented within the framework of the Initiative to Support Effective Governance with the support of the Eurasia Foundation of Central Asia and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)

For all questions, call: + 7 727 376 94 40, e-mail: psihoanaliticheskaya@mail.ru

To participate in the webinar, you must fill out a questionnaire and send it to a.kuanysheva@almau.edu.kz (copy of zhazira@ef-ca.org) by March 13, 18:00 Astana time

For more information, contact Ainur Kuanysheva, coordinator of the NGO Expert Center (AlmaU) at a.kuanysheva@almau.edu.kz, 8 (727) 3132394 (ext 556), or Zhazira Zhunisova, EFCA Project Assistant at zhazira@ef-ca.org, Tel: 8 (727) 2501810. (ext.134)

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