Unison Holds National Conference on Disabilities

2011-11-06

“Problems Concerning the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Armenia and their Possible Solutions” - such was the topic of the national conference that Unison NGO held in Marriott-Armenia hotel in Yerevan on October 21 within the framework of an Open Society Institutions - Armenia funded project. Officials from state agencies and regional administrations, as well as representatives of international organizations and NGOs working in all 10 marzes (administrative regions) of Armenia participated in the event.

Armen Alaverdyan, Unison NGO Executive Director, briefly presented the current situation in the sphere. Then presentation of map.disability.am and Unison’s new publications took place. 

According to the conference participants, legal framework protecting the rights of persons with disabilities (PWD) is quite satisfactory; however, adopted the implementation is poor. "We were expecting,- Alaverdyan said,- that laws would work; however, since last year we have been holding an aggressive campaign to promote accessibility and employment.”

About 172,000 PWD are officially registered in Armenia. However this figure is certainly higher, because, according to the WHO, as many as 10% of the world’s population have disabilities.Jemma Baghdasaryan, RA Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Issues, presented Government's approaches and expressed her commitment to resolving of urgent issues. She informed that a draft law "On Rights Protection and Social Inclusion of PWD" had already been worked out; the new law should comply with the provisions of the Convention on the rights of PWD. 

According to representatives of regional NGOs and local administrations, the situation concerning PWD is worse in marzes and in capital city, so it is necessary to undertake urgent measures to improve the quality of life of PWD residing outside the capital city. 

Irina Saghoyan, Head of Save the Children - Armenia, agreed that physical accessibility is one of the most urgent issues; however, it is more important that the entire society should consider PWD and non-disabled persons as individuals with equal rights. According to Tachat Stepanyan, USAID Representative, there are so many problems in the field that it is impossible to resolve them only by support of donors.

During the conference, a memorandum on creation of a National Network of Defenders of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was signed. From now on, PWD who live in provinces can apply to the network regional coordinators for advice and support if they feel their rights have been violated.