People with disabilities to get equal opportunities in Armenia
16.12.2016,
16:18
At an extraordinary meeting on Friday the Armenian parliament passed in the first reading a draft law "On protection of rights and social inclusion of persons with disabilities."
YEREVAN, December 16. /ARKA/. At an extraordinary meeting on Friday the Armenian parliament passed in the first reading a draft law "On protection of rights and social inclusion of persons with disabilities."
According to labor and social affairs minister Artem Asatryan, the proposed amendments bring the Armenian legislation in compliance with the corresponding UN Convention, which was ratified by Armenia and entered into force in 2010.
He said the changes regulates the basic principles and areas of protection of rights of people with disabilities, as well as the definition of disability, and disabled persons’ right to rehabilitation. According to the minister, the purpose of the bill is the provision of equal rights and effective social inclusion of people with disabilities.
"The draft law regulates issues of medical and social expertise, the procedure for determining the disability degree. A new social model will be introduced and new legal approaches will be determined. The bill is very important in terms of formation of changes in the society’s attitude towards people with disabilities," - Asatryan said.
"The goal is to make people with disabilities feel themselves as full-fledged citizens,’ - Asatryan said.
"In Armenia there are more than 200 thousand people with various degrees of disabilities, of whom 10,000 are persons with first degree disability; 80,000 are with second degree disability and more than 100 000 are with third degree disability. There are also more than 8 thousand registered children with disabilities. Overall, they make up about 6-7% of the total population, which is not high compared with other countries ", - Asatryan said. -0-
According to labor and social affairs minister Artem Asatryan, the proposed amendments bring the Armenian legislation in compliance with the corresponding UN Convention, which was ratified by Armenia and entered into force in 2010.
He said the changes regulates the basic principles and areas of protection of rights of people with disabilities, as well as the definition of disability, and disabled persons’ right to rehabilitation. According to the minister, the purpose of the bill is the provision of equal rights and effective social inclusion of people with disabilities.
"The draft law regulates issues of medical and social expertise, the procedure for determining the disability degree. A new social model will be introduced and new legal approaches will be determined. The bill is very important in terms of formation of changes in the society’s attitude towards people with disabilities," - Asatryan said.
"The goal is to make people with disabilities feel themselves as full-fledged citizens,’ - Asatryan said.
"In Armenia there are more than 200 thousand people with various degrees of disabilities, of whom 10,000 are persons with first degree disability; 80,000 are with second degree disability and more than 100 000 are with third degree disability. There are also more than 8 thousand registered children with disabilities. Overall, they make up about 6-7% of the total population, which is not high compared with other countries ", - Asatryan said. -0-
