Wife of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, Executive Director of the “My Step” Charitable Foundation Anna Hakobyan delivered a speech at the international conference under the title “Access to Services for People with Disabilities/Exchange of Experience”.
Greeting the guests from Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Anna Hakobyan emphasized that their participation will be valuable and important for the conference, and that the participants will leave with new knowledge, skills and opportunities and new agreements for partnerships.
“I proudly state the fact that the Government of Armenia, particularly the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, is making tremendous efforts to improve the quality of life of persons with disabilities in Armenia. However, with that said, I must regret to state that we still have a lot of efforts to make for the social inclusion of persons with disabilities, for the fight against the stereotypes and discrimination against them and for the creation of equal conditions for them,” Anna Hakobyan remarked, adding that modern technologies fully provide an opportunity for this.
The wife of the Prime Minister emphasized that even though it is hard to state it, it is not like the issues on the quality of life of persons with disabilities or accepting them as equals and providing them with equal conditions in life are highly important for the Armenian public.
“I believe that we still haven’t relieved ourselves of the culture that was established as a result of the policies led throughout the past decades and that was more inclined to reject persons who differed from the majority with their capabilities in terms of appearance and thinking. According to that particular culture, people were divided into the “typical persons” and “atypical persons” accepted by the public. As a result, those who did not fit in the enviable group were isolated, miserable, didn’t have anything to do in particular on a daily basis, didn’t have goals or dreams in life. They didn’t even have the right or opportunity to dream,” the Executive Director of the “My Step” Charitable Foundation stated.
Anna Hakobyan emphasized the fact that, fortunately, the current situation is not the same since the government has adopted an inclusiveness policy, is making major reforms and is creating infrastructures.
“However, after interacting with them [persons with disabilities], and with persons of all ages, I realized that perhaps it is based on the fact that they are not fully provided with accessible and available infrastructures and services in the Republic of Armenia that, no matter what, they objectively find it hard to believe that they can live their lives just like everybody else, set the same goals and have the same aspirations as everybody else and be full-fledged and complete citizens. We treat them as a vulnerable group, and they themselves feel like a vulnerable group,” Anna Hakobyan stressed.
The wife of the Prime Minister spoke out about and simultaneously considered it problematic the fact that there have not been many films or no films at all about persons who have disabilities, but have become world famous due to their achievements, work and respective professions. There could have been living examples in those films, showing that physical capabilities are relative and that everyone has limited abilities in some sense.
“I don’t expect to get an answer at this moment, but I would like to say that whenever I have conversations with members of NGOs, I want to scream to them about these stories. I want to scream so loud that the ‘stamp’ of being unable, not having a place in this life and being innately ‘sentenced’, is wiped out from the looks on their faces and their souls once and for all. This is exactly the reason why the “My Step” Foundation has adopted the issue of full inclusion of persons with disabilities in public life as its primary direction. Based on our notion, we will — through our efforts and by using all the resources at our disposal — shape potential and wide public perception of accepting people who are different as equals,” the Executive Director of the “My Step” Foundation said.
Anna Hakobyan went on to say that the public will, with an open heart and unconditionally, accept those who were born with physical or mental disorders or acquired them in certain circumstances after the reforms are made, the laws are adopted and the relevant infrastructures are established.
“At the end of the day, it is us who decide what environment we need to live in. In regard to this specific matter, before taking a stand, I believe it is important to step out of the field of humanism and think very rationally. None of us is insured, and nobody can predetermine what will happen to them. For me, the cornerstone principle for taking a stand in regard to this matter is the following: accept others the way they are, to not discuss, to not reject, to not be repugnant, to not mock, to not ignore, to not push away, to not change, to not conceal, to not leave, but to accept, literally and in the most positive sense,” the wife of the Prime Minister concluded.
From September 1 to 2, the “My Step” Charitable Foundation, in partnership with the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs of the Republic of Armenia, is holding an international conference under the title “Access to Services for People with Disabilities/Exchange of Experience”. The aim of the conference is to consolidate all organizations providing services to persons with disabilities, identify the problems, present the state initiatives and programs, explore the international practice, knowledge and professional toolkit and make them applicable in Armenia. The conference features a number of panel discussions devoted to current and important topics.
The conference is being held at the initiative of the “My Step” Charitable Foundation, in partnership with the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs of the Republic of Armenia. In terms of organization, the Foundation’s partner is World Vision, with the support of the European Union.
