From September 1 to 2, Yerevan is hosting an international conference, which is entitled “Access to Services for People with Disabilities/Exchange of Experience” and has brought together state officials, diplomats, representatives of a dozen non-governmental organizations and high-ranking guests from Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The event is organized by the “My Step” 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.
The sole purpose of the conference is to bring together, under one roof, all the organizations providing services to persons with disabilities, speak out about the problems, as well as consider the solutions and state initiatives. Since there are guests from abroad, it is also important to explore the international practice and tools, localize them and apply them actively in Armenia. In her opening remarks, Executive Director of the “My Step” Foundation Anna Hakobyan remarked that the Government of Armenia is making tremendous efforts to improve the quality of life of persons with disabilities in the country.
“However, at the same time, I regret to state that we still have a lot of effort to make for the social inclusion of persons with disabilities, to fight against the stereotypes and discrimination against them and to create equal conditions for them to live in. It is hard to admit it, but I can’t say that the quality of life of persons with disabilities is an issue that strictly matters to the people in Armenia, not to mention the issue of accepting them as equals and ensuring equal conditions for them. 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 parents would abandon their children, or the rare ones who would find the strength to fit in the destiny predetermined for them and their children, would clash with the cruel reality created by the “typical ones” in which they simply had no place. Fortunately, the situation is different in our days. The government has adopted a policy of inclusiveness, is making major reforms and creating infrastructures. Of course, this is wonderful,” wife of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, Executive Director of the “My Step” Charitable Foundation Anna Hakobyan remarked in her speech.
In his remarks, Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Narek Mkrtchyan emphasized the fact that these kinds of events are extremely important and they serve as a platform to discuss major issues and present the world’s best practices. He added that the government has been making radical changes in this sector over the past few years.
“We have introduced a methodology of assessment and determination of disability in line with international standards, that is, a new system assessing a person’s functionality that provides us with the opportunity to provide a more comprehensive assessment of the needs of persons with disabilities, and the new services derive from this assessment. We are in the second stage of our reforms, and I believe we will be able to have a wider picture of what the needs are and what kind of services we need to provide, even though we have already piloting certain services, and the government has expressed willingness, and is committed to further expanding those services,” Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Narek Mkrtchyan emphasized
Minister Mkrtchyan stressed that what is also important is the use of the latest technologies and recalled the disability.am platform, which was introduced last year and through which a person with a disability may submit an application for functionality assessment online, without any hassle. Deputy Director of the “My Step” Foundation Talin Topalakian shared with the participants the idea of the “Tshakhruk” social café — a place where young people with physical and mental features and their family members, as well as students will work.
“The “Tshakhruk” café will help create jobs and opportunities for normal interactions for persons with special needs. The café will also have an art studio, which will showcase children’s works of art and sell them, as well as host exhibitions and other cultural events. The café should convey the feeling of belonging and comfort, like a home, including with cultural components. The aim of the program is to strengthen cultural, artistic and social integration with clear-cut and feasible goals. The main goals are to strengthen social integration and inclusion, eliminate the obstacles and create sustainable employment opportunities in order to increase self-evaluation and independence, raise awareness and promote community engagement, as well as become a bridge between persons with disabilities and the society and ensure quality training and vocational training, skills development and career growth,” Deputy Director of the “My Step” Charitable Foundation for Programs and External Relations Talin Topalakian.
It is the “Tshakhruks” themselves who imagine that the café will be like a home, the prototype of which will be the “Tshakhruk” cultural center. We are happy to share our experience and form a part of this social event,” the representative of the Ministry of Social Development and Family of the State of Qatar emphasized.
“It is no secret that civil society organizations are important in all countries of the world, especially in social sectors. Therefore, in the vision for development and advancement of the State of Qatar, there is great focus on civil society representatives, taking into account their major role in the social sector. The government’s position on this strategic direction fully reflects the provisions of the United Nations Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities. We wish this international conference success and hope that it will serve as a good impetus for the exchange of experience between the organizations and institutions of both countries, the capacity-building of persons with disabilities and their integration into society,” representative of the Ministry for Social Development and Family of the State of Qatar, CEO of Nour Center Meshal Al-Noaimi said.
In her remarks, Human Rights Defender Anahit Manasyan said it is extremely important to see the current problems and solve them through target actions and instruments, and decided to address the current problems and their solutions in her speech.
“Overall, our environment is not accessible and available for persons with disabilities; moreover, when we talk about the accessibility of environment, the one thing that we address most often is the fact that, for instance, there will soon be ramps or there is a similar idea, but this is a very small part of the problem because we have people with several other features, such as persons who have problems with eyesight, hearing and a number of other problems and features, but we talk very little about the accessibility and availability of the environment with regard to those problems. However, we need to take into account that accessibility is one of the major preconditions for living fully and independently, and, unfortunately, today we don’t have the complete environment for persons with disabilities or persons with different features to live fully and independently, the environment that we had to have. This first and foremost concerns physical accessibility, and it must be addressed very quickly,” Human Rights Defender Anahit Manasyan emphasized.
Anahit Manasyan went on to say that there are also many problems in the education sector and that the first step to solving those problems is addressing them, but, alongside all this, every citizen has to make more efforts; otherwise, there will be no step forward.
During the discussions, there were also musical breaks, featuring performances by young persons with varying features.
One of the representatives of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs shared information about the relevant state policy on persons with disabilities and provided statistical data. The representative of UNICEF presented the latter’s Review on Assessment of the Costs for Children with Disabilities. Representatives of Qatar’s Shafallah, Mada and Nour Centers shared the practices of their country, presented the characteristics of the state policy led in this direction and the achievements they have made.
The second part of the event was held in the format of panel discussions during which representatives of the public sector and civil society representatives discussed various problematic issues related to the services provided to persons with disabilities, the toolkit, the sectors in need of improvement and the overall challenges.
