Considerable progress has been made in the area of protection of the rights of children with disabilities in recent years in the Republic of Armenia, but the results of the research indicate that children with disabilities face serious obstacles in accessing educational, health and social protection services.
The legislative framework for social protection of children with disabilities in the Republic of Armenia is based on the RA Constitution, RA laws, RA government decisions, other legal acts and international agreements and conventions ratified by the National Assembly.
According to the RA Constitution, ” Everyone shall, in accordance with law, have the right to social security in cases of maternity, having many children, sickness, disability, accidents at work, need of care, loss of bread-winner, old-age, unemployment, loss of employment, and in other cases.” The Constitution with the highest legal force stipulates the right to social security of the disabled.
On 14 April, 1993, the Republic of Armenia adopted a law regulating the social protection of persons with disabilities.
The RA Law on Social Protection of the Disabled in the Republic of Armenia provides ” the legal, economic and organisational fundamentals for the social protection of persons with disabilities in the Republic of Armenia, basic provisions of state policy on providing more favourable conditions and privileges for exercising the rights and abilities of persons with disabilities aimed at ensuring for them opportunities equal to those of other citizens of the Republic”
On 17 December, 2014, the Law on Social Assistance, which regulates the relations related to the provision of social assistance was adopted.
The resolution and legal relations of persons with disabilities are also regulated by a number of other legal acts.
The Republic of Armenia has ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2010. By ratifying the Convention, the Republic of Armenia is committed to supporting, protecting and ensuring the full and equal exercise of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all persons with disabilities. In general, significant progress has been made in Armenia in the area of protection of the rights of persons with disabilities. In the last decade, the ideology of disability has changed, the attitudes have changed, the medical model has been replaced by the social model, which implies not only equal rights but also equal opportunities and responsibilities.
However, very often some provisions of social protection legislation are not implemented or are not fully implemented due to lack of clear mechanisms and lack of accountability mechanisms in case of of non application.
According to the results of the analysis, the legislative framework aimed at protecting the rights of disabled people in the Republic of Armenia mainly complies with international norms, derives from the rights and legitimate interests of the disabled. At the same time, the provisions of legal acts often remain on paper, with no significant impact on the quality of life of persons with disabilities.
Analysis is available in Armenian language
