From Movement Problems to Women’s Reproductive Health

December 3 is the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. It was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in 1992, with a view to inviting public attention to the problems of people with disabilities.

There are 196,000 people with disabilities in Armenia today. Our country ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2010, but the attached Optional Protocol has not yet been ratified. Despite the public’s attitude towards people with disabilities has been changed over the past ten years, according to Unison NGO chairman Armen Alaverdyan, and other members of the society do not look at them tensely, but the environment is not fully adapted to disability needs.

The simplest, accessibility issue is not yet solved in our country. “Imagine for a moment that you are somewhere where there is no restroom and you have to spend days and hours  –  it is inhuman treatment, or if you cannot do a very important job because of a slate…” said Armen Alaverdyan.

According to Armen Alaverdyan, in the past three years, especially in the capital, some of these problems, which seem to be simple at the first glance, and  are extremely important for those with disabilities, have been solved: “We can make some progress in terms of the capital, thousands of ramps have been built in all administrative districts, not just in the center. The goal is not to have a hindrance anywhere and we have to achieve a hundred percent result, and we will not be satisfied with ninety percent”.

Full text in English