Waiting for an accessible environment

Back in 2006, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which Armenia, as a UN member state, ratified in 2010.

By ratifying the Convention, the Republic of Armenia undertook to take appropriate measures to enable persons with disabilities to live independently and participate fully in all spheres of life.

Speaking about the availability of necessary conditions, we first of all associate it with the availability of the physical environment.

The physical environment is the material world surrounding a person in all its manifestations, the place of residence and activity where a person lives, is educated, works, moves and organizes his personal and public life.

As of January 1, 2023, there are 193,086 persons with disabilities in the Republic of Armenia, which is 6.6% of the population. It must be admitted that this is a disturbing indicator, and this is not just a statistic. The fact of the existence of a disability implies a separate obligation of the state to respond to the needs of that person , which is primary, in relation to ensuring the accessibility of the physical environment.

The problems of accessibility of the physical environment are present at all levels. Over the years, many complaints have been made by people with disabilities that the buildings they live in do not have elevators or other facilities. the number is not encouraging.

The problem is more worrisome in marzes, where persons with disabilities are literally in the realm of self-organization, and buildings have no hope of being adapted to their needs at a minimal level.

The problem is also alarming when we look at it through the eyes of family members of children with multiple disabilities. they constantly seek the government’s assistance in replacing their apartments on the 2nd and higher floors with apartments on the 1st floor in the absence of elevators and other accommodations, because their disabled relatives cannot even provide some self-care, which makes their daily movement more difficult. :

In 2021, with the adoption of the RA Law “On the Rights of Persons with Disabilities”, the state sealed its commitments at the domestic level, on the basis of which, in 2023, the RA Government approved the “Comprehensive Program for the Social Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities for 2023-2027”.

The comprehensive program has set priorities for ensuring the necessary conditions for persons with disabilities. As the first priority, the accessibility of the physical environment for persons with disabilities is indicated, which will be provided in accordance with the individual programs of the residential premises (buildings) owned or used by persons with disabilities. equipping with auxiliary facilities at the expense of funds allocated for current and capital repairs of the housing fund or other funds not prohibited by the legislation. The project prohibits the design and construction of settlements, the design, construction and reconstruction of public production buildings and structures (in the case of public buildings and constructions, also overhaul), if the results of implementation will not be accessible for the use of persons with disabilities will be restructured to ensure accessibility standards for people with disabilities.

The government has set an ambitious goal to make the already built buildings, areas of historical and cultural monuments as accessible as possible for people with disabilities with various problems by 2027, in the direction of which a plan-schedule will be developed to ensure the gradual adaptation of buildings and structures of public and industrial significance.

It remains to be hoped that the state will succeed in creating an accessible environment for people with disabilities, which will be visible regardless of the geography of the problem.

Funded by the Federal Office of Foreign Affairs.

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