News - Under Pashinyan's leadership, a meeting of the National Commission on Issues Concerning Persons with Disabilities has taken place.

Under the leadership of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, a meeting of the National Commission on Issues Concerning Persons with Disabilities was held, which was also attended by representatives of civil society. This was reported by the Government's press service. Before discussing the agenda, in his speech, Pashinyan noted that we traditionally meet every year on the occasion of International Day of Persons with Disabilities: I know that during the past year, or generally in recent years we have not made a revolution in this area—sometimes objective, sometimes subjective reasons. Naturally, this raises the question of what our strategy is then, what we should do. The strategy remains the same: we must be consistent and continually return to the topic, the Prime Minister said. According to the head of state, it is evident that the Government recognizes the importance of the problem. We consider the importance of the issue within the logic of Armenia's state interests. Why do I say this? Because it is clear: the disability issue is a human rights issue at many levels, but we also view the matter through the lens of serving the state interests—the premise that Armenia's state interest is the economic development of the Republic of Armenia. Therefore, we see enormous development potential among people with disabilities that we have not been able to sufficiently and properly include in Armenia's development agenda. This, of course, will also, from the opposite perspective, ensure their welfare, living conditions, and inclusion, the Prime Minister added, noting that the main political message of this format of meetings is precisely that. The Prime Minister emphasized that every time we must return, try, find the answers to questions, summarize what has been done, and indicate upcoming tasks. The Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Arsen Torosyan presented his view of the policy vision for the disability sector and program initiatives. The minister noted that the National Assembly has adopted the laws On the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and On Functional Assessment of the Individual and that the transition has moved from a medical model to a rights- and inclusion-based model. As of November 1, in both the old and new systems, 197,046 persons with disabilities are included, including 9,356 children. Of them, 24.4%, i.e., 48,211 people, including 4,600 children, have already been assessed under the functional assessment system. In Torosyan's view, the new assessment system provides data-driven policy, which allows the development of targeted services according to age, type of limitation, and actual needs. It was noted that since 2024 the Personal Assistant service has also been introduced, which at present is used by 204 citizens. The program has prerequisites, including education and employment components. The minister noted that continuation and expansion of the program are planned. Torosyan also noted that the activities of small Group Homes are being expanded, which provide transitional care services from large institutions to community-based care. Currently, in five small group homes, 70 people with mental health and intellectual disabilities receive around-the-clock care in a family-like environment. Recently the Gavari orphanage POAK has been transformed into a family-like care service. In the Armavir region the first Independent Life center is being built, which will provide speech therapy, psychological support, special education and other services according to individual needs. The minister noted that opportunities to live in the community are also expanding through home care services. From 2025, home care services will also be provided to children with disabilities, at a rate of 170 children per month. According to Arsen Torosyan, these services are also planned to be expanded. In total, 1,325 citizens use home care services, of whom 624 are people with disabilities. In the last three years, state budget allocations for supportive measures have also increased. For 2025, expenditures will amount to about 2.5 billion drams, and for 2026 more than 3 billion drams are planned. In 2025, 33,000 supportive measures were provided to more than 15,000 citizens. These are not separate programs; this is our strategy of transforming the entire set of services, whose aim is simple: services must reach the person, not the person to the services, Torosyan concluded. Next there was a discussion about ensuring accessible conditions for the social inclusion of people with disabilities and creating equal opportunities. Representatives of civil society organizations asked questions to the executive authorities about issues in the field and received clarifications. Within the agenda, a number of other works in various sectors were presented. In particular, a monitoring toolkit for ensuring physical accessibility in educational institutions and providing students with reasonable accommodations was developed. By order of the State Committee for Construction, the Center for Architectural Programs has developed and circulated the draft of the Building Accessibility design norms, second edition. The document was refined and again submitted for discussion to interested bodies and professional organizations. It was also noted that within the framework of the state comprehensive examination of architectural and construction design documents, the normative requirements for accessibility for people with disabilities are considered and, if necessary (in cases of non-compliance), these design documents are returned for refinement. Nikol Pashinyan, summarizing the committee's work, stressed the need to promote the involvement of people with disabilities in the labor market. In this context, the country’s leader again emphasized the importance of education. The Prime Minister has ordered the creation of an interagency commission to carry out systematic and effective work to address the issues in the field, which will also include representatives of civil society,' the press release states.