THERE ARE 156.7 THOUSAND DISABLED PEOPLE IN ARMENIA

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[12:20 pm] 01 December, 2008

It is already a few months 42-year-old Sveta has settled in Yerevan
with her four-member family. Sveta’s eldest son entered university
in 2008, and the family had to move to the capital from the village
of Arzakan. Mrs. Sveta says she has encountered difficulties since
the first day of removal.

Mrs. Sveta is a second-degree invalid. She says she would be glad
to lighten her family’s burden by doing everyday shopping but
unfortunately she cannot.

"My family has always supported me. Yet, I always feel ashamed and
depressed when in a company. I wish I could get in touch with people
like me," says Mrs. Sveta.

Note that in order to raise the awareness of disabled people and their
families the government has declared a month’s campaign of protecting
the rights of people with disabilities.

"Nowadays one can rarely see disabled people in the city as our
streets and vehicles are not convenient for them. All structures
and orgnisations dealing with the issues of the disabled are taking
every possible effort to be helpful to them," said Zaruhy Botanyan,
representative of the "Bridge of Hope" NGO.

She finds that one of the achievements of the sphere is that Armenia
became engaged in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities in 2007. The National Commission looking into the issues
of handicapped people also has a key role in the sphere.

Note that according to the RoA Ministry of Labor and Social Issues
there are over 156.7 thousand disabled people in Armenia and 42
percent of them are women.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress