“People with disabilities – social security or social inclusion? A step forward or…?” – that was the main theme of the meeting and discussion held by the “Full Life” NGO in the Argishti hall of “Erebouni-Plaza” Busincess Center on May 23, 2012 within the frames of “Everything for us – with us” project funded by the EU. The discussion was focused on employment provisions of the draft of the Law on Social Inclusion and Rights of People with Disabilities of RA.
It is necessary to mention that after ratifying the UN Convention on Rights of People with Disabilities on October 22, 2010 our country has taken a liability to bring its legislative documents in compliance with provisions of the Convention. For this reason the draft of the Law on Social Inclusion and Rights of People with Disabilities has been in processing since 2011. Among other provisions related to the people with disabilities, its Article 14, Part 5 defines quotas for employers. However, due to suggestion of the Ministry of Economics of RA this provision had been canceled and the draft was presented to the government’s approval without provisions on quotas. That change, in fact, erases the core principle of social inclusion of people with disabilities from the new law, turning it into the law of social security, with no difference from the previous one. This was the main concern of the “Full Life” NGO, when prompted to handle a letter of inquiry to the Prime Minister during his visit to Lori Marz on February 11, 2012. In a response to this letter of concerns the draft Law on Social Inclusion and Rights of People with Disabilities has been resent to the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs of RA for reconsideration.
The meeting was attended by representatives of Ministries of Labor and Social Affairs, Economics, Regional Development, State Agency of Employment Services, employers, experts and involved NGOs. The meeting aimed at highlighting positions of all stakeholders on the issue and finding a common approach, which would be acceptable for all involved parties.
Mrs. Jemma Baghdasaryan, the Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Affairs of RA, particularly mentioned in her welcome speech “This is a very urgent and needed discussion”. She referred to the successful experience of Ukraine in applying quotas, where they had been applying in state and private sectors, where the fund has been created for the fines and penalties to be collected for not employing a person with disability in case of quota requirements. Mrs. Baghdasaryan has also referred to the positive impact and benefits of subsidies for improving accessibility of the workplace.
The National Strategy on Social Security for 2013-2015 was presented by Mr. Tadevos Avetisyan, the Head of Labor and Employment Department of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs of RA. An international experience of applying quotas for employment was presented by Ms. Ani Asatryan, the Assistant Operations Manager of “Unison” NGO. Current challenges of employment faced by people with disabilities in Armenia were highlighted by Mr. Suren Ohanyan, President of “Paros” NGO and Mr. Mher Vasilyan, CEO of “Disability Advocacy NGOs Coalition”. Pro and contra arguments were raised on necessity of applying quotas for employers. Mr. Vahan Simonyan, the Head of Employers’ Union, and Mr. David Aghajanyan, the representative of Ministry of Economics of RA, mentioned that it is possible to suggest some alternatives to quotation. Meanwhile representatives of NGOs argued for applying quotation as the most efficient legal provision, since other existing state incentives and employer motivation programs do not achieve any result, even though they were created for promoting employment of people with disabilities.
Participants of the discussion concluded that there is enough time for amending the draft. A decision was made to form a working group of representatives of NGOs, Ministries and experts in order to develop a solution which will be acceptable for all stakeholders. The group will be coordinated by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs of RA.