Azernews.Az

By Nigar Orujova, Azernews Staff Writer

The Azerbaijani government has drafted four socio-medical rehabilitation programs for disabled people and children.

"They are part of the 2012-2015 Governmental Programs on Physical Protection of Disabled Persons, on Social Protection of Disabled Children, on the Rehabilitation of Disabled People and Children and on the Development of the Disability Criteria," said Vugar Hasanov, a department head at the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection.

According to the World Health Organization, 4.6 percent of the people in Azerbaijan, a country with the population of 9.3 million, are physically challenged.

The ministry aims to apply European legal and social standards on physically disabled people in Azerbaijan. These standards suggest that people of this category are able-bodied, employable and have equal rights in society, Hasanov said.

Azerbaijan, as a member of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, is committed to adjusting the national norms and legislation with international regulations.

Over the past 10 years, the disabled people's allowances have increased by 9.6 percent in Azerbaijan.

"About 5,000 of the disabled people were provided with apartments and 3,000 with cars," said Hasanov.

Fourteen regions of the country have rehabilitation centers for the handicapped, where 14,000 disabled have been treated and 7,000 provided with free prosthesis and wheelchairs.

More jobs

Hasanov said it is wrong to conceive the disabled people as dependant and ineffective members of society who live only on social allowances provided by the healthy part of the population.

"Azerbaijan pursues a state policy targeting social independence and employment of the physically challenged people," Hasanov said at a recent conference dedicated to the employment of disabled people.

As many as 1,200 disabled people have been provided with jobs by the Employment Center over the last five years, Isgender Mustafayev, the labor ministry's department deputy head, told the local press.

Mustafayev spoke about a transition from the medical to a social model, which implies active social integration of the disabled.

"People with disabilities should have an opportunity to receive education, get professions, jobs, and their transport and infrastructure needs should be met," Mustafayev said.

Azerbaijan's legislation cites only two cases prohibiting signing employment contracts with disabled persons, he said.

"First, if their health does not allow doing a particular job, and second, if working could be a threat to their own life, as well as other people," Mustafayev added.

Nevertheless, there have been cases when disabled people faced problems with employment, as employers did not comply with the state quota, said Elmira Suleymanova, the Azerbaijani Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsman).

"There are still problems with integration of the disabled people to the social life of the country," Suleymanova added.

Better conditions

Protecting the rights of the disabled in the country is in focus of civil society. The National NGO Forum in July launched "Protecting the rights of disabled persons and persons with disabilities and their integration into society" project. The six-month project covers 11 districts of the capital Baku, Absheron region, Sumgayit and Mingechevir.

Indeed, disabled people need special conditions not to feel themselves socially isolated. Rauf Zeyni, the head of the National NGO Forum, told the local media that an updated Town-planning Code provides for travel, entry and exit of wheelchairs during the construction of all facilities. In addition, the government is developing an individual rehabilitation program for each disabled person.

Psychological approach needed

It is also necessary to address the psychological problems of the disabled people. For instance, nurses attend psychological courses to help the handicapped to become full-fledged members of society.

The National Television and Radio Council recently passed a decision on resuming sign-interpretation on television broadcasts, which is good news for the disabled people with hearing problems.

"Azerbaijani legislation envisions that all people should have access to information," Nushiravan Maharramli, the head of the council, told Trend news agency.

Furthermore, special Web resources are available in Azerbaijan to help disabled people. Under the project "Life without obstacles", www.engelsiz.az site will help people with limited capacity of the locomotor system, visual, hearing problems and other disorders.

A number of cultural projects are implemented for the disabled in Azerbaijan. Famous Azerbaijani singers, actors and public figures support disabled people around the country. More and more talented people now have the opportunity of personal development.

However, the disabled need more care, more attention and more love. Their full integration into society should be one of the paramount tasks both for the government and the public.