Azernews.Az

By Nigar Orujova

Azerbaijan's Labor and Social Protection Ministry held a roundtable to discuss a new bill on social security of disabled children in the capital Baku on Monday.

The redrafted law, "Disabled children's social security, rehabilitation and disability prevention", has been prepared by the ministry's social protection department. The bill completely defines the disabled people's legal status and aims to provide them with more sound social security benefits.

Representatives of the ministry's department and civil society discussed the draft law as well as adjusting Azerbaijan's legislation to international standards in social, medical and professional rehabilitation spheres for disabled people, their studies, career training opportunities, and access to social infrastructure.

The new draft law is expected to be submitted to a relevant parliamentary committee soon.

Azerbaijan, as a party to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, is committed to bringing its norms and legislation into compliance with international regulations.

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.

A number of projects are implemented in Azerbaijan as 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, including children, etc.

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

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

Some 1,200 disabled people have been provided with jobs by the Employment Center over the last five years.

Nevertheless, Azerbaijani Ombudsman Elmira Suleymanova believes there are still problems with the disabled people's integration into the social life of the country.

"There have been cases when disabled people faced problems with employment," she said earlier.