“Promoting the Social Rights of Persons with Disabilities by Building the Capacities of Armenian Civil Society Organisations to Engage with Council of Europe Monitoring Mechanisms” kicks off in Armenia
Aware of our rights, able to protect them!
The Armenian Association for the Disabled “Pyunic” (Yerevan, Armenia), together with its international partner, the Advocacy Centre on the Council of Europe Standards (ACCESS, Strasbourg, France), are glad to announce the launch of a two-year long project promoting the protection of social rights of persons with disabilities (PWD) living in Armenia.
The project envisages a series of capacity building and awareness-raising events to familiarize stakeholders with the Council of Europe (CoE) standards in addressing disability issues. Major project activities will take place in capital Yerevan, Gyumri and Vanadzor cities.
The project's stakeholders will work together to identify gaps in Armenia's legislation with regard to the European Social Charter (ESC) and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (UN CRPD). Armenian civil society representatives will receive necessary advisory and technical support to prepare and submit two alternative reports on the shortcomings in the protection of social rights of PWD to the European Committee of Social Rights and the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance respectively. Thus, the project will help Armenian NGOs working on disability issues to have a better access to the relevant CoE monitoring mechanisms.
Major project events will be preceded by an in-depth study on the protection of social rights of PWD conducted by international experts. They will use their findings to produce an analytical report, including a set of recommendations to the Armenian authorities.
ACCESS will also develop a Handbook on the CoE standards relevant to the protection of the rights of persons with disabilities, as a reference tool for civil society and other audiences. This publication will be available in Armenian and English.
A six-month online learning course for Armenian professionals working on disability and cross-cutting issues will be developed and made available by the Council of Europe's HELP programme on its online platform. Training material will be designed by international and national experts, focusing on CoE human rights standards. A direct link to the platform will be available on the Pyunic NGO's website (www.pyunic.am).
A Marathon to the Holy See of Mother Echmiadzin and an Ascent to Mount Aragats will demonstrate the abilities and the inexhaustible energy of PWD. A transportable photo exhibition, highlighting the situation of PWD in Armenia, will be open to the public in different sites of Yerevan, Gyumri and Vanadzor.
Project Duration: February 1, 2017 – January 31, 2019
Project Budget: EUR 200,000 (101,318,000 AMD)