Zinapa Foundation`s powers to be expanded - bills

ArmInfo.  The Armenian authorities intend to grant non- governmental organizations the right to provide assistance to persons with disabilities. At its February 9 session, the RA National Assembly Committee on Labor and Social Affairs approved amendments to the laws "On the Rights of Persons  with Disabilities" and "On the Assessment of Person Functionality,"  submitted by the RA government for first reading.

According to the RA Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, currently,  only state agencies have this right.  The adoption of the package  will make it possible for non-governmental organizations to provide  assistance as well. Moreover, as the minister noted, a number of  institutions are already willing to take this step. As an example,  Torosyan cited the Zinapa Servicemen's Insurance Fund, which has  agreed to assume some of the burden of providing assistance. In this  case, the issue concerns the provision of prosthetics to former  military personnel disabled as a result of the 44-day war in  Nagorno-Karabakh. Other examples are possible in the future, which is  why the authors of the document developed and submitted a package of  new amendments.

Another change concerns the introduction of the concept of  "independent living center," which will eliminate future uncertainty  in law enforcement regarding the organizational and legal status,  functions, and principles of organizing such centers. One such center  is already being built under the program with state budget funds,  which should subsequently serve as a model for the creation of  similar structures, and not only with public funding. The package  establishes provisions regarding the operating procedures of these  centers.

The next amendment concerns the application of a triple agreement  when providing services to individuals with disabilities, involving  the individual, their personal assistant, and the Unified Social  Service.  Currently, separate agreements are concluded with each  participant in the project. To facilitate the process, the agreement  will now be trilateral. Regarding the Law "On the Assessment of  Facial Functionality," Torosyan emphasized that the amendments to  this document provide for a full functional assessment process, even  in cases where a person only needs to supplement or modify their  individual program. This will eliminate additional administrative  burdens.

The minister proposed reviewing the package at the 24th plenary  session of the National Assembly so that the Zinapa Foundation can  begin providing new services as quickly as possible.