According to the decision of the UN General Assembly, since 1992 May 5 has been celebrated worldwide as the “International Day for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities”. The purpose of this date is to promote the rights of persons with disabilities in all spheres of public life, as well as to attract the attention of the general public to the problems of people with disabilities.

It was Heydar Aliyev who, after returning to power in Azerbaijan for the second time, has taken measures to protect the rights of disabled people and their health. This created a rich legislative base in this sphere. Approval of the “State Program on Protection of Human Rights” on June 18, 1998 is an expression of the high attention paid to protection of human rights, including protection of rights of disabled people in our country.

The adoption of legislative acts creating new legal opportunities for the social protection of persons with disabilities and the resolution of social issues has been successfully continued by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev. The National Action Plan for the Protection of Human Rights in the Republic of Azerbaijan was approved on 28 December 2006 and the National Action Program for the Enhancement of the Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms in the Republic of Azerbaijan was approved on 27 December 2011, and new normative acts were adopted to establish social, economic and legal guarantees for persons with disabilities.

Due to the instructions of the Head of State, much work has been done and is being done to provide housing for citizens with disabilities. On average, more than 700 flats are built for these people every year. A programme to provide disabled persons with a passenger car is also being implemented. The number of persons with disabilities who have received cars increases annually.

According to the relevant decrees and orders signed by President Ilham Aliyev, pensions and allowances paid to the disabled are annually increased. Pensions and allowances paid to disabled persons are annually increased in accordance with the relevant decrees and orders signed by President Ilham Aliyev. According to the statistics of the International Association of Pension and Social Funds, Azerbaijan currently ranks among the CIS countries in terms of the size of the basic part of labour pensions. All this contributes to solving the problems of the country’s population, in particular those in need of special care.

Today, our state is taking steps to restore the health of soldiers who lost their health in the 44-day Patriotic War and return them to normal life.
After the end of the war, soldiers who lost their health on the battlefield were provided with modern 4th generation prostheses for the complete restoration of health.

The YAŞAT Foundation was established by presidential decree on December 8, 2020 to create an appropriate platform for the implementation of civil society initiatives aimed at providing additional support for the measures implemented by the State in the area of social protection of the families of the wounded and martyrs in connection with the defence of the territorial integrity of the Republic of Azerbaijan and persons who are disabled as a result of military operations, as well as to ensure transparency, accountability and public control in this area. Currently, the state takes consecutive measures for providing families of the martyrs and disabled veterans with flats, private houses and cars. 12 centres for the social and psychological rehabilitation have been overhauled, reconstructed and provided with the most modern equipment in 2019-2021 on the order of President Ilham Aliyev. These institutions contribute to the provision of rehabilitation and socio-psychological services to the participants of the Patriotic War.

Disabled Karabakh veterans, who lost their health in defence of their homeland are being provided with better living conditions. Rehabilitation centres are being opened to cure them and, if necessary, they are sent to foreign countries for treatment.

The involvement of people with disabilities in employment programmes is also widespread. People with disabilities are involved in self-employment programmes, small businesses and farms.

In general, significant progress has been achieved in the sustained implementation in the areas of social protection, rehabilitation and active integration of disabled persons into society. The provision of social services, vocational and labor rehabilitation, and the expansion of the Paralympic movement show that the rights of disabled persons are reliably upheld in our country.

Recommended literature:

1. Həsənzadə, Səidə Bəhram qızı. Əlillərin sosial müdafiəsi sahəsində hüquq islahatlarının əsas istiqamətləri : monoqrafiya / S. B. Həsənzadə ; elmi red. M. N. Əliyev ; AMEA Fəlsəfə, Sosiologiya və Hüquq İnstitutu. - Bakı : Təknur MMC, 2009. - 120 s.
2. Əliyeva, Səbinə Yaşar qızı. Əlillərin hüquqlarının müdafiəsi sahəsində beynəlxalq hüquq normalarının Azərbaycan Respublikasının qanunvericiliyinə implementasiyası : monoqrafiya / S. Y. Əliyeva ; elmi red. Ə. İ. Əliyev. - Bakı : Red N Line, 2019. - 256 s.
3. Mustafazadə, Aytən İnqlab qızı. Əlilliyi olan şəxslərin məşğulluğu problemləri : monoqrafiya / A. İ. Mustafazadə ; red. L. Əhmədova ; AMEA Hüquq və İnsan Haqları İnstitutu. - Bakı : Elm və təhsil, 2018. - 152 s.