Azerbaijan presents its first report on implementation of Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Baku, April 3 (AzerTAc). Azerbaijan has presented its first report on fulfillment of its commitments to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD) and its optional protocol. The report was heard at the 11th session of UN CRPD Committee in Geneva. Salim Muslimov, Azerbaijani Minister of Labour and Social Protection of Population, who submitted the report, said the number of persons with disabilities in the country was 2.5-fold lower than the worldwide average index. “Only 5.6% of Azerbaijan’s population (530,000 people) are disabled while the worldwide average index is 15% according to the World Health Organization.” Muslimov said: “Some 6.5% of persons with disabilities (11,902 people) in the country became disabled as a result of Armenian aggression against Azerbaijan.” “Without this aggression persons with disabilities would have made only 5.5% of Azerbaijan’s population,” Muslimov said. He also highlighted the Azerbaijani government`s attention to problems of the persons with disabilities in the country. “The persons with disabilities of Group I receive allowances, which exceeds the cost of living,” Muslimov said. Azerbaijan joined the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its protocol in 2008.