13 November – International Day of Persons with Visual Impairments
In Azerbaijan, like other vulnerable groups, the social protection and rehabilitation of persons with visual impairments is an important direction of our state’s social policy. Thanks to the special attention and care of President Ilham Aliyev towards persons with disabilities, consistent and purposeful work is being carried out in this area, and the social protection of persons with visual impairments is being strengthened year by year.
In our country, in addition to families of martyrs and persons with disabilities related to the war, persons with visual impairments are also provided with housing by the state. In recent years, 132 residential buildings have been constructed in Baku and put into use for their benefit, and hundreds of apartments from new residential complexes have been allocated to persons with visual impairments.
To expand opportunities for citizens from these categories to access information and increase their knowledge through ICT, Regional Information Centers have been established in Nakhchivan, Ganja, and Yevlakh cities as part of a major social project of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and made available to them.
Persons with visual impairments are provided by the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of Population with either a labour pension or allowance, as well as with the President’s monthly stipend for persons whose bodily functions are impaired by 81–100 percent (disability of the first degree) and their caregivers.
At the Shelter and Social Rehabilitation Institution for Vulnerable Population Groups under the Social Services Agency of the Ministry, persons with visual impairments are provided with medical, pedagogical, sports, cultural and artistic, as well as psychological and social rehabilitation services.
At the Vocational and Labour Rehabilitation Center for persons with disabilities, along with other persons with disabilities, work is carried out to enable persons with visual impairments to acquire new professions.
At the same time, efforts continue to support the access of this category to the labour market, including assistance for establishing their small businesses within the framework of the self-employment program. In cooperation with the Azerbaijan Society of Persons with Visual Impairments, vocational training courses are organized for them under a special program.
The list of rehabilitation equipment provided to persons with disabilities at the expense of the state budget was significantly expanded last year, including white canes, Braille writing devices, screen readers, and others specifically for persons with visual impairments.
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