Implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in the Republic of Moldova was the main subject of Parliamentary Advocate Aurelia Grigoriu meeting with UN Special Rapporteur on Disability, Shuaib Chaklen.
The Ombudsman presented the current situation in terms of implementation of the nominated Convention. Aurelia Grigoriu pointed out that in recent years, Moldova has made some progress in promoting policies, developing programs tailored to European and international standards in the field of people with disability. UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities serves as a reference framework for the successful implementation of welfare reform underway in Moldova. In this context it was mentioned adoption of the Law on Social Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities, which sets a framework for security and social services in accordance with international standards on social inclusion of this category of persons. The approval of this law is the first stage of the strategy on social inclusion of people with disabilities.
However the Parliamentary Advocate noted that people with disabilities have to overcome many difficulties to participate as equal members of society in public, political, social, economic and cultural life. Aurelia Grigoriu scored the most pressing issues faced by people with disabilities: social benefits under the subsistence level, the low level of the employment, limited access of persons with disabilities to social infrastructure, the tolerance of society towards the problems of persons with disabilities .
Thus, after 1 April 2013 indexation of pensions, the minimum size of disability pensions, varies between 362.79 and 533.54 lei, depending on the degree of disability (I, II and III). Average amount of invalidity pension is 782.05 lei / per month .That, according to information published by the National Bureau of Statistics, in the third quarter of 2012, the subsistence minimum in average per person was 1456, 9 lei. Criteria for denial of social assistance, including persons with disabilities are the existence in their everyday use of fist need objects such as TV, refrigerator, vacuum cleaner. Social aid is not granted to persons that hold shares of land.
The Ombudsman revealed that, although the central public authorities reports on measures taken to adapt the usual environment to the needs of people with disabilities, in 2012, in this chapter, was not certified an essential improvement. People with disabilities face difficulties of access. That's because the installed slopes are actually impracticable.
Aurelia Grigoriu highlighted the problems regarding the integration of disabled persons on the labor market. She pointed out that full integration into society will be possible, including the opening the labor markets to mentioned category of people, providing professionals to guide the creation of jobs tailored to the needs. The Parliamentary Advocate emphasized that solving of this problem requires enhancing the employability of people with disabilities to become a priority of state policy. Parliamentary advocate said that educational institutions are closed in the context of optimization of education system is planned to be "preserved" rather to be assigned for training persons with disabilities.
In this regard the Parliamentary Advocate has referred to the need for involvement and consultation with persons with disabilities in the development and implementation of laws and policies by the authorities to implement the Convention and in other decision-making processes on issues of persons with disabilities.
Shuaib Chaklen vas informed on functional duties of Parliamentary Advocates and the way of CHRM intervention for the reinstatement of persons with disabilities. The UN official showed interest in some specific cases in this regard, and the mechanisms of interaction with civil society on monitoring by Parliamentary Advocates the implementation of UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. In this context, Aurelia Grigoriu made a reference to the activity of regional representative offices of the CHRM, experience of public bureaus of Parliamentary Advocates that function in different regions of the country, involving NGOs in the field in various activities of the National Ombudsman Institution implicitly making monitoring in the field of persons with disabilities rights protection.
UN Special Rapporteur on disability appreciated the conducted discussions within parliamentary advocate as very useful, noting the importance of the presented information for further elaboration of a visit report on the situation in Moldova on the topic of implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Shuaib Chaklen is visiting our country at the invitation of civil society, he will meet with officials from various ministries, non-governmental sector representatives and participate in a roundtable works "ways to implement Articles 12 and 19 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities ".
