Armenia’s Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Smbat Saiyan received Finland’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Armenia Arya Makkonen.

As reported the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs to NEWS.am, Smbat Saiyan presented the priorities of the ministry and emphasized that protection of the rights of persons with disabilities is one of those priorities.

“Armenia is improving the mechanisms for protecting the rights of persons with disabilities and revising the general procedures for needs assessment of persons with disabilities, accepting as a basis the mechanisms for international classification of the functions of the World Health Organization,” the deputy minister stated.

The ministry’s officials also introduced the services provided to persons with disabilities.

During the meeting, Mr. Saiyan set aside two major objectives, that is, deinstitutionalization of the sector and increase of the level and improvement of the quality of alternative services and talked about cooperation with non-governmental organizations.

Ambassador Makkonen expressed gratitude for the reception and the detailed presentation of the programs of the ministry and stated that Finland is willing to cooperate and provide support to implementation of the reforms being implemented for protection of the rights of persons with disabilities.