Formal Operation of the CRPD in Armenia

A group of 10 smiling men and women with and without disabilities hold the Armenian flag on a sidewalk. The front row includes four people using wheelchairs and the back row from includes six people standing.

Armenia and the CRPD

Armenia signed the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) along with 43 other countries when the Convention was first signed into law on March 30, 2007. Armenia also signed the Optional Protocol (which allows the Committee to listen to individual complainants from Armenia) at that time. However, while Armenia ratified the CRPD on September 22, 2010, it has never ratified the Optional Protocol.

CRPD Report Process

  1. Under Article 35 of the Convention, parties to the CRPD must submit State Reports to the CRPD Committee within two years of ratification. These State Reports are to contain positive developments as well as challenges that country is having in meeting the obligations of the CRPD.
  2. Additionally, Disabled Persons’ Organizations (DPOs) in the country have the ability to submit alternative reports, also known as Shadow Reports, to the CRPD Committee for consideration along with the official State Report.
  3. In accordance with Article 36 of the Convention, the CRPD Committee reviews these reports and issues Concluding Observations to make suggestions and recommendations to the country in order to help them meet their obligations under the CRPD.
  4. After this initial State Report, parties must submit follow up State Reports to the CRPD Committee at least every four years.

Attached Documents

The below documents include Armenia’s December 20, 2012 state report, and two “Shadow” or “Alternative” reports submitted in 2013. One was submitted by a group of Armenian DPOs, the other by a civil society organization that is particularly concerned with the protection of the rights of people with mental health issues. The Committee has not yet issued a List of Issues concerning Armenia. We have included these documents in both Armenian and in English whenever we have been able to find both translations.

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