3.2. Integration of Socially Vulnerable Groups

The integration of vulnerable groups in society is a major indicator of social cohesion and cooperation. In 1991 independent Armenia proclaimed itself a social state, legally stipulating equality of rights and opportunities for all citizens.

Integration of the Disabled. In 1992 Armenia signed the UN General Assembly Declaration on the Rights of the Disabled. Though Armenia has taken a forward step toward the integration of the disabled and manifests a more profound perception of the needs of the disabled, a differentiated attitude towards them still exists in society. A number of efficient NGOs were established to work for the tangible integration of the disabled into society. However, on the whole, this problem still remains unsolved, since the degree of integration of the disabled into the educational and professional sphere, into employment as well as their physical accessibility to buildings in Armenia is still inadequate.

Disabled children, as a rule, study in specialized schools (where the quality of education is inferior to that of public schools), which restrict their right to their choice of educational institutions and limits access to education. At present, there are 29 specialized boarding schools in the RA, one specialized kindergarten and one college. Attempts made in regard to integrating disabled children into secondary schools have not yielded tangible results yet since most of them do not have appropriate facilities to accommodate their study process.

The main employment problems of the disabled are conditioned by mass unemployment in the country. According to the Ministry of Social Security, of the 36,123 disabled who are of working age, only 9,009 have jobs (23%). This attests to the fact that at present the right of the disabled to work is not protected. The lack of implementation mechanisms for laws and social services responsible for solving these problems is a major obstacle for the provision of the disabled with jobs.

Integration of the Elderly. Presently we are facing the serious problem of integrating the elderly into social life, linked with the retreat of the traditional family, the weakening of internal ties within families and communities and the increase in migration for work. If in the past, family members traditionally took care of the ageing, nowadays the family is no longer able to provide care: accepted norms and harmony are being shattered inside the community and in the extended family. A number of NGOs work efficiently to mitigate the consequences of social upheavals for the elderly, however there are as yet no state structures or programs, which would be able to prevent the isolation of old people. The State in fact has confined itself to providing pensions, without taking into consideration that the amount of the pension is absolutely insufficient to secure an active social life for pensioners. As a result, the elderly take the role of passive and unsecured "consumers" deprived of their position, status and former social contacts.

Integration of Refugees. The first groups of refugees came to Armenia in 1988. However, only in March 1999 the NA adopted the Law on Refugees, which defines the procedures for acquisition and loss of refugee status. Most refugees do not want to receive RA citizenship, as they are unwilling to lose some social benefits. On the other hand, lack of citizenship mainly deprives refugees of civil rights and freedoms. Thus, despite the adoption of the Law on Refugees, and numerous programs aimed at the adaptation and integration of refugees into Armenian society, the status of refugees is not clear. The refugees' inability to speak the mother tongue often complicates the integration process. It leads to isolation from the political, social and cultural life of the country. Their children, however, demonstrate strong capabilities for adaptation and easily overcome the language barrier. They learn the cultural patterns, social roles and value orientations prevailing in Armenia.

The successful integration of refugees was also hindered by the fact that urban residents overwhelmingly outnumbered rural residents among those who moved to Armenia from Azerbaijan. The Armenian authorities proposed two options to these refugees: a hostel in Yerevan or a private house in a rural area. However, the latter implied a loss of any opportunities for vocational employment and prospects for an occupation unfamiliar to a city resident, i.e. in agriculture.
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On the other hand, by choosing to stay in town, the refugee for many years was doomed to live in a hostel and to hold a menial job due to severe unemployment. The final choice and decision for many refugees, given the above-mentioned factors, was emigration to Russia and Western countries.

Gender Equality. Gender equality is considered an important factor for promoting cohesion in society. At present, the sphere of women's employment is still narrow: mainly teachers, physicians, salespersons, cooks, bakers and nurses. These professions have been and still are considered "women's professions", due to relatively low-paid salaries and their lack of essential impact on public administration. Male predominance in many spheres of social life, and specifically in state structures of management and power, is still evident.

However, positive changes in the employment of women have occurred in recent years: women are now more integrated in small business and trade. Increasingly more attention is paid in Armenia to the problem of gender equality, manifested in the provisions of the governmental decree "On the Program for the Improvement of the Situation of Women in the Republic of Armenia" (1988) and in the national program worked out on the basis of this program. (Box 3.3).

Box 3.3. The National Gender Program of Armenia In 1998, in line with the Armenian Constitution, stipulating equal rights for men and women, and the recommendations of the 4th World Conference on Women, Penjing, 1995, the Armenian Government adopted a national program on the "Improvement of Women's Situation and the Enhancement of their Role in Society in 1998-2000", which intends to: · carry out expert assessment of the RA legislation in reference to gender; · increase representation of women in the management system; · design and implement programs securing women's employment; · improve socio-psychological and other services for women subjected to violence; · assist female entrepreneurs; · draw up appropriate measures for protecting the rights of working women at their place of work; · introduce a program for improving the situation of refugee women; · improve women's situation in the sphere of culture; · develop a national program on reproductive health; · devise a program for the organization of cultural, athletic and other events for the disabled women and children; · collect statistics on the socioeconomic status of women and publish statistical and analytical materials. The statistical and analytical work on gender conducted by the RA MS, carried out within the framework of the National Program, is aimed at shedding light on the inter-relations between men and women in the RA, their current status as to the realization of their potential, as well as creation of a data base necessary for the State’s formulation of a gender policy.