Armenia advances decent work for care workers supporting people with disabilities
National tripartite constituents in Armenia discuss decent work for care workers providing quality care services to people with disabilities.
7 November 2024
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YEREVAN (ILO News) - Within the framework of the WHO Europe and ILO joint programme, “Mapping and strengthening community-based care resources for persons with disabilities and long-term support needs”, supported by the UN Partnership on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the ILO organised a tripartite validation workshop to discuss key findings from the ILO report “Decent Work for Care Workers Providing Services to People with Disabilities in Armenia: An In-Depth Analysis of Working Conditions, Labour Rights, and Legal Frameworks in the Context of Deinstitutionalisation.” The report was drafted in collaboration with the Disability Rights Agenda (DRA), an organisation of persons with disabilities in Armenia.
The workshop brought together the representatives of the ministries, workers’ and employers’ organizations, UN agencies and organizations of people with disabilities to promote tripartite dialogue on labour relations and working conditions for care workers in Armenia. The workshop was opened by remarks from Ruben Sargsyan, the Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Affairs and Nune Hovhannisyan, ILO National Coordinator for Armenia. Esteban Tromel, ILO Senior Specialist on Disability, and Özge Berber Agtaş, ILO Gender Equality and Non-Discrimination Specialist, contributed to the discussion by sharing the ILO’s perspective on promoting the inclusion of people with disabilities and decent work in the care economy with reference to the ILO Resolution concerning decent work and the care economy adopted at 112th Session of the International Labour Conference in June 2024. Lilit Adamyan, the Chief Executive Officer of the Republican Union of Employers of Armenia, Boris Kharatyan, the Deputy Chairperson of the Confederation of Trade Unions of Armenia, and Heriknaz Tigranyan, the Chair of the Parliament Standing Committee on Labor and Social Affairs, contributed to the discussion through highlighting country-specific challenges, including unpaid care and domestic work, migration, informality and decent work deficits in wages.
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The draft report, presented by Mushegh Hovsepyan, co-founder and president of DRA, provides a comprehensive legal analysis of national legislation in terms of compliance with the ILO Conventions and assesses the working conditions and labour rights of care workers providing care services to people with disabilities. The draft report has been enriched by insights from care workers and representatives from organizations of persons with disabilities, reflecting the perception of care workers, and service users. It provides a set of policy recommendations in the field of legal and policy reforms, labour rights and community-based care services in Armenia. The report also underscores the critical gaps in care workers’ understanding and readiness for community-based care services.
The workshop concluded with the importance of care services in sustaining human, social and economic development, the critical role of care workers in our lives, and the need to design and implement integrated care policies and systems guided by the 5Rs framework for decent care work (recognition, reduction and redistribution of unpaid care and reward and representation of care workers).