Opening Remarks at Session of Presidential Council for Disabled.Part 2
April 7, 2009
The Kremlin, Moscow
Вступительное слово на заседании Совета по делам инвалидов.
7 апреля 2009 года
Москва, Кремль
I will also note that the Convention was elaborated by the United Nations with direct involvement on the part of Russian experts. A significant part of its basic provisions is already reflected in Russian legislation, but there is still much that remains to be done in order to bring about the most modern approaches in this area.
Today, problems related to the education and employment of people with disabilities, disabled people, are quite relevant. According to the Ministry of Public Health and Social Development data, nearly 6 million out of 13 million disabled people living in Russia are able to work, but only 15 percent of these individuals were able to find a job. This is both bad and unfair.
Meanwhile, people with disabilities and you yourselves set the pattern - are often able to achieve impressive results in social life and at work. Among them are well-known politicians, public figures, successful businesspeople, prominent scientists, artists, and exceptional sports players, whose achievements make us proud.
At the Beijing 2008 Paralympics our national team won 63 medals. I met with the Paralympic team members, and they have truly done a great deal for the prestige of our country. However, it must also be admitted that such results are often achieved not thanks to, but sadly, in spite of the conditions that have been created for these people living in our country. That is why governmental and municipal organisations, as well as associations of disabled people and other public associations, must team up to work out a strategy and approach for collaboration in this area, and if necessary, to adjust previously-made decisions.
I was just speaking about the UN Convention, but you know that in March of this year, I also asked the State Duma to ratify the European Social Charter, which is also a very serious document. It was signed on behalf of the Russian Federation back in September of 2000, and we also travelled a long way before making a responsible decision to adapt this Convention to our own conditions and start implementing it. This is another example of how we must work together. It is important not to be ahead of time. At the same time, if decisions have been made, they must be carried out.
Today, I suggest that we focus on several concrete issues. First of all, let me remind you that in 2004, we changed the procedure of determining the amount of monthly monetary payments to disabled people. It was no longer linked to disability groups, as was the case in Soviet times, but rather, to another indicator the extent of limitation of work capability.
Basically, today this amount depends on whether a person can work, which, as a principle, has the right to exist, but at the same time, it does not mean that when a person gets a job, he or she loses his or her disabled status disability does not disappear. As a result, what is most important is that this yielded an unpleasant bottom line: many disabled people found themselves worse off financially (after all, this is not an issue of criteria or principles: they must serve to yield practical results, they should not be made into a fetish, nor should they be turned into some sort of conquest). According to the data I was shown, those monetary losses add up to between 537 and 1,208 roubles per month money that would help in any situation, especially during a crisis.
In this regard, I am asking the government to develop a new procedure of determining the amount of monthly monetary payments to disabled people, taking into account the proposals made, and to submit it to the State Duma; I would also like to ask the State Duma to consider this procedure, consolidating the efforts with the government.
Now the second issue I would like to address today. According to our data, only two percent of public transport is equipped for disabled passengers. That is unacceptably low. The problem could also be resolved through government contracts (the share of such contracts in Russia does not decrease and even increases in time of crisis) for Russian-made equipment, automotive equipment; we have funds set aside specifically for that purpose. At the same time, the number of buses equipped for the disabled should correspond to current norms: according to present-day standards, such buses should account for at least five percent of the overall number. Unfortunately, we have significantly less.
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