On 23^rd of September, 2011, photo exhibition was organized next to Aram Khachatryan's monument, the aim of which was to present the situation of availability of streets, buildings and public transportation for the physically disabled people.

"Though there are many problems in the sphere, certain activities were realized during the 20 years of independence and through this exhibition we aim to show the achievements of Armenia during these years", said Armen Alaverdyan, the executive director of Unison NGO.

He also mentioned that today much is said about creating available environment for the physically disabled people, but not much is done for solving problems in the sphere. "We want to express our complaint concerning the speed of the activities fulfilled. People with physical disabilities have the same rights as other citizens. They have the rights, but they don't enjoy them since they can't visit cultural centers, governmental buildings, trade centers. Therefore with this program we promote equality of rights and stress the fact that the right to free movement belongs to everyone".

Armen Alaverdyan also mentioned, that with such events they try to draw the attention of officials as well as businesses, in order their buildings as well as public transport became more available for people with physical disabilities.

"I call upon the architectures to build their buildings in a way, that instead of building ramps, they built smooth area in front of the building. This method is not only used in many developed countries,  but it is also quite cheap, rather than constructing a building with ten staircases, and then thinking of how to make them more available for the people with physical disabilities", says Mr. Alaverdyan.

The exhibition is organized in the frames of "Free Movement: Right for Everyone" project by "Unison" and "Astghik" NGOs funded by the Armenian representation of Counterpart International and USAID. "State Employment Service" Agency of RA Ministry of Employment and Social Affairs also supported the exhibition.

Article and Photos by Sofya Manukyan

Video by Karine Ionesyan