December 3 is the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

The UN General Assembly’s Resolution declaring December 3 as the International Day of Persons with Disabilities aims to draw public attention to the protection of the rights of persons with disabilities.

In Azerbaijan, persons with disabilities are covered with special care and attention of the state. On the instructions of President Ilham Aliyev, significant work is carried out in the fields of social protection, rehabilitation, and social integration of vulnerable population groups, including persons with disabilities.

The Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of Population ensures that:

• persons with disabilities receive monthly disability pensions or social benefits;
• war-related, military service-related, and other special-reason disability holders, as well as persons whose bodily functions are impaired by 81–100% (Group I disability), receive the President’s monthly allowance along with their disability pension or social benefit;
• caregivers of persons whose bodily functions are impaired by 81–100%, as well as caregivers of children with disabilities, also receive the President’s monthly allowance.

These social payments have been consistently increased. As a result of five social reform packages implemented between 2018 and 2025, the minimum pension has almost tripled, the average monthly pension has increased 2.6 times, and benefits and allowances have increased fivefold. Along with families of martyrs, war-related disabled persons are also provided with housing by the state. To date, nearly 16 thousand apartments have been provided to families of martyrs and war-related disabled persons, and nearly 7,8 thousand cars have been provided to war-related disabled persons.

The DOST Inclusive Development and Creativity Center, established on the initiative of First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva, provides major support for the development of the creative potential of persons with disabilities and other vulnerable groups. Since its opening in 2021, more than 850 beneficiaries have participated in various creative trainings and received social-pedagogical and psychological services both at the Center and its branches. As part of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation’s social projects, regional information centers have also been established in Nakhchivan, Ganja, and Yevlakh to enable persons with disabilities to access information and expand their knowledge through ICT.

Our country also provides persons with disabilities with next-generation, high-technology prosthetics. Soldiers injured in the April 2016 battles were promptly provided—within the framework of a project by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation—with advanced prosthetic devices supplied by leading manufacturers from Germany, Iceland, and the United Kingdom. After the Patriotic War, which culminated in our great Victory, the Ministry provided 619 high-technology prosthetic devices to 496 servicemen.

In recent years, a modern rehabilitation system has been established in Azerbaijan; new rehabilitation centers have been launched, and services based on advanced international experience have been implemented. The number of rehabilitation devices provided to persons with disabilities at the state’s expense has significantly increased. As a result of these efforts, the annual number of persons with disabilities receiving rehabilitation services has increased more than tenfold since 2018, and the annual number of rehabilitation devices distributed has nearly tripled.