European Training Foundation report on Armenia disability employment integration; outlines policy gaps and financing needs for reform

European Training Foundation report on Armenia disability employment integration; outlines policy gaps and financing needs for reform

LABOUR MARKET (RE-)INTEGRATION AND SKILLS DEVELOPMENT FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES – ARMENIA Country note

LABOUR MARKET (RE-)INTEGRATION AND SKILLS DEVELOPMENT FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES – ARMENIA| 2 This report has been prepared for the European Training Foundation by Mushegh Hovsepyan. The ETF’s Piotr Stronkowski steered the elaboration process and reviewed the draft report. Author: Mushegh Hovsepyan Peer reviewer: Piotr Stronkowski, ETF

Manuscript completed in February 2026.

The contents of the report are the sole responsibility of the ETF and do not necessarily reflect the views of the EU institutions. © European Training Foundation, 2026

Except otherwise noted, the reuse of this document is authorised under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 international (CC BY 4.0) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). This means that reuse is allowed provided appropriate credit is given and any changes are indicated. For any use or reproduction of photos or other material that is not owned by the European Training Foundation, permission must be sought directly from the copyright holders. Deed - Attribution 4.0 International - Creative Commons When citing this report, please use the following wording: European Training Foundation (2026), Labour market (re)integration and skills development for persons with disabilities – Armenia, Turin

LABOUR MARKET (RE-)INTEGRATION AND SKILLS DEVELOPMENT FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES – ARMENIA| 3 CONTENTS CONTENTS 3 PREFACE 4 1 CONTEXT AND OVERVIEW OF THE SITUATION OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES 5 1.1 Context 5 1.2 Situation of persons with disabilities 5 2 STRATEGIC AND INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK 9 2.1 Legislative framework 9 2.2 Strategic framework 10 2.3 Institutional framework 11 2.4 Coordination and cooperation mechanisms 12 2.5 Sources of financing 13 3 POLICIES INCREASING THE EMPLOYABILITY OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES 15 3.1 Services aimed at increasing the employability of persons with disabilities 15 3.2 Measures aimed at increasing the employability of persons with disabilities 15 3.3 Services and measures addressing the needs of war veterans 16 3.4 Enhancing the capacity of main stakeholders 16 4 POLICIES SUPPORTING DEMAND FOR THE EMPLOYMENT OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES 18 5 LINKAGES BETWEEN EMPLOYMENT AND OTHER POLICY AREAS 20 5.1 From school to the labour market 20 5.2 Skills development opportunities 20 5.3 How social benefits support the employment of persons with disabilities 21 5.4 Access to social services 21 5.5 Accessibility 22 5.6 Gender dimension of policies supporting employment of persons with disabilities 22 6 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 24 6.1 Conclusions 24 6.2 Recommendations 25 6.3 Best practices 29 ANNEX 30 List of institutions and organisations 30 ACRONYMS 31 REFERENCES 32

LABOUR MARKET (RE-)INTEGRATION AND SKILLS DEVELOPMENT FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES – ARMENIA| 4 PREFACE The Country Note presents the situation in Armenia regarding labour market (re-)integration and skills development for persons with disabilities, with specific reference to the role of active labour market policies and measures. The European Training Foundation (ETF) has initiated a mapping of policies and programmes for labour market (re-)integration and skills development for persons with disabilities in several partner countries, in response to the European Union’s priority of fostering the social inclusion and economic autonomy of persons with disabilities through employment, in line with the priorities set out in the EU Disability Employment Package. The main objectives were to conduct a systemic, comparative policy analysis of employment support for persons with disabilities and to identify needs for strengthening the capacity of actors in selected EU neighbouring countries. The analysis was conducted in accordance with the framework proposed by the EU Disability Employment Package, with a particular focus on active labour market policies and skills development. In Armenia, the methodology consisted of a desk review and face-to-face and online interviews with key stakeholders active in employment promotion and the inclusion of persons with disabilities. The detailed list of interviewed institutions and organisations is available in Annex.

LABOUR MARKET (RE-)INTEGRATION AND SKILLS DEVELOPMENT FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES – ARMENIA| 5 1 CONTEXT AND OVERVIEW OF THE SITUATION OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES 1.1 Context Armenia is a small, landlocked country in the South Caucasus with a permanent population of 2.9 million according to the 2022 Population Census (RA Statistical Committee, 2024). The state is a parliamentary democracy. Services account for over half of GDP, followed by industry and agriculture (Enterprise Armenia, 2025). In 2023, Armenia’s working-age population (aged 15 years and above) amounted to 2.4 million persons, of whom 1.35 million were in the labour force. The labour force participation rate was 56.4%, the employment rate 49.4%, and the unemployment rate 12.2%. Gender gaps remained significant: men’s participation was 68.4% compared with 44.1% for women, with corresponding employment rates of 60.4% and 40%. Rural areas showed slightly higher participation (60.4%) than urban areas (54.2%), but rural employment was dominated by informal agricultural work. Young persons are particularly disadvantaged. Among those aged 15–29, the unemployment rate reached 21.2% in 2023, almost double the national average. Overall, 43.6% of the working-age population remained outside the labour force, including students (15%), homemakers (26%), and pensioners (41%). Informality remains widespread, affecting one in three employed persons (RA Statistical Committee, 2024). Armenia also faces governance challenges. While laws and strategic documents are in place, implementation and enforcement often fall short, leading to a persistent gap between formal commitments and practice in areas such as employment, social protection and accessibility (OECD, 2019). Security risks remain an important external factor (Armenian Foreign Intelligence Service, 2025). The recent conflict with Azerbaijan and the displacement of more than 100 000 people from Nagorno- Karabakh in 2023 have increased economic and social pressures (Freedom House, 2024). These risks contribute to uncertainty, discourage investment and exacerbate existing labour market vulnerabilities, particularly for disadvantaged groups. Overall, Armenia’s labour market is shaped by demographic decline (RA Statistical Committee, 2024), gender and youth disparities, high informality, weak enforcement of policies, and the impact of regional security risks. These factors form the broader context for analysing the employment situation of persons with disabilities. 1.2 Situation of persons with disabilities The analysis in this section draws on multiple data sources. Administrative records are maintained by the Unified Social Service (USS) under the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs and are also published by the Armenian Statistical Committee. They cover all individuals formally registered with disability status under Armenia’s new ICF-based assessment system and the previous socio-medical examination model. These records include only persons who have undergone an official assessment and therefore do not capture individuals with functional difficulties who are not registered as ‘persons with disabilities’. Consequently, the picture may differ considerably if disability is understood more broadly, in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), as a social construct shaped by interaction with barriers. Labour market indicators are derived from the Labour Force Survey conducted by the Armenian Statistical Committee, which provides representative data for the population aged 15 years and above, including disability-disaggregated information based on self-reporting. Population statistics originate from the 2022 Census, which applied the Washington

LABOUR MARKET (RE-)INTEGRATION AND SKILLS DEVELOPMENT FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES – ARMENIA| 6 Group methodology on functional difficulties. Each of these sources uses different definitions and coverage, meaning that the figures are not directly comparable but together provide a comprehensive overview of the situation of persons with disabilities in Armenia. Administrative records indicate that, in the first half of 2025, there were 188 234 adults with disabilities registered in the country, representing around 6.4% of the total population. Of these, 48.3% were women. Among adults registered with disabilities, 10.8% were aged 18 to 39 and 33.2% were between 40 and the statutory pension age. Women represented 31.4% of younger adults and 42.4% of those aged 40 to pension age. About one third (32.1%) of all persons registered with disabilities resided in Yerevan, reflecting the concentration of both the general population and disability registrations in the capital (RA Statistical Committee, 2025). The 2022 census introduced questions on functional difficulties based on the Washington Group methodology. The results have not yet been analysed and therefore general disability figures could not be provided. The published data are limited to prevalence by functional domain (RA Statistical Committee, 2024). According to these results, the share of the population reporting ‘a lot of difficulty’ or ‘cannot do at all’ was as follows: ▪ seeing, even if wearing glasses: 2.0%, ▪ hearing, even if using a hearing aid: 1.1%, ▪ walking or climbing stairs: 2.5%, ▪ remembering or concentrating: 1.0%, ▪ washing, bathing, or dressing: 0.8%, ▪ communicating, understanding or being understood in the same language: 0.6%. It should be noted that Armenia recently reformed its disability assessment system, adopting the WHO International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) framework (Republic of Armenia, 2021). As a result, administrative statistics are now structured under the new system, and it is no longer possible to produce fully comparable time-series data on the types of disabilities across different reporting periods. According to the 2023 Labour Force Survey, the total working-age population with disabilities aged 15 years and above comprised around 190 000 persons. Men accounted for 53.1% of this population and were therefore overrepresented compared with persons without disabilities, among whom men accounted for 45%. The labour force participation rate for persons with disabilities was 22.7%, compared to 59% among persons without disabilities. The employment-to-population ratio stood at 20.6% for individuals with disabilities, while it was 51.9% for those without disabilities. The unemployment rate was 9.5% for persons with disabilities and 12.5% for persons without disabilities. It is important to note that the lower unemployment rate observed among persons with disabilities should not be considered positive, as it primarily reflects their reduced levels of economic activity. There were marked disparities by sex and place of residence. The labour force participation rate was 27.6% for men with disabilities, compared with 17.2% for women. Similarly, the employment-to- population ratio was 24.9% for men and 15.7% for women. In urban areas, the labour force participation rate was 19.8%, with an employment-to-population ratio of 17.2% and an unemployment rate of 13.0%. The majority of working-age persons with disabilities were outside the labour force. In 2023, 77.2% of persons with disabilities were not economically active