Conference promotes rights of people with disabilities

This is part of the activities in preparation for the country’s first report on the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) to the UN in the coming time.

The promotion and protection of the rights of persons with disabilities is a priority in Vietnam’s policies towards this disadvantaged group, affirmed participants at the event. They said it has been represented through a system of legal regulations and the country’s ratification of the UNCRPD in 2015.

In the past years, international cooperation in the field has been consolidated and promotion of disabled people’s rights has drawn attention from numerous international organisations and non-governmental organisations.

The attendants also shared experience in international collaboration at the event.

Some representatives asked the MoLISA to further support for localities in providing healthcare for the disabled. They also suggested that relevant branches set up specific support policies and encourage investment in rehabilitation centres for persons with disabilities.

Vietnam has around 7.2 million people with disabilities, accounting for 7.8 percent of the population, one of the high levels in the Asia- Pacific. More than half (58 percent) of the disabled population are women, 28.3 percent are children and 15 percent live in poverty, according to statistics in 2016 of the National Committee for People with Disabilities.

MoLISA’s statistics showed that around 900,000 people with disabilities are receiving monthly allowance. All centrally-governed cities and provinces have built rehabilitation facilities for the disabled. During 2011-2015, around 140,000 people with disabilities received vocational training and found jobs through State-sponsored programmes.