Supporting people with disabilities to integrate into the community and to have jobs is certainly the most practical thing to do.
Life is difficult today; even non-disabled people striving to get ahead struggle, and for people with disabilities, it is of course a difficult problem.
Especially in a society where there are still many prejudiced looks at people with disabilities taking part in work. Similarly, people who take part in campaigning and advocating for the rights of people with disabilities, and in supporting them to study and have jobs, are looked at as though they were doing thankless work for the community at their own expense!
Yet organisations, teams, groups and clubs like these have persisted in taking action for many years. At the workshop “Sharing models for supporting people with disabilities” on 13 June 2014, more than 200 people with disabilities and teams and groups working to support people with disabilities gathered to share much valuable experience.
Ms. Duong Thi Van, Chair of the Hanoi Association of People with Disabilities, said: “Understanding state laws and policies is very important in building and developing the association, alongside building a clear vision and plan; proactively coordinating and taking part in all activities of local departments and sectors; encouraging people with disabilities to join the association; not forgetting to include activities involving the families of people with disabilities; making the most of support from businesses; and strengthening capacity and the inspection and supervision of the activities of the central and local associations”.
That is why the Hanoi Association of People with Disabilities, which initially, in 2006, had 19 member organisations with 750 people with disabilities, now has 50 member organisations and more than 9,000 people with disabilities taking part in its activities.
Ms. Van also added: The strength of the Hanoi Association of People with Disabilities is its links with general schools in each district to raise awareness of issues relating to people with disabilities among students with and without disabilities themselves; teachers and parents have also changed their awareness.
At city level, we work with the Department of Education to implement these programmes. For universities, we have volunteer programmes and are piloting four access programmes in several districts.
One model highly rated by the delegates was the work of the Dien Khanh Association of People with Disabilities (Hamlet 3, Dien Phu Commune, Dien Khanh District, Khanh Hoa Province). It is considered a distinctive association because of the effectiveness of its activities.
At present Vietnam has about 6,700,000 people with disabilities, accounting for nearly 8% of the population, and the number is tending to rise due to traffic accidents, workplace accidents and more serious environmental pollution.
According to recent statistics, among Vietnamese people with disabilities about 29% have mobility disabilities, 17% have mental health disabilities, 14% have visual impairments, 9% have hearing impairments, 7% have speech impairments, 7% have intellectual disabilities and about 17% have other forms of disability.
The causes of disability are about 36% congenital, about 32% due to illness, about 26% due to war, and about 6% due to workplace and traffic accidents.
Each year only about 1 million people with disabilities receive allowances from the state budget, some receive orthopaedic and rehabilitation support and assistive devices; more than 260,000 children with disabilities study in inclusive settings at schools of all levels, more than 6,000 children with disabilities study in special schools, about 19,000 people with disabilities receive vocational training, etc., and each year about 10,000 people with disabilities are introduced to jobs through job placement centres…
Mr. Dinh Cong Thanh, Chair of the Dien Khanh Association of People with Disabilities, shared: The strength is that the association has mobilised sponsors to support free vocational training classes for members, such as carving, sharpening bamboo chopsticks and weaving doormats…
We have sought sponsorship from local businesses and the local protection association. We have moved from a “asking-and-receiving” mechanism to making requests in policy advocacy work, based on the existing legal framework, specifically Project 239 and DPHN, in which we must play a role in implementing the plan.
For the Duc Trong Association of People with Disabilities in Lam Dong, even finding premises for an association office used to be very difficult. But when the cooperative model was born and the authorities saw the effectiveness it brought in providing jobs for cooperative members and people with disabilities, the locality provided premises for the cooperative and also supported an office for the association. This shows that, above all, the association must show the locality that what it does is right and effective.
Ms. Nguyen Hong Hanh, Chair of the Duc Trong Association of People with Disabilities, shared: At present an income of 1.5–2 million VND per month is the average. If there are orders from abroad or many orders, the income of cooperative members also rises.
At present, most people with disabilities in Vietnam face many difficulties in their daily lives; they live mainly relying on their families, relatives and society. Most people with severe disabilities are poor, without jobs, illiterate and without a trade, etc., so they find it very difficult to integrate into the community.
Mr. Hoang Chi Trung, Director General of the Department of International Organizations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stressed: Vietnam signed the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in 2007 and will complete ratification procedures in 2014; this is also one of Vietnam's UPR commitments.
We have also taken part in and implemented international and regional initiatives and strengthened the participation of people with disabilities and the protection of their rights, including implementing the Vietnamese Government's commitments on seven priority areas in the Second Asian and Pacific Decade of Persons with Disabilities under the Biwako Millennium Framework.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also focuses on promoting international cooperation on people with disabilities, actively taking part in international experience-sharing activities in this field, including workshops, conferences, support projects and regional and international networks…
In implementing the Convention, associations can: Improve ways of communicating with the CRPD Committee, other UN agencies and other national and international associations; Exchange information on the Convention and monitor its implementation with other associations; Support the work of the CRPD Committee in implementing the Convention.
Supporting people with disabilities to integrate into the community and to have jobs is certainly the most practical thing to do, not only easing difficulties for people with disabilities and their families but also making an important contribution to the development of Vietnamese society.
Phuong Chi – http://nongnghiep.vn