The United States calls on Vietnam to pay more attention to improving the law on the rights of people with disabilities and says it is ready to support Vietnam in this area.
That was also the focus of a trip more than a month ago by the senior US adviser on the rights of people with disabilities, Ms Judith Heumann, to Vietnam to discuss with government representatives and civil society issues of common US-Vietnamese concern relating to the rights of people with disabilities.
Ms Judith Heumann: The purpose of our trip was to meet civil society and government officials to learn about the situation of people with disabilities in Vietnam and to express our wish to continue developing the relationship between the United States and Vietnam, helping to improve the rights of people with disabilities in Vietnam.
VOA: What did you observe about the rights of people with disabilities in Vietnam through your meetings with state officials and professionals, and what you saw on the trip?
Ms Judith Heumann: Talking with people with disabilities in Vietnam, I see clearly that the civil society of people with disabilities here is developing more strongly than before. Many people with disabilities and their relatives want the state to work harder to bring about the significant changes essential to improving their quality of life in areas such as education and employment; to remove prejudice and stigma in society against people with disabilities; and to dismantle the barriers that limit their access.
I share the concerns of people with disabilities in Vietnam on issues such as the state setting standards requiring new buildings to take account of access for people with disabilities, but those standards not being effectively enforced. Many new roads and high-rise buildings have been built without following those standards, and people with disabilities still have difficulty accessing and using them. This should not happen.
If the government really put these standards into practice nationwide, those barriers would gradually be removed. For example, in the US over the past four or five decades many laws have been passed, including laws requiring construction to comply with standards for people with disabilities, and this has helped people with disabilities integrate into society. We also discussed with Vietnamese officials the economic impact of those barriers: they prevent people with disabilities from contributing financially to the nation, because they can pay taxes and contribute to society if they have the chance to study and work.
VOA: In your view, what are the biggest challenges people with disabilities in Vietnam face?
Ms Judith Heumann: It is extremely important that people with disabilities in urban and rural areas can together create civil society organisations. So one of the issues I raised was the importance of allowing more organisations to be set up, such as what in the US are called non-profit organisations. This will give people with disabilities and their relatives the chance to discuss together the issues, obstacles and stigma they face, and will also strengthen them.
People with disabilities need to understand the laws for them and need a voice to change how the government and the country operate. So they need to be organised and given the conditions for their voices to be heard freely.
People with disabilities do not want to be seen as people to be pitied or as medical objects. We want to be seen as people who can and very much want to contribute to society, but it is the barriers in society that are the obstacles.
VOA: What did you observe about the rights of people with disabilities in Vietnam in education, housing, employment and health, compared with state policy and law in these areas?
Ms Judith Heumann: I believe a few laws have been passed but need to be enforced more strongly. Rights are set out in law, but good laws that are not enforced are really the same as having no rights at all. The Vietnamese Government acknowledges that many children with disabilities are still not in school or have not received the same education as other children, few people with disabilities go on to higher education, and in the end people with disabilities find it harder to get work. Another reason people with disabilities find it hard to get work is the prejudice of employers who are reluctant to hire people with disabilities for fear it will affect their interests. So much more attention is needed in efforts to remove all these barriers, and that is what the state needs to do.
VOA: What plans does the United States have to help improve the rights of people with disabilities in Vietnam and promote Vietnam’s compliance with the International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities?
Ms Judith Heumann: We have of course offered to share information and work with the Vietnamese Government and civil society to help them enforce the law on the rights of people with disabilities more effectively and develop new laws if necessary. There are some US funds through the US Agency for International Development (USAID), but the issue here is not only about finance. We did not come to Vietnam to say that this is all the funding we are giving you. We came to say that we want to find ways to work together with Vietnam to help Vietnam advance the work it is doing now.
VOA: Thank you very much for taking the time for this exchange.
According to: http://vietnamhumanrightsdefenders.net