A meeting with outstanding people with disabilities in 2015 (Photo VNA) Can Tho (VNA) – A workshop took place in the Mekong Delta City of Can Tho on February 27 to launch a local project on social inclusion of people with disabilities with an estimated funding of 400,000 USD.
Addressing the event, President of the Vietnam Federation for the Disabled (VNFFD) Dr. Dang Huynh Mai said people with disabilities are still facing discrimination and many barriers in access to healthcare, transport and educational services.
The project is vital to ensure the basic rights of people with disabilities, raise public awareness of their roles and at the same time, encourage them to contribute to society, Mai said.
Mai noted that the project will receive financial and technical support from organisations both at home and overseas, including the Vietnam Assistance for the Handicapped, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and the Norwegian Mission Alliance in Vietnam (NMA-V).
The project, running from March 11 to December 31, aims to support law-making and policy reforms to ensure the rights of people with disabilities and promote their equal participation in society. It also seeks to provide them better access to healthcare, rehabilitation, education, vocational training, employment, cultural services, sports and recreation, transport, information technology, and more.
Additional, the project supports capacity building for people with disabilities and their representative agencies in Can Tho City, notably the Can Tho Association of People with Disabilities and about 15 self-help groups of people with disabilities and parents of children with disabilities in nine districts of the city.
From March, the project will launch vocational training courses for people with disabilities based on needs of local businesses. The courses will cover areas of graphic design, advertising film production, and market connectivity for people aged 18-30. It will also encourage companies to provide jobs for the trainees after the courses finish. The vocational training component will cost an estimated 200 million VND (8,800 USD) and last in six months.
The project will organise three courses in social inclusion and equality for people with disabilities and local governmental officials to improve awareness of the rights of handicapped people and provide the governmental staff a better understanding of barriers faced by them.-VNA
VNA
