The pledgewas made during the 2nd conference of the ASEAN Project which wasjointly held by the Asia-Pacific Development Centre on Disability(APCD) and the Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund in Hanoi on August 27.
Addressing the meeting, Minister of Labour,Invalids and Social Affairs Pham Thi Hai Chuyen said Vietnam hasworked out a wide-range of positive activities at national and regionallevels to attract disabled people’s involvement and carried out theMillennium Development Goals (MDGs) for them.
However, with around 6.7 million people with disabilities, equivalent to7.8 percent of the national population in 2011, the country stillconfronts various difficulties and challenges to strengthen theirparticipation in social integration activities and the offering ofsocial welfare to them.
The ASEAN Projectaims to improve the living standards and happiness of people withdisabilities in the region and increase their capacity, especially theability of vulnerable groups in community-based activities forintegration development.
It is a vital activityfor ASEAN to make its high-ranking leaders’ pledges real in the BaliDeclaration on the enhancement of the role and participation of personswith disabilities in the ASEAN community and respond to the ASEANDecade of Persons with Disability 2011-2020, the Asia-Pacific Decade ofPersons with Disabilities 2013-2022 and the Incheon Strategy to“Make the Right Real” for Persons with Disabilities in the Asia-Pacificregion.
At the conference, Vietnam alsopledged to spare no efforts to ratify the United NationsConvention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities as soon aspossible.-VNA

Vietnam's traditional products promoted at charity fair in Japan
As an active member of the Asia-Pacific Ladies Friendship Society (ALFS), the women’s union of the Vietnamese Embassy has participated in the fair for years, contributing to charity work and helping disadvantaged students in remote areas of Vietnam with the funds raised.