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Vietnam’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Nguyen Phuong Nga made the remarks at the 8th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) held on June 9 at the UN headquarters in New York.
The event was attended by over 600 delegates from CRPD member countries and representatives from numerous organizations for persons with disabilities.
Vietnam attended the conference for the first time as an official member after it adopted the CRPD in February 2015.
In his speech, Deputy UN Secretary General, Jan Eliasson said the CRPD marked a drastic change in approach to issues related to disabled people in the perspective of charity to rights-based approach.
The UN official praised 154 nations for ratifying the Convention and urged them to continue fully implementing the CRPD, considering this as a foundation for carrying out the post 2015 Development Agenda including sustainable development goals which will be adopted at the UN Summit slated for September.
Ambassador Nguyen Phuong Nga said that although disability issues have long captured the global attention, persons with disabilities are facing difficulties such as poverty, inequality, discrimination and poor social welfare. Consequently, needs and rights of people with disabilities must be a priority in the post 2015 Development Agenda.
The Ambassador assured that Vietnam is actively implementing a project in support of people with disabilities in the period 2012-2020 regarding health care, education, employment, access to public services, legal advice, sports and culture while improving statistical data on people with disabilities.
Vietnam has always paid attention to facilitating people with disabilities through vocational training and job creation thus enabling them to fully and equally engage in the sustainable development process.
Nga also used the occasion to thank UN agencies and development partners, organizations and individuals for their valuable support for Vietnam’s efforts to protect and promote the rights of people with disabilities.
The conference running to June 11, covers round table discussions on poverty reduction and inequality, enhanced statistical data on persons with disabilities, the rights to education of women and children with disabilities and the impact of natural disasters and humanitarian crises for people with disabilities.
