Promoting the rights of disabled people
(VOV) -Vietnam has the fourth highest disability rate in the Asia-Pacific region with the cumulative number of disabled people accounting for 7.8% of the population, or 6.7 million people.
Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Trong Dam made the announcement at a seminar in Hanoi on September 24 introducing the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD).
In recent years Vietnam has undertaken great effort to complete the legal system to ensure disabled people’s rights, helping them improve their quality of life and better integrate into the community, Dam said.
The Chairman of the National Assembly Committee for External Relations (CER) Tran Van Hang in turn said the UNCRPD is the most comprehensive international convention to protect the rights of disabled people.
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As of September 2014, there are 158 signatories and 147 parties to the convention. Vietnam signed the convention on October 22, 2007 but has yet to ratify it.
As Vietnam is accelerating international integration and building a law-governed socialist state with a goal of becoming an equitable, democratic and civilized society, a ratification of the UNCRPD is of paramount importance to the country, Hang said.
It shows respect and protection of the legitimate rights of disabled people, which are enshrined in the Constitution and other legal documents the NA has issued such as the Law on Disabled People, Labour Code, Civil Code, Marriage and Family Law and Health Insurance Law.
The seminar aimed to prepare for CER inspection on the ratification of the convention and help the NA Standing Committee and NA deputies gain a better understanding of the basic contents of the UNCRPD.