Hanoi (VNA) – Over the past years, Vietnam has taken measures to assist personswith disabilities (PWDs) to access and use information technology, thus enablingthem to integrate into the community to a greater extent.

Thereare more than 7 million PWDs in Vietnam, accounting for over 7% of thepopulation aged 2 and over.

Amidthe strong IT development, the Party and State have issued many policies asseen in the Law on PWDs and by-law documents to facilitate PWDs’ IT access anduse, thus narrowing the gap between PWDs and able-bodied persons.

DangVan Thanh, Permanent Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Federation of Associationsfor PWDs, said the development of science and technology has substantially supportedPWDs to fully and equally integrate into society as it helps them engage in the exchange and search for information and seeking jobs.

NgoThi Huyen Minh, General Director of the Nghi Luc Song (Will to Live) JSC – a socialenterprise, said her company provides training for about 120 PWDs each year,and 70% of those trained in IT have gained jobs with good salary.

Thefirm is still seeking more IT-related jobs to train PWDs in the future, shenoted.

Thanhnoted that the State has earmarked budget for vocational training and jobcreation for PWDs, many of whom have accessed concessional loans, vocationaltraining, and capacity improvement training to develop production and businessactivities.

However,he said, aside from the state budget, the engagement of enterprises and socialorganisations is also critical to helping PWDs integrate into the community.

Thedisabled are still facing numerous difficulties in technology access. In particular,visually impaired persons still need help from others to handle procedures onpublic service portals.

TheMinistry of Information and Communications (MIC) has issued a circular on the application of standards and technology to facilitate PWDs’ access toand use of information and communications products and services.

DinhViet Anh, Vice Chairwoman of the Vietnam Blind Association, said she hopes thecoverage of this circular will be expanded to make it compulsory for allagencies and organisations to ensure their websites are friendly to visuallyimpaired persons in particular and PWDs in general so that they can easily accessinformation in the digital environment.

To help PWDs master technology, the Vietnam Federation of Associations forPWDs and 50 member organisations have frequently held IT training courses.

Thefederation has also coordinated with the MIC’s National Institute of Software andDigital Content Industry to design a data software on PWDs which includes information on the number of PWDs, their forms of disabilities, and those with demandfor education, health care, and employment. Basing on this, it willpropose and promote the amendment of policies to give the best possible assistancefor vulnerable groups, according to Thanh.

Inthe coming time, the federation and member organisations will carry out moreactivities to support PWDs, especially stepping up training in IT and online businessskills, along with the implementation of support policies so that PWDs can utiliseIT to improve their life quality and reduce dependence on society.

Forover 10 years since the ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of PWDsand the enforcement of the Law on PWDs, Vietnam has made unceasing efforts toimprove PWDs’ accessibility. Digital transformation in multiple areas hasproved a boost to their enjoyment of rights and integration into society./.