Hanoi (VNA) – The United Nations has recentlylaunched a joint project, themed “Working together for an inclusive future. Implementingthe Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) througheffective collaboration.”

Launched just before the World Day of Social Justice (February20), the joint project brings together the expertise and experience of threeagencies - UNICEF, UNFPA and UNDP - in supporting national and provincialauthorities and organisations of persons with disabilities (OPDs) to supportmulti-sectoral interventions in support of the fulfillment of the Convention onthe Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in Vietnam.

It is funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs andTrade (DFAT) of Australia and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway, whoare longstanding donors of the UN Partnership on the Rights of Persons withDisabilities (UNPRPD) Multi-Partner Trust Fund.

The project aims to serve as a vehicle formulti-stakeholder dialogue and partnership to ensure results and impact towardsa CRPD compliance environment in Vietnam, which is fundamental to ensure thematerialisation of the principles of leaving no one behind and building backbetter a more inclusive society for all.

Addressing the launch, Vu Thi Kim Hoa, Deputy Directorof the Department of Child Affairs under the Vietnamese Ministry of Labor,Invalids and Social Affairs said Vietnam still struggles to transform theprovision of the CRPD into concrete policies, systems, and services.

“For this UN joint project, it is a great pleasure forus to be a key partner in capacity-building activities and work together on theessential ‘pre-conditions’ that are indispensable for addressing the needs andopportunities of people with disabilities in public policymaking and programmingacross all sectors”.

During the formulation of this joint project, UNDP hasled the UNPRPD situation analysis in Vietnam which highlighted significantchallenges related to the limited participation of OPDs in the planning,implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of national programmes.

In the next two years, UNDP, UNFPA and UNICEF aspartner agencies, will therefore work towards building the capacity of organisationsof persons with disabilities and policymakers on CRPD-compliant policy makingand implementation; identifying and addressing gaps in the achievement ofessential building blocks or preconditions to CRPD implementation indevelopment and humanitarian programmes; and strengthening thedisability-inclusive monitoring and accountability of Vietnam’s NationalSocio-Economic Development Plan 2021-2025 through the lenses of the CRPDframework.

“People with disability account for 7 percent of Vietnam’spopulation. We as UN agencies recognise persons with disabilities as key partnersin our efforts toward sustainable development in Vietnam, not just asbeneficiaries,” said UNDP Resident Representative Caitlin Wiesen.

“Persons with disabilities should not be only engagedin disability-focused policies, their rights and voices should be integratedinto Vietnam’s programmes for implementing the National Socio-EconomicDevelopment Strategy. As the coordinator of the joint UN project, UNDP willwork closely with all partners to empower people with disability to enabletheir full participation in the law-making process from the planningstages.  Together we will act to leveragea multi-sectoral approach that addresses fundamental issues needed to drivesystemic and effective changes towards disability inclusion.”

For her part, UNFPA Representative in Vietnam NaomiKitahara said she believes in the power of people with disabilities, as asolution for societal change, as a solution for policy agenda, as a solution tolead Vietnam to achieve SDGs, and as a solution to protect and promote therights of persons with disabilities.

“We are confident that this project will advance ourwork further, by building capacity to transform Vietnam’s commitment to the UNConvention into a reality through inclusive policies, systems and services thatbenefit all men, women and children with disabilities,” said UNICEF Deputy Representative in Vietnam Lesley Miller.

The project is implemented in a favourable legalenvironment where Vietnam’s government is strongly committed to ensuring thatpeople with disabilities can fully participate in society and equally enjoytheir fundamental rights.

The Government has enacted the Law on Persons withDisabilities since 2010 and is going to revise it in upcoming years. Vietnam also ratified the CRPD in 2015, andvarious master plans and policies have been issued to guide the CRPD and theLaw implementation./.