Charity walk held to support persons with disabilities

Thousands of people on November 29 participated in a charity walk around Hoan Kiem Lake in the capital city of Hanoi to support persons with disabilities.

The programme aims to call for people from a variety of social strata to join hands and care for those with disabilities.

Speaking at the launching ceremony, Vice Chairwoman of the National Assembly Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan said the Party, State and people of Vietnam have paid attention to ensuring rights of disabled people and encourage them to become active members of the society.

(Photo: vov.vn)

She noted that laws and policies towards the disabled have been improved, citing the approval of the Law on Persons with Disabilities by the National Assembly in 2010 as an example.

During the process of international integration, Vietnam has committed to fully and actively participating in related regional and international programmes, the legislator said.

Vietnam signed the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2007. The document was ratified by the Vietnamese National Assembly during its freshly-concluded eighth session this month, she said.

According to her, thanks to these efforts, persons with disabilities, especially women and children, have seen their spiritual and material life improved significantly.

She attributed the results to the support of the international friends who help Vietnamese disabled people integrate into the community.

Ngan voiced her hope that more charity programmes will be launched in the coming time in order to better care for the disabled people.

Joining the event, Chairman of the 2014 Asia-Pacific of Disability Forum Kieng Soe Park expressed his wish that the walk will help raise public awareness of the rights of persons with disabilities as well as difficulties facing them.

Vietnam is now home to around 6.7 million disabled people, including 3.6 million women and 1.2 million children. Five million are living in rural areas.