A series of activities to promote equality, progress and integration of the blind in ASEAN was launched by the Vietnam Blind Association (VBA)’s Central Committee on December 9.
Hanoi (VNA) – A series of activities to promote equality, progress and integration of the blind in ASEAN waslaunched by the Vietnam Blind Association (VBA)’s Central Committee on December9.
The activities are held on the occasion of the InternationalDay of Persons with Disabilities (December 3), and in response to the Asian andPacific Decade of Persons with Disabilities (2023-2032), aiming to promote theimplementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities,the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the ASEAN Enabling Master Plan 2025 onthe mainstreaming of the rights of persons with disabilities.
Addressing the launching ceremony, VBA Vice President Dinh VietAnh said that following the initiative of the Thailand Association of the Blind’s initiative, the ASEAN BlindCommunity Forum has become an annual event since 2013, creating a chance for organisationsfor and of the blind in the region to meet and discuss issues of shared interest, andseek measures to help blind people to overcome difficulties, promote theircapacity and integrate into society.
In the last three years, facing difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, seminars, meetings and club activities have been switched fromoffline to online format, helping the blind in the region to overcomedifficulties together, he noted.
Participants reviewed activities for the blind in the lastdecade in the Asia-Pacific region, and an ASEAN Enabling Master Plan 2025 on themainstreaming of the rights of persons with disabilities, the process ofjoining the Marrakesh Treaty, among others.
Pham Thi Hai Ha, Deputy Director of the Department of SocialAssistance under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA), said that the department will note down requests by the blind community duringthe activities and give responses, while focusing on implementing the ASEAN Enabling Master Plan 2025 on the mainstreaming of the rights of persons with disabilitiesas well as major contents of the Jakarta Declaration on the ensuring of rightsof persons with disabilities.
It will also concentrate on this year’s International Day ofPersons with Disabilities theme of “Transformative solutions for inclusivedevelopment: the role of innovation in fueling an accessible and equitableworld,” said Ha.
According to MOLISA, on December 6, adocument on Vietnam’s participation in the Marrakesh Treaty to FacilitateAccess to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired, orOtherwise Print Disabled was handed over to Director General of the WorldIntellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) Daren Tang for legal copyrighting./.
The Ministry of Planning and Investment presented 3,000 white canes to the Vietnam center for rehabilitation training for the blind at a ceremony on June 22, as part of the ministry’s initiative on supporting blind and visually impaired people.
The Vietnam Blind Association on December 23 held a workshop collecting ideas to serve the supplementation and adjustment of policies and laws on health and education for people with disabilities (PWDs).
The Ministry of Planning and Investment presented 3,000 white canes to the Vietnam Blind Association (VBA) at a ceremony on December 23, as part of the ministry’s initiative on supporting blind and visually impaired people.
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Illustrative image (Source: VNA) 
