Seoul (VNA) – The Republic of Korea (RoK)’s non-governmentalorganisation Medipeace held a forum on November 11 to seek ways to enhance theVietnam-RoK cooperation in supporting the disabled in the central province ofQuang Tri.

At the event, held at the headquarters of theKorean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) in Seoul, Secretary of theQuang Tri Party Committee Nguyen Van Hung said there remain numerous difficultiesfacing people with disabilities in his province, and they need more supportfrom the whole of society, including NGOs and foreign governments, to bringinto play their abilities and help them overcome social barriers so they arenot left behind.

He believed the model of combining socialservices with functional rehabilitation centres services used in the RoK issuitable for Vietnam. He expressed his hope that KOICA will sponsor thebuilding of a social protection and rehabilitation centre in Quang Tri andassist the province to carry out this model to facilitate the targeted group’saccess to social and rehabilitation services, thus helping with theimplementation of the Law on Persons with Disabilities and the UN Convention onthe Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Vietnam.

At the forum, Vietnamese Ambassador to the RoKNguyen Vu Tu thanked the RoK Government, KOICA and Medipeace for carrying out anumber of humanitarian assistance activities in Quang Tri.

He said he hopes that apart from Quang Tri,other Vietnamese localities will continue to receive support from the RoKGovernment and NGOs from the Northeast Asian country.

For his part, Kim Un Sop, head of the socialcooperation division at KOICA, said his agency will continue reinforcing tieswith domestic and foreign organisations to help bring better lives to thedisabled in developing countries. He expected more chances to actively discussthis issue with Vietnam.

Vietnam is currently the largest assistancerecipient of the RoK, while the RoK is the second biggest supplier of officialdevelopment assistance to Vietnam.

Over the years, Quang Tri has carried out manycooperation activities with the RoK. Aside from projects funded by thecountry’s Government, it has also received support from NGOs, especiallyMedipeace, for the local healthcare sector, including in capacity building formedical workers, rehabilitation of disabled children, and medical equipmentprovision for disadvantaged areas.

Quang Tri was a fierce battlefield during thewartime and is contaminated with unexploded ordnance (UXO). It is striving tobecome the first locality in Vietnam to be free of post-war UXO impacts in2025. 

Thanks to local efforts and assistance fromforeign organisations, UXO accidents in Quang Tri have fallen from about 70 peryear between 2001 and 2005 to two in 2017. Notably, the province did not recordany UXO victims in 2018./.