Employment is also a need for people with disabilities, and including them in the labour force can boost the country’s economy. (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Vietnam has made animportant step in the development of its labour market by ratifying ILOConvention 159 on Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment for DisabledPersons, further proving the country’s commitment to eliminating employmentdiscrimination against people with disabilities.
Under the convention, countries must modify orabolish existing laws, regulations and customs that constitute discriminationagainst persons with disabilities, among others. It also outlines actions andpolicies at the national level to develop vocational rehabilitation andemployment services for people with disabilities.
Some notable measures include providingvocational guidance, training and other related services to enable persons withdisabilities to secure and retain employment, and ensuring they have access torehabilitation counselors.
Equality of opportunity and treatment is afundamental principle of social justice. The Vietnamese Government hasrecognised that ratifying ILO Convention 159 will enable Vietnam to continuealigning its legal framework with international labour standards to protectvulnerable worker groups.
This ratification is a further step tostrengthen the country’s existing legal framework to support people withdisabilities, which includes the 2010 Law on Persons with Disabilities, the2012 National Action Plan to Support People with Disabilities to providevocational training and jobs for 250,000 people with disabilities and theratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in2014.
Vietnam will continue its commitment to equalopportunities for people with disabilities by creating policy incentives forenterprises. Monitoring and inspection of policy implementation will also bestrengthened at vocational training institutions and workplaces.
“The inclusion of workers with disabilitiesmeans leaving no one behind in the economic and labour market development,”said ILO Vietnam Director Chang-Hee Lee. “It is not only a matter of humanrights but also of business success. By including people with disabilities,companies, individuals and society at large all win.”
An ILO study concluded Vietnam loses about 3 percentof its Gross Domestic Product as the result of the exclusion of persons withdisabilities from the labour market.
According to ILO Labour Economist ValentinaBarcucci, “much of the exclusion and disadvantage that people with disabilitiesface are not due to their individual impairments”.
“They are a consequence of how society and theworkplace react to that impairment,” she said. “Policy and legislation are ademonstration of such reaction, and a critical step to lead change.”
By focusing on skills rather than stereotypes,employers can access an untapped pool of talent.
Convention 159 is the 23rd ILO convention Vietnamhas ratified. It will be effective 12 months from the date of submission of Vietnam’sdossier to be registered with the ILO Director General.
Vietnam also plans to ratify Convention 98on the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining – one of the remainingfundamental conventions – by the end of 2019.-VNS/VNA
Under the convention, countries must modify orabolish existing laws, regulations and customs that constitute discriminationagainst persons with disabilities, among others. It also outlines actions andpolicies at the national level to develop vocational rehabilitation andemployment services for people with disabilities.
Some notable measures include providingvocational guidance, training and other related services to enable persons withdisabilities to secure and retain employment, and ensuring they have access torehabilitation counselors.
Equality of opportunity and treatment is afundamental principle of social justice. The Vietnamese Government hasrecognised that ratifying ILO Convention 159 will enable Vietnam to continuealigning its legal framework with international labour standards to protectvulnerable worker groups.
This ratification is a further step tostrengthen the country’s existing legal framework to support people withdisabilities, which includes the 2010 Law on Persons with Disabilities, the2012 National Action Plan to Support People with Disabilities to providevocational training and jobs for 250,000 people with disabilities and theratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in2014.
Vietnam will continue its commitment to equalopportunities for people with disabilities by creating policy incentives forenterprises. Monitoring and inspection of policy implementation will also bestrengthened at vocational training institutions and workplaces.
“The inclusion of workers with disabilitiesmeans leaving no one behind in the economic and labour market development,”said ILO Vietnam Director Chang-Hee Lee. “It is not only a matter of humanrights but also of business success. By including people with disabilities,companies, individuals and society at large all win.”
An ILO study concluded Vietnam loses about 3 percentof its Gross Domestic Product as the result of the exclusion of persons withdisabilities from the labour market.
According to ILO Labour Economist ValentinaBarcucci, “much of the exclusion and disadvantage that people with disabilitiesface are not due to their individual impairments”.
“They are a consequence of how society and theworkplace react to that impairment,” she said. “Policy and legislation are ademonstration of such reaction, and a critical step to lead change.”
By focusing on skills rather than stereotypes,employers can access an untapped pool of talent.
Convention 159 is the 23rd ILO convention Vietnamhas ratified. It will be effective 12 months from the date of submission of Vietnam’sdossier to be registered with the ILO Director General.
Vietnam also plans to ratify Convention 98on the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining – one of the remainingfundamental conventions – by the end of 2019.-VNS/VNA
VNA
