Mission to Lao PDR
13 - 16 March 2007
APCD mobilized resource persons to participate in a
seminar "The Legal Framework on Disability in Vientiane,
Lao People's Democratic Republic from 14-15 March 2007.
Resource persons included Mr. Nghiem Xuan Tue, Director, National Coordinating Council on Disability of Vietnam (NCCD), Mr. Monthian Buntan, APCD Board Member/President, Thailand Association of the Blind (TAB), Royal Thai Government's delegation to the United Nations Ad Hoc Committee of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and Ms. Sunee Saisupatpon, Director, Bureau of the Empowerment for Persons with Disabilities, Ministry of Social Development and Human Security, Royal Thai Government.
The National Committee on Disabled People (NCDP) of Lao PDR organized the Seminar in collaboration with the Lao Disabled People's Association (LDPA), and it was sponsored by the Netherlands Embassy in Bangkok, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA-Lao PDR), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and APCD.
The objectives of the seminar were to know the global situation of the legal framework on disability, especially the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; to know the ratification process of conventions in Lao PDR and the Vietnamese situation and drafting process of a legal framework on disability issues, as well as the Thai situation.
Participants included representatives from the Government level such as the Ministries of Labour and Social Welfare, Foreign Affairs, etc. as well as representatives of other organizations such as ILO, JICA, UNDP, etc.
Mr. Phetsavang Sounnalath, Chairman, anticipates completing the draft of the Disability Decree by May 2007 so that the Government of Lao PDR can report its achievements for the UNESCAP Mid-term Evaluation of the Biwako Millennium Frame for Action (BMF).
A representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from the Department of International Treaty and Legal Affairs, along with an UNDP Expert on Good Governance, expressed interest in ratifying the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Many questions and answers were exchanged on the Convention and the Vietnamese Government's decrees and policies on disability since the Lao PDR has a similar political and organizational situation as Viet Nam.
