Story of Change

Children[1] have always been a top priority requiring care, support, and protection from families, communities, and society. Children with disabilities, in particular, belong to a group that requires special care and support according to the policies of Vietnamese law.[2] According to reports from UNICEF (2016 and 2017), there are approximately 1.1 million children with disabilities under the age of 16 in Vietnam. The statistics from the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) also show that the number of children with disabilities is 1.3 million.[3] In terms of proportion, the disability rate in general in our country is 7.06% of the population, of which the disability rate of children aged 2 to 17 is 2.83% (children aged 2-15 is 3.02%).[4] It can be seen that the number of children with disabilities in Vietnam is not small at present. The policies that support, protect, and care for children with disabilities are reflected in the Law on Persons with Disabilities 2010, and the Law on Children 2016, and are integrated into many different laws in various areas such as social protection, health, education and vocational training, and labour. This article focuses on addressing some of the issues related to policy determination of disability level and recommendations for improving this policy area to strengthen the legal basis to ensure the rights and benefits of children with disabilities in our country.

SESSION I - SUGGESTIONS TO COMPLETE CHAPTER I OF DISABILITY LAW 2010 Vietnam's Disability Law was established in 2010 and for the past 10 years has always been considered the prominent legal basis to ensure the implementation of the rights for persons with disabilities in many fields. However, after carrying out The Law for a period of time, Disability Law 2010 has revealed several shortcomings that failed to meet the requirements of the Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities (CRPD) as well as lack of synchronization with the legal system of Vietnam. Those inadequacies raised an urgent request for research to revise and improve the Disability Law to be consistent with the CRPD, which Vietnam has been participating in, and the current legal system, as well as to be in accordance with the current socio-economic growing status in Vietnam. From this, a concrete legal basis is built to guarantee the practicality of rights of persons with disabilities in Vietnam.1  The scope of research into the policies of Disability Law is extremely wide, therefore, in this article, the author would like to address a number of issues in hope of contributing to the completion of the contents in Chapter I (general provisions) of Disability Law 2010. 

SESSION III: PROBLEMS ABOUT ISSUANCE HEALTH INSURANCE CARDS FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES  Health care and protection is an essential need of human beings, especially for persons with disabilities, this need becomes further more important and urgent. Rooted in the objective and legitimate needs, the rights of persons with disabilities to receive health care and protection, training and rehabilitation were acknowledged in Chapter III of Disability Law 2010 as well as other specialized legal documents[1] in Vietnam. On a fundamental basis, the system of healthcare policies for persons with disabilities in our country has ensure alignment with the spirit of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD, Articles 25-26), However, after a decade of practical implementations, several areas regarding healthcare in Disability Law 2010 and the specialized document system have revealed inadequacies and restraints, including the regulations about the rights to receive health insurance cards for persons with disabilities. More specifically:

SESSION II: SUGGESTIONS TO COMPLETE CHAPTER II OF DISABILITY LAW 2010 Some shortcomings related to the Disability Determination Councils During its over 10 years of implementation, the 2010 Law on Persons with Disabilities has shown that the communal Disability Determination Councils has played an important role in the process of determining and re-determining the disability degree for persons with disabilities. By the end of 2016, all 63 cities and provinces had carried out disability determination services and granted disability certificates for 266,639 persons with severe disability, 634,567 persons with moderate disability and 543,126 persons with minor disability [1]. However, the regulations related to the Disability Determination Councils under the provisions of the 2010 Law on Persons with Disabilities have also gradually revealed some shortcomings.

SESSION 4: THE ISSUE OF ENSURING THE RIGHTS OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES TO EDUCATION As a member state of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), Vietnam has acknowledged and implemented the rights of persons with disabilities to education with a clear orientation. However, the current regulations of the Disability Law still have several problems. This has resulted in the ensuring rights to study of persons with disabilities facing difficulties and challenges that need to be further revised and amended in the near future. 

SESSION VI: DISCUSSION ON ISSUES ABOUT COMPLETING POLICIES TO STRENGTHEN MEANS TO ENSURE THE RIGHTS OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES IN THE FIELD OF CULTURE, PHYSICAL EXERCISE, SPORTS, ENTERTAINMENT AND TOURISM IN DISABILITY LAW 2010  As a part of the series of articles written to help complete Disability Law 2010, in this session, the Editorial Board will present to the readers an article focusing on analyzing several policies about ensuring accessibility and inclusivity for persons with disabilities in the field of culture, physical exercise and sports, entertainment, and tourism. This article will also mention several problems and shortcomings from the institutions, as well as propose some content related to strengthening the aforementioned policies. 

SESSION VI DISCUSSION ON ISSUES OF APARTMENT BUILDINGS AND PUBLIC FACILITIES ENSURING ACCESSIBILITY FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES In recent years, new construction and renovation of high-rise apartments and public facilities have generally focused on implementing regulations in accordance with standards to ensure access to persons with disabilities. However, current practice suggests that public buildings and condominiums are not truly ensured access to the disabled, which in general has become a barrier to persons with disabilities having difficulty in their daily lives.

SESSION VIII DISCUSSION ON ACCESSIBLE TRANSPORTATION FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES Accessible traffic has been evolving in numerous countries around the world, with an increasingly civilized, polite, safe, and convenient transportation system, wishing to satisfy the travel needs of everyone in society, including persons with disabilities. In Vietnam, ensuring traffic access for persons with disabilities is permanently a matter of concern to the Party and State with specific policies, programs, and projects. However, the policies related to traffic access are not truly adequate, some regulations have not been implemented and effectively applied in practice so far. This invisible medium has become a barrier leading to persons with disabilities having considerable difficulties in participating in traffic.

SESSION VIII: DISCUSSING THE ISSUE OF ENSURING THE RIGHTS OF PEOPLE WITH HEARING AND SPEECH DISABILITIES IN THE FIELD OF MEDICAL EXAMINATION AND TREATMENT IN VIETNAM TODAY According to General Statistics Office statistics, as of the end of 2016 at the beginning of 2017, 6,225519 persons with disabilities aged 2 years or older in the country, including 933,896 persons with hearing disabilities and 836,247 people with communication problems [1]. Due to health conditions, in practice, the demand for medical examination and treatment of persons with disabilities (including persons with hearing disabilities) is exceptionally high, [2] however, the access to medical examination and treatment services for persons with disabilities, especially those with hearing disabilities, is also difficult. This paper addresses several issues to contribute to the finalisation of legal policies and enforcement mechanisms to ensure the rights of people with disabilities to listen and speak in health care in VietNam during the current period.