(VOVWORLD) - Stories about life, difficulties to find jobs, vocational training, basic social services, and legitimate aspirations of persons with disabilities were shared at a forum in Hanoi on Wednesday.
 Persons with disabilities in Hanoi are presented with gifts. (Photo: VOV)
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Nguyen Van Hoi, Deputy Minister of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs and Deputy Chairman of the National Committee for Persons with Disabilities, said persons with disabilities account for 7% of Vietnam’s population aged 2 years and older.
A majority of them in rural areas has difficult living conditions and need great support from the state and the community, said Hoi, adding, “Vietnam has about 7 million people with disabilities, of whom those with severe and extremely severe disabilities account for 28.9% and 10% are poor households.”
“Vietnam is one of the countries in Asia-Pacific having a relatively high rate of people with disabilities on the total population. Most of them live in rural areas and have a very difficult life," said Hoi.
Over the past years, Vietnam has adopted several regulations and effectively implemented the Constitution, the Law on People with Disabilities and specialized laws for persons with disabilities.
Vietnam ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2014 and ILO Convention 159 on Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment for Disabled Persons in 2019.
The forum was held by the National Committee for Persons with Disabilities, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and Vietnam Paralympic Association, in response to the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, December 3.