One of the most exciting developments in VNAH’s efforts to assist the disabled is the Office of Disabilities Technical Assistance (ODTA) in Hanoi. VNAH, in partnership with the United States President’s Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities, has embarked on a program to assist the efforts of the Vietnamese government to improve and update Vietnamese national policies and programs that benefit the disabled. VNAH works with its Vietnamese counterparts has provided technical assistance to support the enactment of that country’s first comprehensive Ordinance on Disabled Persons.
With funding from the United States Agency for International Development we are now working to provide technical assistance and support to the relevant agencies of the Vietnamese Government for the implementation of priority provisions of that law. Special attention is being directed to barrier-free access, the employment of people with disabilities and the strengthening of groups of and for the disabled. We are particularly pleased that John Lancaster, the former Executive Director of the United States President’s Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities, has now assumed the position of Director of the ODTA, our office in Hanoi that helps guide and coordinate this important effort. |
