- Mr. Le Trung Hieu, Deputy General Director of General Statistics Office, Ministry of Planning and Investment

- Ms. Vu Thi Kim Hoa, Deputy Director General, Department of Children, MOLISA and Social Affairs

- Mr. Ta Ngoc Tri, Deputy Director General of Primary Education Department, Ministry of Education and Training

- Mr. Dang Van Thanh, Deputy Vice President of Vietnam Federal on Persons with Disabilities

Representatives from Line ministries, organizations of and for persons with disabilities, scholars and media.

On behalf of UNDP, the coordinating agency of the Joint Programme “Working together for an inclusive future.  Implementing the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) through effective collaboration” and implemented by UNDP, UNICEF and UNFPA, I am very pleased to welcome you to this consultation, which is held to collect your feedback and inputs for our study on “Developing output indicators for the National Survey on Persons with Disabilities 2023 (VDS 2023)” jointly conducted by UNDP and Viet Nam Federation on Disability (VFD).

As we all know, the first National Survey on Persons with Disabilities was rolled out in 2016, using an internationally standardized toolkit for measuring disability. This survey is part of the National Statistical Survey Program, issued by the Prime Minister in the Decision No. 803/QD-TTg dated 28 June 2012. The objective of the Survey was to assess disability status in Viet Nam’s population and related living conditions for evidence-based planning and policy formulation on persons with disabilities (PWDs); monitor and evaluate the implementation of policies and laws on PWDs in Viet Nam, as well as international commitments of Viet Nam’s government on PWDs.  

Through that survey, for the first time, we had an overview of the disability rate in the general population nation-wide, types and degrees of disability, as well as PWDs’ living conditions and the level of PWDs’ integration in a number of areas such as health care, social protection, education, employment, etc, a comparison of disability rates between socio-economic regions. Until now, there have been many reports by State agencies, organizations of and for persons with disabilities, disability experts still using data published in this survey.

However, after 6 years, the 2016 National Survey on Persons with Disabilities (VDS 2016) no longer accurately reflects the current situations of Vietnamese PWDs. Those data need to be updated and supplemented to better support the monitoring of disability-inclusive socio-economic development programs and policies, and also to better meet the law and policy-making requirements in line with international commitments, particularly the upcoming amendment of the Law on Persons with Disabilities, the monitoring of the implementation of disability-mainstreaming laws and policies and the International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).

In 2021, in the Inception Phase of the project “Working together for an inclusive future: implementing the International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities through Effective Cooperation”, three United Nations agencies (UNDP) , UNICEF and UNFPA conducted a situational Analysis of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Viet Nam. The report revealed the data scarcity, and lack of disability data disaggregation and harmonization. Specifically: Out of the 158 sustainable development indicators of Viet Nam (VSDGs), only 8 require data disaggregated by disabilities. Among these eight indicators, only two indicators (1.2.3 - Number of beneficiaries of monthly social allowance in the community and 1.2.5 - Number of people living and being cared for in social protection facilities or social housing) are collected by both the General Statistics Office and the National Council on disability (NCD) through statistical surveys and administrative reporting.  

Data of Up to 4 out of 8 indicators to assess the level of disability inclusion in different areas of VSDG are not collected by NCD, such as 16.6.1: Proportion of population satisfied with their most recent experience of public services. During our consultations for this Situational Analysis Report, organizations of persons with disabilities pointed out that the available data on PWDs were insufficient and confusing. There is a serious shortage of data on specific groups of PWDs, especially those who are most marginalized, including persons with hearing and print disabilities. It is difficult to find disability data; and when found, it is unclear which source should be cited due to the inconsistency of data reported by different Government agencies. In 2021, UNDP also built up capacities of organizations of persons with disabilities to select indicators to monitor CRPD implementation at the national and sub-national levels over the next two years across nine areas, including combating discrimination ( Article 5), children with disabilities (Article 7), accessibility (Article 9), combating all forms of abuse/violence (Article 16), and Freedom of expression and access to information (Article 21).

Stemming from the legislative, academic and practical needs mentioned above, the General Statistics Office has planned to launch the second National Survey on Persons with Disabilities in 2023 (VDS 2023). During this planning phase, UNDP is honored to contribute to the survey's comprehensiveness and alignment with international standards by supporting the development of a set of output indicators for VDS 2023, which is not only used in VDS 2023, but also serves the disability data disaggregation in other national statistical surveys, contributing evidences to the development of disability-inclusive socio-economic policies  and programs. With the participatory and data user-centered approach, UNDP organizes this consultation to listen to your feedback on our draft output indicators for VDS 2023.  

UNDP would like to express our deep gratitude to VFD for your close partnership with us in organizing this consultation. We also extend our sincere thanks to the statistical expert Nguyen Dinh Chung, who supports UNDP with the output indicators drafting, and to all of you for spending your valuable time participating in this workshop and providing comments on our draft indicators for VDS 2023.

Wishing you all good health and a quality discussion.