-         Mr. Vu Minh Duc, Director, Department of Teachers and Educational Administrators, Ministry of Education and Training

-        Ms. Vu Thi Kim Hoa, Deputy Director of the Department of Child Protection and Care, the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs;

-        Mr. Dang Van Thanh – Deputy President of Viet Nam Federation on Disability;

-        Representatives from organizations of and for persons with disabilities, university, and mass media

-        Representatives from UN sister agencies, especially UNFPA and UNICEF and colleagues

-        Everyone who has taken the time to be with us, good morning and welcome to Green One UN House.

On behalf of UNICEF, UNFPA and UNDP, the coordinating agencies of the United Nations Partnership on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Multi-Partner Trust Fund (UNPRPD) in Viet Nam, I am delighted to warmly welcome you all to the Joint Project Launch: “Working together for an inclusive future.  Implementing the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) through effective collaboration”.

This Joint-UN Project brings together the expertise and experience of three agencies (UNICEF, UNFPA and UNDP) in supporting national and provincial authorities and organizations of persons with disabilities to support multi-sectoral interventions in support of CRPD fulfillment in Viet Nam.

At the global level, UNDP led the conceptualization and operationalization of the UNPRPD MPTF in 2011, and since then has been hosting the Technical Secretariat of this UN global joint programme and its current Policy Board Chair. Through more than 30 joint programmes globally, the UNPRPD has generated significant changes towards a more inclusive society, and witnessed key results undertaken in the disability inclusion landscape. These results have been possible thanks to many partner organizations and the longstanding support of donors of the UNPRPD Trust Fund, I would like to especially acknowledge the generous contribution of the governments of Australia, Finland, Norway and Sweden.   

As we heard from Natalia, in 2021, the UN in Viet Nam was honored to be selected as one of 26 countries out of 111 applications.  This joint programme is nation-wide with duration of 2-years (2022-2023) and focused on 23 provinces where organizations of persons with disabilities have been established.

As you may know, this UN joint project is being launched today at a critical point in time. First, this year we are celebrating the 45th anniversary of Viet Nam’s membership to the United Nations this year (1977-2022). Second, this is the first UN Joint-Project launched in the Lunar year of the Tiger. And third, today’s event is taking place at the backdrop of the second (virtual) Global Disability Summit 2022 (Feb 16-17,2022) which aims at generating ambitious commitments from Member States to advance the implementation of the UNCRPD.  

This Joint UN project aims to serve as a vehicle for multi-stakeholder dialogue and partnership to ensure results and impact towards a CRPD compliance environment in Viet Nam, which is fundamental to ensure the materialization of the principles of leaving no one behind and building back better a more inclusive society for all.

The project is implemented in a favorable legal environment where Viet Nam’s government is strongly committed to ensuring that PwDs can fully participate in society and equally enjoy their fundamental rights. The GoV has enacted the Law on Persons with Disabilities in 2010 and is going to revise it in upcoming years.  Viet Nam also ratified the CRPD in 2015, and various master plans and policies have been issued to guide the CRPD and the implementation of relevant laws.

Allow me to highlight three key outcomes of the United Nations Joint Project we are aiming to achieve in the next two years:

First, building the capacity of organizations of persons with disabilities and policymakers on CRPD-compliant policy making and implementation. This is foundational for all stakeholders to develop mutual understanding of CRPD standards and collective actions on how to fully include persons with disabilities in the decision-making process. This is also the first step to realize the CRPD motto “Nothing about us without us”.

Second, identifying and addressing gaps in the achievement of essential building blocks or preconditions to CRPD implementation in development and humanitarian programmes. This second outcome is built upon the attainment of the first. Once persons with disabilities are empowered, they will effectively contribute to the law making and its enforcement through their expertise to make the national laws and policies CRPD compliant. Simultaneously, studies will be conducted to identify gaps in the current legal framework and law implementation to provide evidence-based recommendations for the CRPD fulfilment. As the Law on Persons with Disabilities, policies on the right to information access, inclusive education, and sexual and reproductive health rights will be reviewed and revised soon, this joint project will enable the participation of persons with disabilities in the law-making process from the early planning stages and leverage a multi-sectoral approach to address fundamental issues needed to drive systemic and effective changes towards disability inclusion.

Third, strengthening the disability-inclusive monitoring and accountability of Viet Nam’s National Socio-Economic Development Plan 2021-2025 through the lenses of the CRPD framework. Persons with disabilities should not be only engaged in disability-focused policies, their rights and voices should be integrated into programs designed to deliver Viet Nam’s National Socio-Economic Development Strategy. This will be possible through national disability-disaggregated data, CRPD-compliant budgeting and programming, disability-inclusive governance, and accountability mechanism, among others.  Persons with disabilities will be visible and put at the center of our sustainable development strategies. As emphasized by the UN Secretary- General Guterres, and here I quote, “upholding the rights of people with disabilities is not only a moral imperative, but also a recognition of rights and a practical necessity if we are to build sustainable societies”.

On behalf of three project implementing agencies - UNDP, UNFPA, and UNICEF - I would like to appreciate the effective contribution from Representatives of line ministries, organizations of and for persons with disabilities, academia, business, and mass media during the project design phase from April to December 2021. Without your important insights, our joint project would not have come to fruition. We would like to express our deepest gratitude to the Technical Secretariat of the UNPRPD for their dedicated support throughout the inception phase. Our special thanks also go to all, participants, speakers and panelists, our colleagues at UNFPA, UNICEF UNDP, and other UN agencies, who made this event a great start of the New Year and the new joint project.

To conclude, we as UN agencies recognize persons with disabilities as key partners in our efforts toward sustainable development in Viet Nam, not just as beneficiaries, but as agents of change.

I wish you a successful event today and hope that this will be the first of frequent meaningful consultations with persons with disabilities in policy formulation for a green, inclusive Viet Nam where No One is Left Behind.

Thank you, xin cam on va chuc suc khoe!