Moving Toward Disability Inclusion in Employment

The Disabled People’s Association in Hanoi, Vietnam (DP/Hanoi) provides Disability Equality Training (DET) to raise the awareness of non-disabled people about the barriers in the environment that prevent participation and equality for people with disabilities. DP/Hanoi helps training participants understand how they may be inadvertently contributing to a disabling environment and how to break the cycle of accessibility barriers. DET trainers assist training participants in developing concrete action plans for removing barriers that make it harder for people with disabilities to participate in work and their daily lives.

DP/Hanoi has implemented their project as part of an initiative of a partnership between the International Labour Organization (ILO) and Irish Aid.

In early stages of the Disability Equality Training (DET) program, project staff with the International Labour Organization (ILO) and Irish Aid partnership provided capacity-building assistance to the Disabled People’s Association in Hanoi, Vietnam (DP/Hanoi). DP/Hanoi improved its capacity to effectively manage and deliver workshops as DET trainers.

The DET program confronted cultural beliefs about equality and negative attitudes from officials. These challenges were addressed partly through revisions to the training program to include a module on national laws and policies on disability, emphasizing the government’s commitment to the human rights of people with disabilities. These revisions have helped motivate more training participants to complete the full training program.

DP/Hanoi has delivered a series of DET workshops with both disabled and non-disabled people representing agencies such as:

• The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA)
• Provincial and district representatives
• Disabled persons organizations (DPOs)
• Trade unions
• Employment centers
• The media

After training, some participants indicated they were ready to use their new experiences to promote change. For example:

 The Social Policy Bank, which is responsible for micro finance loans, asked DP/Hanoi for help in implementing their action plan.

The Hanoi Employment Center worked with DP/Hanoi to explore the idea of offering interactive sessions aimed at employers to identify their concerns in employing disabled job seekers and provide support, as needed.

The International Labour Organization and Irish Aid formed a partnership to implement two projects on disability and employment. One project, Promoting the Employability and Employment of People with Disabilities through Effective Legislation (PEPDEL), supports governments in improving disability laws and policies. Their other project, Promoting Decent Work for People with Disabilities through a Disability Inclusion Support Service (also called INCLUDE) worked to build regional and national capacity to enable disability inclusion in training, employment services, entrepreneurship, business development services, and microfinance. Both the PEPDEL and INCLUDE projects operated from 2001 to 2011. These projects were implemented in Vietnam, Ethiopia, Thailand, and Cambodia.