Improving legislation to promote training and employment opportunities for disabled persons in Asia will be the focus of a six-country meeting to be held in

Some seventy persons from China , Mongolia , Pakistan , Sri Lanka , Thailand and Viet Nam , will participate, consisting of representatives of governments, parliamentarians, disabled persons, workers, employers, legal experts and International Labour Organization (ILO) officials. 

The Minister of Labour, H.E. Mr. Somsak Thepsuthin, will open the meeting (subject to confirmation).  Prof. Vitit Muntarbhorn, Professor, Faculty of Law, Chulalongkorn Type University and UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Democratic Peoples' Type Republic of Korea and Mr. Suporntum Mongkolsawadi, Principal, Redemptorist Type Vocational School for the Disabled in Chon Buri will deliver the Keynote addresses.   

The aim of the meeting is to promote training and employment opportunities for women and men with disabilities, by examining how to improve the formulation and implementation of legislation and policies in a way that recognizes disabled people as citizens whose rights have to date not been protected or promoted.

Increasingly the disadvantages faced by disabled persons, their social exclusion and discrimination against them are perceived as issues of human rights rather than social welfare matters.  The shift to a human rights approach is reflected in recent legislation in various countries around the world, and in international and national human rights instruments. 

"While progress has been made and some outstanding examples of good practice exist, much remains to be done to ensure that national legislation concerning the training and employment of persons with disabilities is amended to reflect a rights-based approach," states Ms. Lin Lean Lim, Deputy Regional Director, ILO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific. 

The Technical Consultation on Employment of People with Disabilities:  A Human Rights Approach will be held at the United Nations Conference Center (UNCC), Conference Room 3, during 18-20 January 2006 (attendance by invitation only).  

The meeting is organized by the ILO in the framework of the project:  "Promoting the Employment of People with Disabilities through Effective Legislation."  Funded by the Government of Ireland, the project is implemented in four countries in Asia:  China , Mongolia , Thailand and Viet Nam . 

For further information, contact:  
Ms. Berit Mortensen
Project Coordinator/Asia
ILO Subregional Office for East Asia
 tel. 02 288 1564
e-maile-mail