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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
Bangkok
18-20 January.
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
University
and UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the
Democratic Peoples'
Republic
of
Korea
and Mr. Suporntum Mongkolsawadi, Principal,
Redemptorist
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
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Public Information
