Cambodia has urged for cooperation to ensure that the rights of people with disabilities in ASEAN is enhanced and their well-being is taking into account to attract investment on them.
The call was made this morning by H.E. Em Chan Makara, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation of Cambodia, in the ASEAN High-Level Forum on Disability-Inclusive Development and Partnership Beyond 2025 being held in Makassar, South Sulawesi, Indonesia from Oct. 10 to 12.
The Cambodian secretary of state requested the ASEAN Ministers of Social Affairs to continue adhering to the principles of multilateral communication system and promoting liberalisation in order to enhance the rights of persons with disabilities in the ASEAN region to become an open, transparent and inclusive region, as well as maintaining the ASEAN centrality and unity in building global and regional relations focusing on disability.
Besides, he asked the ASEAN Ministers of Social Affairs to further improve the existing relations and comprehensive economic partnerships to ensure that those agreements remain modern, better and more responsive for the people with disabilities at the present time.
H.E. Em Chan Makara took the opportunity to highlight some of Cambodia’s achievements related to disability, including sign language interpreting at TV channels, development of comprehensive study materials required for people with disabilities, and the implementation of recruitment quota system to ensure inclusion in the workplace and events hosted by Cambodia such as the ASEAN Para Games, as well as the organisation of the 5th Asia-Pacific Community-based Inclusive Development Congress (CBID5).
