COVID-19 pandemic has been affecting all groups of population including people with disabilities who are affected the most , said David Payne, from UNDP in Vietnam. VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Ministries and State agencies are debating what employment for people with disabilities is appropriate and inappropriate, said Đinh Thị Thụy, Deputy Chief of Office of the Việt Nam National Committee on People with Disabilities.

“What policy is appropriate, and what policies need to be corrected?” asked Thụy of the committee under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs.

She was speaking at a workshop entitled 'Global trends in employment in information technology for people with disabilities' held in Hà Nội on Wednesday.

“The journey of finding jobs for people with disabilities is very difficult, the importance is that the job must be suitable for them,” said Nguyễn Thị Vân, Director of Dream Seed Centre.

At the workshop, David Payne, an expert from the UNDP in Vietnam, said that the COVID-19 pandemic has been affecting all of the population, including people with disabilities who are affected the most.

A survey to assess the socio-economic impact of the pandemic conducted by UNDP in Vietnam on 986 people with disabilities showed 72 per cent of the respondents had an income of less than VNĐ1 million in March of 2020.

It also reported 30 per cent of them lost their jobs, 49 per cent had their working hours reduced and 59 per cent had wages cut.

“This has shown the vulnerability of people with disabilities, as well as the risk of being left behind," Payne said.

“The UNDP is working closely with the Dream Seed Centre to provide training courses for people living with disabilities on new skills in information technology, such as video editing, photo to meet the great demand of the current market," he added.

Some representatives from IT enterprises shared lessons learned in the successful recruitment of people with disabilities and experience in vocational training.

Organised by the Dream Seed Centre (in Hà Nội) and United Nations Development Programme in Vietnam (UNDP), the workshop was also supported by the Embassy of Japan.

Results of the national survey on people with disabilities in Việt Nam conducted by the General Statistics Office reported the country has more than 6.2 million people with disabilities. Besides, there are nearly 12 million others (about 13 per cent of the population) living in houses with disabled members. — VNS