Empowering and disseminating the rights of people with disability to society 

From the summary of the report on the activity of collecting data on people with disability in Xiengkhuang province, there are a total of 5,987 people with disability who are still  facing issues in many areas such as the problem of not having enough income to live. Problems with employment opportunities, problems with lack of caregivers or lack of tools/equipment to help people with disabilities, problems with non-standard access to residential buildings, and problems with lack of access to education.

People with Disability Development Association (PDDA) organized activities to build strength, equality and development people with disability community according to the existing legislation with the Department of Labor and Social Welfare of Xiengkhuang Province, based on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and the Law on Persons with Disabilities, No. 57/NA, to be a reference  for the society to understand the rights of the people  with disabilty without discrimination, to be able to live together equally under the support of a grant from the VOICE organization.

In that, we have goals and objectives to empower the group of people with disabilities to have leadership, a management system that is valid according to the laws of the Lao PDR, easy to coordinate in helping people with disabilities to meet the goals, to ensure that people with disabilities have careers and jobs according to their own needs, to carry the burden of the community and the families of people with disabilities themselves.

There have been many outstanding activities, including our participation in the selection of village coordinators for individuals with disabilities across 35 villages in 7 districts of Xiengkhouang Province. We successfully appointed 35 representatives of individuals with disability, who were subsequently endorsed by the committee for the persons with disability to assume official roles and responsibilities within their communities. We provided training to these representatives on various aspects, including information collection on disabilities, community problem analysis utilizing tools such as the Problem Tree Tool, SWOT, PESTEL, and SMART GOALS. Additionally, we equipped them with skills to organize activities within their respective villages.

Given the limited number of residents in some villages, we devoted considerable time to gathering information about the local population. We also advised the community on recognizing different types of disabilities and their characteristics, which enabled us to select appropriate representatives for each village in alignment with our objectives. At this stage, we have encountered many problems, especially the standards and conditions of the coordinator are very demanding because there are few people in the village who have the knowledge, ability to get around easily, read and write. Given the limited number of residents in some villages, we took time to gathering information about the local population. We also advised the community on recognizing different types of disabilities and their characteristics, which enabled us to select appropriate representatives for each village in alignment with our objectives.

Through the empowerment initiatives for this group, we have observed their effective implementation within their respective communities. Monitoring by our team has revealed that individuals with disabilities have gained increased recognition and rights, with communities showing greater support for their needs. For example, village chiefs have introduced supportive policies, such as waiving service fees for disability-related documentation. Moreover, the organization of information on disabled individuals within villages has improved, with some villages experiencing a near-doubling in the reported number of disabled residents. Additionally, the Committee for the Disabled has prioritized the observance of Disability Day, permitting our team to organize events in three districts: Mok District, Pha Xay District, and Paek District. Notably, in Paek District, the event was held at the provincial level and included participation from various public and private sector representatives.

The rightsholders of our project have expressed pride, especially the 2 coordinators from Nadi Village and Natau Village, Mr. Phommi Supmani, who has an arm disability, and Mrs. Bouakham Xayavong, who has a leg disability. who can use the lessons they have learned to implement own activity in their villages. They have collected the problems and needs of the community and raise project proposal to request funding to help their own community 1 project from the Australian Embassy.

This success has been a good example for us to share with our Organizations of People with Disabilities (OPD) group more. Also, we have brought this lesson to be implemented in 16 villages at Phou Kut district and 20 villages of Kham district in accordance with the vision of the association: society recognizes the rights of the people with  disabilities, they can access to education, knowledge and sustainable natural resources, helps them to have equal rights, be included in society and have a good quality of life.