Regional IFP Alumni Meeting on Disability Issues and Policy in Ho Chi Minh City

• Written by Hazel P. Villa, alumna, IFP Philippines

HO CHI MINH, Vietnam – The success stories of private groups working to enhance the full participation of people with disabilities in Vietnamese society has served to be a beacon of hope for social workers and persons with disabilities from Russia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, India and China.

Ho Chi Minh City was host to a gathering of 11 representatives from the six countries and their nine Vietnamese counterparts for the regional International Fellowships Program (IFP) Alumni Meeting on Disability Issues and Policy from Nov. 12 – 17, 2009. Vo Thi Hoang Yen, Vietnamese founder and director of Disability Resource and Development in Vietnam, shared their work in uplifting the plight of the Vietnamese disabled – a landmark achievement in a country that has yet to have a law that is more accepting and supportive of local non-government organizations.

The representatives are currently leaders in their fields, as in the case of Yen, who graduated her Master of Human Development in 2004 from the University of Kansas in the United States and returned to Vietnam to spearhead work with persons with disabilities in this city. Jasper Rom from the Philippines says the Ho Chi Minh meeting is a good start to focus on disability issues in the region. “Disability should be a priority agenda for any development program. I have learned much from the experiences of the other countries represented here,” said Rom, a graduate of Georgetown University and the project manager of Handicap International’s Community Based Rehabilitation Project in the Western Visayas region of the Philippines.

For five days, the fellows shared their own experiences, work, and challenges on diverse topics including advocacy, media, how to work with the government and local communities, Community Based Rehabilitation in China, the Philippines and Indonesia, inclusive education for children with disabilities in Buryatia, Russia, assistive technology in India and creating artistic and cultural programs for persons with disabilities in St. Petersburg, Russia. “This meeting made everybody realize that IFP has diverse expertise in each area of disability and development,” said Nekram Upadhyay, who took up Disability Studies with specialization in Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology at the University of Illinois and is now a Rehabilitation Engineering Technologist at the Indian Spinal Injuries Centre in New Delhi.
 

For Risnawati Utami, of Wheels for Humanity Indonesia, the regional meeting is a starting point to raise disability awareness for the public. “This regional meeting could be a strong resource to strengthen disability concerns as a cross-cutting issue where people have a contribution to support persons with disabilities in our society,” said Utami, a graduate of the Heller School for Social Policy and Management in Brandeis University in the US.
 

Recognizing the need to sustain their network and ongoing work on disability issues and policy, the alumni group of the IFP has tentatively scheduled its next regional meeting in New Delhi, India before December 3, 2010, which is the International Day for Persons with Disabilities to focus on the topic of Disability Equality. They have also committed to writing news and feature stories about disability work in their respective countries and to simultaneously launch a photo contest in Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Russia, China, Thailand and India based on the UN theme for the Disability Day celebrations.