Making people with disabilities more visible in national database for inclusive socio-economic policies and programs

October 6, 2022
UNDP Viet Nam

Hanoi, 6thOctober 2022There is a serious shortage of data on specific groups of Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) in VietNam, especially those who are most marginalized, including persons with hearing and print disabilities. It is difficult to find disability data; and when found, it is unclear which source should be cited due to the inconsistency of data reported by different Government agencies.

According to the latest UN analysis, out of the 158 sustainable development indicators of Viet Nam (VSDGs), only 8 require data disaggregated by disabilities. Among these eight indicators, only two indicators (1.2.3 - Number of beneficiaries of monthly social allowance in the community, and 1.2.5 - Number of people living and being cared for in social protection facilities or social housing) are collected by both the General Statistics Office and the National Council on disability (NCD) through statistical surveys and administrative reporting. Data of half of the eight indicators to assess the level of disability inclusion in different areas of VSDG are not collected by NCD, such as 16.6.1: Proportion of population satisfied with their most recent experience of public services.

This was shared at the Consultation workshop on the study: “Developing output indications for the 2nd National Survey on Persons with Disabilities 2023” held by UNDP Viet Nam in collaboration with Viet Nam Federation on Disability and the General Statistics Office this morning in Ha Noi.

It is important to make PwDs more visible in our national database and to have more indicators disaggregated by disabilities in VSDGs, which helps us better understand PWDs’ vulnerability and needs,” said Mr. Patrick Haverman, Deputy Resident Representative of UNDP in Viet Nam. “UNDP is supporting the development of a set of output indicators for the National Survey on Persons with Disabilities in 2023 to be comprehensive and aligns with international standards”.

The proposed set of 53 indicators is recommended to be disaggregated by disabilities, covering 10 Sustainable Development Goals. The indicators can be used not only for the VDS 2023, but also serve the disability data disaggregation in other national statistical surveys, contributing evidence to the development of disability-inclusive socio-economic policies and programs.

The first National Survey on PwDs was rolled out in 2016, using an internationally standardized toolkit for measuring disability. That survey is part of the National Statistical Survey Program.  Through that survey, for the first time, we had an overview of the disability rate in the general population nation-wide, types and degrees of disability, as well as PWDs’ living conditions and the level of PWDs’ integration in a number of areas such as health care, social protection, education, employment, etc, a comparison of disability rates between socio-economic regions. Until now, there have been many reports by State agencies, organizations of and for persons with disabilities, disability experts still using data published in this survey.

After 6 years, the 2016 National Survey on Persons with Disabilities (VDS 2016) no longer accurately reflects the current situation of PWDs in Viet Nam. Those data need to be updated and supplemented to better support the monitoring of disability-inclusive socio-economic development programs and policies, and to better meet the law and policy-making requirements in line with international commitments, particularly the upcoming amendment of the Law on Persons with Disabilities, the monitoring of the implementation of disability-mainstreaming laws, policies, and the International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).

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For more information, please contact:

Nguyen Viet Lan, UNDP Communication Lead, email: nguyen.viet.lan@undp.org, phone: 0914.436769

Nguyen Thi Thuy Duong, UNDP Communication Consultant, email: nguyen.thi.thuy.duong@undp.org, phone: 0983.135799