Minister of Labour and Vocational Training Heng Sour has called on Cambodia’s development partners to help strengthen vocational training for people with disabilities in the country, in order to provide them with more job opportunities.
He made the suggestion while addressing a March 11 national forum on “Inclusive disability and decent work in Cambodia”.
The event was attended by representatives of various international development partners, according to a ministry notice.
Sour explained that capacity building is an important factor in creating opportunities for people with disabilities to develop themselves, in accordance with the needs of a flexible labour market.
He added that empowering them is a crucial part of the government’s vision of people with disabilities making up one per cent of the private sector workforce and two per cent of public servants.
“I call on all of our international partners to focus on strengthening the capacities of people with disabilities, to give them access to more employment options,” he said.
He added that the ministry has advised each of the technical training schools under the ministry to ensure they provide accessibility for people with disabilities, including ramps.
Sour explained that under the seventh-mandate government, the ministry has placed a priority on encouraging people with disabilities to develop skills that will allow them to participate in societal development.
“In view of this priority, we encourage the private sector, particularly large factories and enterprises, to employ more people with disabilities, and to make it easier for them to work efficiently,” he said.
The Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation and the Ministry of Interior are also focused on supporting people with disabilities, with both currently establishing working groups tasked with assisting them.
Interior ministry deputy spokesperson Touch Sokhak explained that the role of the ministry’s working group will be to promote both employment and promotion of people with disabilities.
“At present, 0.93 per cent of ministry civil servants are people with disabilities. We aim to increase this figure,” he said.
Between 2020 and 2023, the social affairs ministry implemented a database of people with disabilities, allowing them to access social services more easily. A total of 318,473 people, 155,410 of them women, were identified, with 254,419 equity cards issued.
