Children with disabilities in Vietnam are facing several challenges integrating into the community, including discrimination and little education opportunities.

Disabled children receiving skills training at Hoa Vang District Daily Care Centre

The report “Vietnamese children criteria, 2009-2010,” jointly conducted by the Ministry of Labour, Invalid and Social Affairs (MoLISA) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) showed that to date children with disabilities are one of ten groups of children that need the most care and special protection. The number of such group of children has reached nearly 1.3 million, accounting for 86% of total children that need special care.

Most of the disabilities result from inborn deformities with 29% being physical disabilities, 17% being mental disabilities and the same rate for hearing impairs.

Children with disabilities in Vietnam are still facing discrimination from the community, so they have few opportunities to access to basic healthcare service, education and other public services.

A report jointly conducted by UNICEF and MoLISA in 2004 showed that only 30% of disabled children in Vietnam received financial support via education funding, free health care and other benefits. Up to 54% of such children said they don’t have friends.

Children with hearing impairments learning at the Centre for Reintegration Education and Development Supporting in Danang

Children with disabilities have a few opportunities to go to school. The national population census in 2009 found that only 66.5% of disabled children at primary school age went to school, compared to the average rate of 97%.

The literacy rate among disabled children aged from 15-25 was only 69.1%, which was much lower than average 97.1%.

Care institutions in Vietnam are not well-furnished to provide services for disabled children as the country still lack trained social workers as well as community-based support services.

Vietnam has yet to have common statistics between ministries and branches due to the lack of similar criteria to assess disabilities. This has led to incomprehensive policies for supporting, caring and protecting disabled children.

Disabled children interested in painting

UNICEF's State of the World's Children 2013 report focused on children with disabilities, released on May 30, showed that caring for disabled children to help them develop their abilities and talents would bring about benefits for the society as a whole.

Speaking at the launch, Anthony Lake, General Director of UNICEF said, “It’s unfair to just look at the disabilities of children before taking into account their abilities. It would discourage them from contributing to the society."