The 13th Disability Workstream Quarterly Meeting highlighted results from the previous quarter

“As of the end of December 2022, there were 3,748 persons with disabilities working in the public sector (23% of which were female), an increase of 4% compared to 2021. Moreover, there were 5,839 (66% were female) persons with disabilities working in the private sector, a 12% increase from 2021,” according to H. E. Em Chan Makara, Secretary of State of the Ministry of Social Affairs, Veteran and Youth Rehabilitation (MoSVY) and Secretary General of the Disability Action Council (DAC). He was addressing the 13th Disability Workstream Quarterly Meeting, which was facilitated with support from the Australian Government through the Australia – Cambodia Cooperation for Equitable and Sustainable Services (ACCESS).

The meeting conducted on 16 February 2023, which was chaired by Em Chan Makara, and participants included representatives from the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) counterparts, including the Department of Welfare for Persons with Disabilities at MoSVY, DAC-Secretariat General, Persons with Disabilities Foundation (PWDF), the Ministry of Women’s Affairs (MoWA), the Ministry of Economics and Finance (MEF), the Ministry of Interior, Provincial DACs, and Provincial Department of Social Affairs, Veteran and Youth Rehabilitation (PoSVY), and ACCESS’s Implementing Partners (IPs) (Cambodia Disabled People Organisation (CDPO), Chamroeun Microfinance Plc (CMP)/Good Return, Humanity & Inclusion (HI), People’s Action for Inclusive Development (PAfID), UNDP, and ADD International and Agile Development Group (former ACCESS IPs)).

The meeting aimed to review key achievements, major challenges, and other relevant information from its members for the period July – December 2022 and share lessons learned as well as details of major upcoming events.

Mr Connor Floyd, Second Secretary at the Australian Embassy to Cambodia, commended the great progress that has been achieved by government institutions, OPD representatives, and non-governmental partners at the national and sub-national levels.

These achievements included:

• the implementation of technical standards on physical accessibility,
• training being rolled out across 10 provincial DACs,
• a Cambodian Sign Language training course provided to the Institute of Special Education (NISE) and Deaf Development Program (DDP) for 18 persons with hearing impairment (of whom 13 were female), and many other achievements.