PHNOM PENH: The Prime Minister of Cambodia has reminded public and private institutions to follow the policy established by the Royal Government to recruit persons with disabilities to work in their institutions. He also encouraged persons with disabilities to not despair and strive to study further in their respective fields.

Speaking at the graduation ceremony for students of the Royal University of Law and Economics on Tuesday morning, 1 November, Prime Minister Hun Sen said, “Thank you very much! Study hard. Those who are physically disabled are not mentally disabled. Some are in good physical shape but have neurological disabilities.”

The Prime Minister further called on state institutions to hire persons with disabilities and make sure that they make up at least 2% of the workforce. For private sector institutions, they must make sure that at least 1% of the workforce are persons with disabilities.

"I occasionally come to hand out diplomas [at graduation ceremonies] and I always meet students with disabilities, so those students can become [state] officials included in the employment framework," said Prime Minister Hun Sen. "This is part of the Royal Government's efforts to give more attention to persons with disabilities.”

Currently, there are more than 500,000 persons with disabilities in Cambodia, accounting for 4.9% of the total 16 million population.

^{PHOTO: KOK KY}