PHNOM PENH: The Secretary General of the Disability Action Council organized an online IT competition for young persons with disabilities on July 25 and 26. Four lucky winners will be sent to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates to compete in a live IT competition from October 24-29, 2023. Five other competitors will be able to participate in the competition online.

Secretary of State of the Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation and Secretary General of the Disability Action Council, Em Chan Makara, attended the competition and wished the youth the best of luck in the competition. He also encouraged young persons with disabilities who did not qualify for the competition to work hard so that they can participate next time.

Sec. Em Chan Makara also expressed his pride that persons with disabilities from Cambodia are able to compete with their international peers. He noted that disabled Cambodians won gold medals and silver medals in this year’s Para Games. He also donated money for food expenses in today's competition.

Sec. Em Chan Makara also visited the group of children with disabilities and talked about donating musical instruments received from the Prime Minister to support the Marist Solidarity Cambodia’s Children with Disabilities Music Band. He then visited a park funded by his donations to provide more outdoor space for persons with disabilities. He thanked Marist Solidarity Cambodia, which has partnered with the government to encourage young people with disabilities to compete in various programs.

More than 530 young people from 17 countries will participate in the online semi-finals from July 25-26. Cambodia has a total of 24 competitors from the Lavalla School, the National Institute of Special Education, Pour un Sourire d’Enfant and other community youth members.

The Global Information Technology Competition for Youth with Disabilities (GITC) is a project to strengthen the ICT capacity of young persons with disabilities, lay the foundation for social progress and raise awareness of digital accessibility for disabled youth. In 2024 it will be developed into a more sustainable competition by strengthening its credibility to become internationally renowned.