PHNOM PENH: Secretary of State of the Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation and Secretary-General of the Disability Action Council (DAC), Em Chan Makara, distributed 20 wheelchairs donated by the people of Japan to the disabled at the National Center for Infants and Children on August 16.

Along with the wheelchairs, he brought a message of commitment from the DAC and its leaders, Honorary President Prime Minister Hun Sen and Minister of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation, Vong Sauth, who is DAC Chairman. The message reaffirmed that the council is highly invested in the well-being of persons with disabilities, particularly those with autism, Down Syndrome and other intellectual disabilities.

Sec. Em Chan Makara expressed sympathy and concern for persons with disabilities and addressed the extra attention that must be paid to ensuring that those with autism and Down Syndrome have adequate living conditions. He also promised to try and find development partners to help support the center, especially its children with disabilities.

The Secretary of State promoted the Royal Government’s efforts to improve the lives of persons with disabilities in Cambodia by implementing laws and decrees to restore dignity to the disabled and provide them with the same quality of life as those without disabilities. He also commended the hard work of the center's principal, teachers and guardians who care for all 171 students. The children who live at the center were abandoned, largely at community hospitals. Most of the children need assistance eating and about 30 of them have daily seizures. So the heroic work of the caregivers is crucial to their survival.

This is the second time that the center has received a donation of 20 wheelchairs, which will greatly benefit the children at the center, over half of which live with cerebral palsy or limb deformities.