PHNOM PENH: The Minister of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation, Vong Sauth, has set the work direction in the new year by encouraging factories, enterprises, private companies to accept persons with disability to work at a fixed rate.

During the opening ceremony of the meeting to summarize the 2021 work results and implementation direction of 2022 at the Ministry of Social Affairs, Minister Vong Sauth said that the Ministry will also require factories, enterprises and private companies to strengthen the implementation of the law on the protection and better promotion of the rights of persons with disability.

Minister Vong Sauth said that over the course of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Ministry provided cash support to 250,000 pregnant women as well as children under 2 years old. The cash support program for poor and vulnerable families during the fight against Covid-19 has so far reached around 700,000 families.

In addition, the National Center for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Drug Addicts was established in Preah Sihanouk Province, as well as the Drug Addiction Treatment and Rehabilitation Center in Kandal Province. The Minister added that the Cambodian National Center for Persons with Disability also began construction in Kandal Province.

Minister Vong Sauth continued to say that "We still have many challenges that require us to continue to work together to find solutions, such as climate change, outbreaks, migration, homelessness, human trafficking, labor trafficking, sexual exploitation, drug use and demographic change."

In response to these issues, he urged for the continued implementation of the Social Assistance Program, as well as the development of a national social policy to define the vision, priorities, work and the responsibility of all relevant actors to receive juveniles who are in conflict with the law to educate and rehabilitate them.

He further urged for the strengthening and expansion of the program to identify persons with disability in order to ensure their rights and continue to provide policies to support them, including policies on travel and food provision.

Minister Vong Sauth said the Ministry will “encourage factories, enterprises, private companies to accept person with disability [for work] at a set rate and register with factories, enterprises, private companies to strengthen the implementation of the law on the protection and better promotion of the rights of persons with disability."

As of 2020, there are 8,768 persons with disabilities registered nationwide working in public and private institutions, 4,204 of whom are women. Additionally, as of 8 November 2021, the Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation, in cooperation with relevant ministries and institutions, including the Capital and Provincial Disability Action Council, to process disability identification cards throughout the country, producing a total of 215,358 disability cards thus far, where 26,949 persons with disability are classified as self-employed entrepreneurs.