Persons with Disabilities require the Royal Government of Cambodia to recruit them to work in public sectors in responding to the sufficient of quota system which is required for 2 percent

The representative of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) and many other Persons with Disabilities have called for the Royal Government of Cambodia to accelerate the selection Persons with Disabilities to work in the public sectors to complete the 2 percent requirement that in line with the Royal Government sub-decree. Those Persons with Disabilities said that they had only seen a selection of Persons with Disabilities in Phnom Penh, but in the provinces, there were no choices.

Representatives of persons with disabilities added that since the sub-decree on "Determination of quota and Forms of Recruitment of Persons with Disabilities" have come into force from 30 August 2010, until 2017, the momentum of implementation of the sub-decree seems to be slowed.

Persons with Disabilities claim that the recruitment of Persons with Disabilities to work in the public and private sectors seems limited, while many other Persons with Disabilities have complained that it is very difficult to the competition for entering the public sectors. Therefore, he suggested the government to give them the opportunity to work in the public sectors in order to response to the sub-decree that came into force since 2010.

According to the sub-decree on "Determining the quota and form of recruitment of Persons with Disabilities", has stated that the ministries and state institutions with more than 50 employees must have the qualified persons with disabilities with the capacity to fulfill their functions, roles and responsibilities in accordance with the type of work as stated in Article 11 of the sub-decree that require 2% of Persons with Disabilities to work in public sector in the total amount of civil servants.

The sub-decree also mentioned that for a legal entity that has more than 100 workers must have the qualified person with disabilities that are qualifies with the capacity to fulfill their functions, roles and responsibilities in accordance with the type of work as stated in Article 11 of the sub-decree that require 1% of Persons with Disabilities to work in the private sector in the total number of their workers.

The insistence of the group of Persons with Disabilities was made at a national workshop to review the implementation of the National Disability Strategic Plan 2014-2018, which was held two days on August 24, and 25, 2017.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the seminar, H.E Vong Soth, Minister of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation said that the Royal Government of Cambodia has rigorously implemented the sub-decree on the procedure of employing the Persons with Disabilities and till now around 1.72 percent of Persons with Disabilities have worked within the public sectors and ongoing to encourage the private sector to accept the Persons with Disabilities to work for them according to the rate of 1 percent.

H.E Vong Soth added that the selection of Persons with Disabilities to work in the public and private sectors and the supporting by assistive devices, equipment, and spiritual support by the Royal Government of Cambodia was the new indicator that reflects the concern for the Persons with Disabilities, their families, and the community which in line with the national policy of the Royal Government for poverty reduction.

Meanwhile, Mr. Ngin Saorath, Executive Director of Cambodian Disabled Peoples Organization, said that both he and other Persons with Disabilities would like the private sector to continue to offer more opportunities for Persons with Disabilities, especially the relevant ministries that work related to disability and also there should be have available budget for effectively implementing the national action plan.

Mr. Ngin Saoroth added that the number of People with Disabilities that are employed in the various ministries seem not clear yet, and some perceptions still considered that people with disabilities are the responsibility of the Ministry of Social Affairs alone, however, we must understand that disability issues are the cross-cutting issues, therefore, we want to see the inter-ministries take more care integrate persons with disabilities and allocate the budget to effectively implement the national policies Based.

Ms. Kevin Vanndra Rein, United Nations Resident Coordinator for Cambodia, said that since 2014, the United Nations in Cambodia through the joint program of UNDP UNICEF and the World Health Organization in partnership with the Australian Government Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade has been supporting the implementation of a strategic plan, including the supports to Disability Action Council.

She added that the Joint Program of the Disability Rights Initiative Cambodia (DRIC) has supported the effective implementation of the National Strategic Plan on Disability to ensure the greater opportunity for Cambodians people with disabilities to participate in the societies, economies, cultures, and the politics of their countries.