Japan has been supporting the empowerment of people with disabilities in the Lao PDR through various projects.
On Sep 30, a grant contract was signed at the Embassy of Japan in Vientiane between Japanese Ambassador to Laos Mr. Takeshi Hikihara and Project Manager of Asian Development with Disabled Persons (ADDP) Mr. Kazuya Shimura for the second instalment of the project for the vocational and business training of people with disabilities in Huaphan. ADDP is a Japanese non-profit organization.
The project, ‘‘Job Creation Project for Persons with Disabilities in Huaphan Province, Lao PDR,’’ is designed for 2015-17 and worth over US$233,000.
The signing ceremony was witnessed by Embassy officials and ADDP staff.
The project aims to help people with disabilities acquire skills through trainings in such areas as landscape gardening, baking and hairdressing.
The project will not only provide disabled people with professional skills through vocational training, but will also help them start businesses by utilizing their own skills.
To that end, workshops will be held to encourage local companies and communities to buy goods and services offered by those trained disabled people under this project.
ADDP has been active in the Lao PDR since 1995 in support of people with disabilities. Since 2011, the organization has implemented a similar project to empower people with disabilities in Vientiane Capital with funding from the Japanese Government.
Through this project, a total of 175 disabled people have received training, and 43 companies and organizations, both Lao and foreign, have become direct business partners or clients of those trained disabled people through workshops.
Source: KPL
