Thousands of people on November 29 participated in a charity walk aroundHoan Kiem Lake in the capital city of Hanoi to supportpersons with disabilities.

The programme aims to call for people from a variety of social strata to join hands and care for those with disabilities.

Speakingat the launching ceremony, Vice Chairwoman of the National AssemblyNguyen Thi Kim Ngan said the Party, State and people of Vietnam havepaid attention to ensuring rights of disabled people and encourage themto become active members of the society.

She notedthat laws and policies towards the disabled have been improved, citingthe approval of the Law on Persons with Disabilities by the NationalAssembly in 2010 as an example.

During the processof international integration, Vietnam has committed to fully andactively participating in related regional and international programmes,the legislator said.

Vietnam signed the UNConvention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2007. Thedocument was ratified by the Vietnamese National Assembly during itsfreshly-concluded eighth session this month, she said.

According to her, thanks to these efforts, persons with disabilities,especially women and children, have seen their spiritual and materiallife improved significantly.

She attributed theresults to the support of the international friends who help Vietnamesedisabled people integrate into the community.

Nganvoiced her hope that more charity programmes will be launched in thecoming time in order to better care for the disabled people.

Joining the event, Chairman of the 2014 Asia-Pacific of DisabilityForum Kieng Soe Park expressed his wish that the walk will helpraise public awareness of the rights of persons with disabilities aswell as difficulties facing them.

Vietnam is now home to around 6.7 million disabled people,including 3.6 million women and 1.2 million children. Five million areliving in rural areas.-VNA