Duong Thi Van

Duong Thi Van is the founder and chairwoman of Hanoi Association of People with Disabilities (DP Hanoi), vice president of Vietnam Federation on Disability (VFD), Member of the National Advisory Board of Vietnam National Committee on Disability (NCD), has been devoting her life to eliminating the gap between people with and without disabilities in Vietnam.

With strategic vision, she advocated for establishment of organizations, clubs, groups, and centers to better support those with disabilities. Under Van’s direction, DP Hanoi expanded its network into 48 organizational members and over 15,000 individual members. It co-operates with government’s agencies and national and international partners to raise awareness, conducts thousands of empowerment, vocational training, and job creation programs and services, and encourages full inclusion in arts and sports.

Being an effective and dynamic activist, Van contributed to the development of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Vietnam, ratified in 2014. She was an active member in building and promoting the implementation of domestic policies such as the Ordinance on Disabled Persons (No. 06/ 1998 /PL-UBTVQH10 of July 30, 1998), and Law on Persons with Disabilities (No. 51/2010/QH12).