Empowerment through Employment of Persons with Visual Impairment Summit

On December 3 and 4, 2024, the “Empowerment through Employment of Persons with Visual Impairment” Summit was successfully held by the Vietnam Blind Association and Sao Mai Center for the Blind, at the Legend Westlake Hotel, Hanoi, Vietnam. Generously sponsored by The Nippon Foundation, the event was a highlight of the regional project focused on enhancing employment opportunities for visually impaired individuals in Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam.

Participants

The summit brought together over 80 delegates from Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. Among them were representatives from companies and employers such as Imamatec, T’Impact Indonesia, Pamulang University, Accenture, Foundever, Concentrix Philippines, Vina Cacao, Limart Zero Waste, Adecco Vietnam... Government representatives included officials from employment and disability-related agencies.

Visually impaired youth from the three countries actively participated, representing diverse careers such as software engineers, programmers, coordinators, and content creators. Social organizations advocating for persons with disabilities also joined, contributing valuable insights and perspectives. The collective input from all participants made the summit a great success.

Key Activities

The two-day event featured discussions, presentations, and reports to identify practical solutions for employment challenges faced by visually impaired individuals. Key sessions included:

· Employers Forum: A platform for businesses to share their experiences in hiring visually impaired employees, discuss inspiring success stories, and propose solutions and recommendations for improving job accessibility.

· Blind Youth Forum: A forum for visually impaired youth to share their experiences, challenges, and ideas, offering practical suggestions to overcome barriers in job searching and workplace integration.

· Government Representatives Forum: Policymakers from Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam highlighted initiatives and policies aimed at improving employment opportunities for persons with disabilities, followed by an engaging Q&A session.

· Resource Organizations Forum: This session emphasized the role of disability-focused organizations, advocacy groups, and families in supporting visually impaired individuals to secure employment.

· The summit concluded with a presentation of research findings on employment issues for visually impaired individuals in the three countries, conducted earlier this year.

Outcomes

The “Empowerment through employment of persons with visual impairment” Summit concluded successfully, offering valuable insights, innovative ideas, and practical solutions to enhance equitable job opportunities for visually impaired individuals.

You can read the full content of the summit resolution here.

In addition, you can also download the conference presentations, which are compressed into a zip file: