Conference on the implementation of ASEAN Enabling Masterplan in Thailand

AGENDA partner, the Thailand Association of the Blind (TAB), hosted a conference on the “Implementation of the ASEAN Enabling Masterplan in Thailand” on September 9, 2019. Fifty-eight participants, 29 of which were women, attended the conference in Bangkok. The participants discussed the implementation of the ASEAN Enabling Masterplan 2025: Mainstreaming the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (Masterplan), principles and challenges to implementing the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), and strategies to mainstream the Masterplan into government policies – particularly those by the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security, the Ministry of Industry, and the Ministry of Education. TAB also presented their legal analysis of the Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities Act B.E.2550 (2007) Volume 2 Amendment B.E. 2556 (2013), the Masterplan, and the CRPD. In addition, TAB shared their Thailand policy platform on three main issues, including education, transportation and public facilities, and financial services, which was signed by one of the members of the House of Representatives and a representative of the Ministry of Industry. The President of the Association of the Disabled Council of Thailand, representing 21 institutions, closed the conference with a joint statement urging the government to improve accessibility for all disability groups, including access to public transportation facilities funding sources or services for persons with disabilities.