MANILA – The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) will conduct the “Forum on Initiatives in Mainstreaming the Rights of Persons with Disability (PWDs)” on Wednesday in an effort to improve its programs and services for the disabled.
DSWD Officer-in-Charge Emmanuel Leyco said the forum, to be held at its central office in Quezon City, hopes to strengthen public support for initiatives to mainstream the rights of PWDs by presenting international and national laws for their protection, and gathering recommendations for the benefit of the disabled.
It will also review the status of the 10-Point Agenda for PWDs that was drafted by hundreds of participants from across the country during last year’s summit for disabled people.
“As always, our goal is to ensure that national government agencies, such as the DSWD, are able to give as much support as possible to the sector of PWDs in the country and to help improve their condition,” Leyco said in a news advisory issued Monday.
During the forum, speakers from the DSWD, departments of health and labor, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), National Council on Disability Affairs (NCDA), Civil Service Commission (CSC), Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth), and Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) will discuss employment, health and social services, and government programs for PWDs.
“We will continue to initiate and hold public consultations with PWD organizations and their members so they can give us feedback on our programs,” Leyco said.
“The sector continues to face many difficulties and challenges, and we still have a very long way to improve the plight of the sector’s more impoverished members. The sector of PWDs needs all the assistance that the national government and its agencies can provide it, and the DSWD is committed to do its share in improving the condition of PWDs,” he added. (DSWD PR)
