NCDP BACKGROUND
The Royal Government of Cambodia, through the Ministry of Social Affairs, Labor, Vocational Training and Youth Rehabilitation (MoSALVY) has worked in many ways over the past 25 years to assist disabled people. In 1993 the Cambodian Government became a signatory to the ESCAP declaration supporting the International Decade of Disabled People, which has since been extended by further 10 years to 2012.

The original idea for a National Centre of Disabled Persons grew out of a series of workshops organized by MoSALVY. The workshops, involving representatives of the Government, NGO sector and disabled people themselves, identified economic security, employment opportunities and access to rehabilitation services, training and information as key issues affecting disabled people. In order to help address these issues a steering group was established to lead the development of the National Centre of Disabled Persons (NCDP). In January 1995, MoSALVY dedicated an old two story building in the centre of Phnom Penh to serve as the headquarter for NCDP. The building was fully refurbished with grant support from Japanese Embassy and a lift installed with funds from ICCO. NCDP began establishing its first programs and projects to assist disabled people in 1996.

LEGAL STATUS

On May 5, 1997, NCDP was officially inaugurated and opened by the Second Prime Minister of the Royal Government of Cambodia. NCDP is a semi-autonomous entity under the auspices of MoSALVY. NCDP’s Governing Body is composed of representatives of international and Cambodian NGOs and individual disabled persons. The Undersecretary of State of MoSALVY is the permanent Chairperson of Governing Body.

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