“Art for All” Camp for disabled youths kicks off under “ASEAN”

BANGKOK, August 1 (TNA) - Thailand’s largest camp for disable youths, named the “Art for All”, kicked start on Wednesday under the theme “ASEAN”. At the “Art for All” five-day camp, every type of art is used in all projects introduced for handicapped children. There are some 500 registered international participants, including Thais, who share their mutual commitment to unite children with different types of disabilities, while bringing out, as well, their individual talents and abilities to complement one another. “ASEAN” has been adopted as this year’s theme to welcome a new “Asian and Pacific Decade of Persons with Disabilities”, set from 2013-2022 by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), aims at ensuring the rights of some 217 million children with disabilities in the region to access to education and opportunities that fulfill their potential. The camp also welcomes some 100 international volunteers from member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), including Myanmar, Lao PDR, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and Vietnam, as well as those from one dialogue partner of the 10-nation bloc, India, as inspectors and art teachers for the participating disabled youths. Jointly sponsored by the Thai Ministry of Culture and the Government Lottery Office, as well as the UNESCAP, the camp is being held in Thailand's northeastern Nakhon Ratchasima province from August 1-5. (TNA)