The Embassy of Sweden in Singapore will partner the DesignSingapore Council to showcase two exhibitions here in mid-November.

One will feature photos and stories of Swedish people with disabilities. The other will showcase products designed by Swedes to be easy to use for everyone, including those with disabilities.

Both exhibitions will be held at the National Design Centre.

Sweden has close to 10 million people, and about 15 per cent of them have a disability.

Like Singapore, it has five-year national plans to guide the development of policies on people with disabilities, and is preparing to have a new plan from next year.

Sweden's capital, Stockholm, was a finalist for the Access City Award 2013, which recognises disabled-friendly European cities. Another finalist was Nantes, France; the winner was Berlin, Germany.

Stockholm was recognised for its longstanding commitment to promoting accessibility.

For instance, since 2002, it has had a disability ombudsman, a city official who deals with people's accessibility-related complaints and monitors the enforcement of laws at the municipal level.

The writer's recent trip to Stockholm was sponsored by the Embassy of Sweden here and the Swedish Institute, a government agency that promotes Swedish issues to the world.