PHM-Exch> State of the Worlds Children 2013 - Children with Disabilities

[Claudio Schuftan]

From: Ruggiero, Mrs. Ana Lucia (WDC) <ruglucia at paho.org>
crossposted from: EQUIDAD at listserv.paho.org


** ** ** **

*State of the World’s Children 2013
Children with Disabilities

*****

*…..GIVEN SAME OPPORTUNITIES AS OTHERS, CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES CAN BE
AGENTS OF CHANGE -- UN REPORT *


*United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)*
****New York****, May 30 2013

****

Website: http://uni.cf/18yEt7n ****


PDF file [150p.] at: http://uni.cf/15eBTzG ****


Children with disabilities have the same rights as all children but are
some of the most invisible and marginalized people in the world according
to a United Nations report released today, which cites recommendations on
how to actively include children with disabilities in civic, social and
cultural affairs so that both they and their communities benefit. ****

** **

Executive Director of UNICEF, Anthony Lake who led today's launch, writes
that the inclusion of children with disabilities in society is possible --
but it requires a change of perception, "*a recognition that children with
disabilities hold the same rights as others; that they can be agents of
change and self-determination, not merely the beneficiaries of charity;
that their voices must be heard and heeded in our policymaking and
programmes*."****

** **

Among its key recommendations, UNICEF urges countries that have not yet
done so to ratify and implement the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons
with Disabilities (CRBD) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child
(CRD). ****

** **

There are currently 127 countries and the European Union that have ratified
the CRBD -- these States Parties are required to promote full equality and
participation of persons with disabilities in society -- and 76 which have
signed the CRD.****

** **

Discrimination is the root of many of the challenges children with
disabilities face, according to the report, whose authors urge fighting
that scourge and enhancing awareness of disability among the general
public, decision makers, and those who provide essential services for
children and adolescents in such fields as health, education and protection.
****

** **

In specific, the authors recommend facilitating access and encouraging the
participation of children with disabilities alongside their peers. For
example, they site the use of universal designs that can be found in the
form of sidewalk ramps, audio books, Velcro fastenings, cabinets with
pull-out shelves, automatic doors and low-floor buses.****

** **

The cost of integrating accessibility into new buildings and infrastructure
can amount to less than one percent of the capital development cost,
adaptations to an already completed structure can reach as much as 20 per
cent of the original cost, UNICEF reports.****

** **

Another recommendation is to the end the institutionalization of children
with disabilities, starting with a moratorium on new admissions and greater
promotion of and increased support for family-based care and
community-based rehabilitation.****

** **

"Separating children with disabilities from their families is a violation
of their rights to be cared for by their parents unless this is deemed by a
competed authorities to be in the individual child's best interest,"
according to the report.****

** **

"Making public services, schools and health systems accessible and
responsive to the needs of children with disabilities and their families
will reduce the pressure to send children away in the first place," the
authors also noted. ****

** **

The authors suggest various social policies that can offset some of the
costs, including social grants, subsidies for transportation or funding for
personal assistants or respite care. Another alternative is a cash benefit,
which is often easier to administer, more flexible at meeting particular
needs and allows the parents and children to make the decision of how to
best spend the money.****

** **

Existing supports and services should be continually re-evaluated and
varied to include services from a full range of cross-cutting sectors, the
authors argue, with the child and family being included in the process.****

** **

"Children and young people with disabilities are among the most
authoritative sources of information on what they need and whether their
needs are being met," the report notes, adding that participation is
especially important for marginalized groups, such as children with
disabilities living in institutions that are more likely to be abused or
exploited than those  living at home.****

** **

The report provides data on children with global and country breakdowns and
how they rank on progress towards the universally approved anti-poverty
targets known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). ****

** **

While global estimates are speculative, one widely used figure from 2004 is
that some 93 million -- or one in 20 children aged 14 or younger -- live
with moderate or severe disability of some kind, according to the report
which questions its precision.  ****

** **

"The ultimate proof of all global and national efforts will be local, the
test being whether every child with a disability enjoys her or his rights
-- including access to services, support and opportunities -- on a par with
other children, even in the most remote settings and the most deprived
circumstances," the authors write…..”****

*UN News Centre ..

*
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