From: <b class="gmail_sendername">Ruggiero, Mrs. Ana Lucia (WDC)</b> <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:ruglucia@paho.org">ruglucia@paho.org</a>></span><br><div class="gmail_quote">crossposted from: <a href="mailto:EQUIDAD@listserv.paho.org">EQUIDAD@listserv.paho.org</a><br>
<br><br>
<u></u>
<u></u>
<u></u>
<u></u>
<div link="blue" vlink="purple" lang="EN-US">
<div>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><b><font color="maroon" face="Arial" size="3"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:maroon;font-weight:bold">State of the World’s Children 2013<br>
Children with Disabilities<br>
<br>
</span></font></b><font face="Arial"><span style="font-family:Arial"><u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><i><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:Arial;font-style:italic">…..GIVEN SAME
OPPORTUNITIES AS OTHERS, CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES CAN BE AGENTS OF CHANGE --
UN REPORT <u></u><u></u></span></font></i></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial"><br>
<b><span style="font-weight:bold">United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)</span></b><br>
<u></u><u></u>New York<u></u><u></u>, May
30 2013 <br>
<br>
<u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">Website: <a href="http://uni.cf/18yEt7n" target="_blank"><font color="black"><span style="color:windowtext">http://uni.cf/18yEt7n</span></font></a>
<u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial"><br>
PDF file [150p.] at: <a href="http://uni.cf/15eBTzG" target="_blank"><font color="black"><span style="color:windowtext">http://uni.cf/15eBTzG</span></font></a> <u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial"><br>
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. <u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">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,
"<i><span style="font-style:italic">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</span></i>."<u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">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). <u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">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.<u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">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.<u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">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.<u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">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.<u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">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.<u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">"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.<u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">"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. <u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">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.<u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">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.<u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">"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.<u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">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). <u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">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. <u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">"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…..”<u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in"><i><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:Arial;font-style:italic">UN News Centre ..<br>
<br>
<u></u><u></u></span></font></i></p><br></div></div></div><br>