UNICEF Report Promotes Opportunities for Children with Disabilities

A United Nations report states that inclusion in society and giving equal opportunities to children with disabilities benefit the community and society as a whole. Children with disabilities are in themselves agents of change. All these are possible if communities would focus not on their limitations but on what these children can achieve.

These are some of the recommendations in a recently released report called the annual State of the World’s Children’s report by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). The report was launched in Da Nang, Vietnam. It is the first worldwide study that is devoted to children with disabilities.

Including children with disabilities in society

Not focusing on the child’s potential but on his or her disability deprives society of the possibilities that the child has to offer. According to Anthony Lake, the Executive Director of UNICEF, “Their loss is society’s loss; their gain is society’s gain.” The report highlights the importance of focusing on the removal of barriers and changing the focus from the notion of rescuing children with disabilities. Instead, society must invest on activities that open up doors for them.

The report has some concrete recommendations on how children with disabilities can be given a bigger role in society. One is to institute inclusive education since this is one means of giving these children opportunities and broadening their horizons so that they may fulfill their ambitions. The report recommends a number of ways by which communities can actively include these children in cultural, civic, and social affairs for mutual benefit.

Amongst the most marginalized

Though children with disabilities have inherently the same rights as other children, they are some of the most marginalized in the world.

The core message of the UNICEF report is that children with disabilities should not be thought of as “problems” but as sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, and friends. These children have rights as well, and they have dreams and aspirations.

It is possible

UNICEF Executive Director Lake wrote in the forward that inclusion of children with disabilities in society is not impossible, but before this can be achieved, there needs to be a change in perception. Society must also realize that children with disabilities have equal rights as other children. They can go beyond being mere beneficiaries of charity. Lake added that their voices need to heard and heeded. They need to be made participants in programs and policymaking.

Calling on all nations

One of the main recommendations of the UNICEF report is that countries who have not yet ratified or are not yet implementing the CRD (Convention on the Rights of the Child) and the CRBD (UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities) do so. Nations who have done so are required to promote full participation of persons with disabilities as well as full equality in society. Currently, there are 76 signatories in the CRD while the European Union and 127 other countries have ratified the CRBD.

In the Executive Summary of the report, the UNICEF reiterated that ratification is not enough. Full implementation of programs require the concerted efforts of local and national governments, employers, parents’ associations and organizations for persons with disability.

Photo Credit: The State of the World’s Children 2013: Children with Disabilities