Children with Disabilities

A disability includes a physical impairment such as mobility, hearing, visual, and language difficulties, and developmental delays which affect a person’s behaviour, emotional expression, and learning abilities. It includes mild to severe disabilities, from cerebral palsy, paralysis and amputation, to blindness, deafness, autism, and dyslexia. Children may be born with an impairment, or develop one as a result of disease, abuse, or an injury, e.g. many children are the victims of shootings, bombings, and explosions in conflict affected areas.

The degree of disability a person experiences is frequently related to society’s adaptation to meet the needs of people with varying abilities. This is known as the social model of disability which highlights the role of the environment in reducing or increasing the ability of individuals to participate equally in everyday life. For example, a person in a wheelchair has the impairment of not being able to walk. The disability, however, may be that he cannot take up services due to a lack of building access. Protection workers must consider any additional needs or risk factors a person may have as a result of his impairment and disability. Children in developing countries are more vulnerable to disability since poverty and conflicts increase the incidence of impairments, and reduce the provision of necessary health, education, social services, and adaptive provisions to help include children of all abilities.

Children with impairments or special needs are highly vulnerable to discrimination, abandonment, abuse, exploitation, injury and death, since they are more reliant on the cooperation and support of others to meet their basic needs, and may be less able to express their wishes. In some cultures, children with special needs are actively excluded from participating in society since they may be viewed as a source of shame, or unworthy of care and protection.

Government policies should seek to reduce the incidence of injuries and diseases via adequate health care, including education, immunizations, nutrition, and sanitation. All programming and policies for children should promote the social inclusion of children with disabilities at every level. Children should benefit from the reduction of physical and social barriers, adaptation of services and/or rehabilitation assistance in order to enable them to participate as fully as possible in their communities. This includes family support, health facilities, access to education, and respite services to enable children to fulfill their potential. Children of all abilities must be empowered to express their views and to influence their own lives.

The resources in this section focus on children with disabilities in developing countries, and those affected by conflict. They highlight their vulnerability to exclusion and abuse, and provide examples of projects to address the needs of children with special needs.

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Khmer Language Version: Inclusion and quality in Islamic schools, Buddhist monastic schools, and Floating schools in Cambodia

Meredith Lunsford, Solyda Say, Safa Shahkhalili - UNICEF Cambodia, 01 Apr 2019

This research study was commissioned to generate a better understanding of three school communities in Cambodia: Islamic schools, Buddhist monastic schools, and floating schools with a focus on identifying challenges in delivering quality and inclusive education.

Foster parents' needs, perceptions and satisfaction with foster parent training: A systematic literature review

Jannike Kaasbøll, Eva Lassemo, Veronika Paulsen, Line Melby, Solveig O. Osborg - Children and Youth Services Review, 25 Mar 2019

This current systematic literature review aims to examine what is known about foster parents' needs, satisfaction and perceptions of foster parent training.

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UN Human Rights Council Resolution A/HRC/40/L.20/Rev.1: Rights of the child: empowering children with disabilities for the enjoyment of their human rights, including through inclusive education

UN Human Rights Council, 20 Mar 2019

This Resolution on "empowering children with disabilities for the enjoyment of their human rights" was adopted by the UN Human Rights Council on 22 March 2019. The Resolution makes mention of the particular vulnerability of children with disabilities to institutionalization, reaffirms the importance of a family environment for all children, and calls upon States to provide necessary support services to children and families so as to prevent institutionalization and family separation, encouraging States to "undertake every effort to provide alternative care within the wider family and, failing that, within the community in a family setting" where the immediate family is unable to care for the child.

Child Developmental Disabilities, Caregivers’ Role in Kenya and Its Implications on Global Migration

Jemaiyo Chabeda-Barthe, Timothy Wambua, Wangui Lydia Chege, Dan Hwaga, Timothy Gakuo and Gladys Chepkemoi Rotich - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20 Mar 2019

This paper is a summary of the findings from an ethnographic study on child developmental disabilities conducted partly in Nairobi and Kiambu Counties in Kenya.

ABLE: Inclusive Family-Based Care for Children with Disabilities

Better Care Network, 19 Mar 2019

Presented at the UN Human Rights Council side event on Promoting Quality Alternative Care for Children with Disabilities on 5 March 2019, this video highlights the work of ABLE, a program of the Cambodian NGO Children in Families that provides inclusive family-based care for children with disabilities.

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Country Care Review: Syrian Arab Republic

Better Care Network, 06 Mar 2019

This country care review includes the care-related Concluding Observations adopted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child. The Committee's recommendations on the issues relevant to children's care are highlighted, as well as other care-related concluding observations, ratification dates, and links to the Universal Periodic Review and Hague Intercountry Adoption Country Profile.

Full Transcript: "Promoting Inclusion In Family-Based Care" Speech Given at UN Human Rights Council Side Event on Promoting Quality Family and Community-Based Care for Children with Disabilities

Children in Families, 06 Mar 2019

Sreyny Sorn, manager of the ABLE Project at Children in Families, gave a presentation at a side event at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva on 5 March, 2019.

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Presentation of Family Care for Children with Disabilities: Practical Guidance for Frontline Workers in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

Gwen Burchell, 05 Mar 2019

This presentation of Family Care for Children with Disabilities: Practical Guidance for Frontline Workers in Low- and Middle-Income Countries was given at the UN Human Rights Council Side Event on Promoting Quality Alternative Care for Children with Disabilities on 5 March 2019.

Country Care Review: Czech Republic

Better Care Network, 05 Mar 2019

This country care review includes the care-related Concluding Observations adopted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The Committees' recommendations on the issues relevant to children's care are highlighted, as well as other care-related concluding observations, ratification dates, and links to the Universal Periodic Review and Hague Intercountry Adoption Country Profile.

Statement delivered to the Human Rights Council at the annual full-day meeting on the rights of the child: Empowering children with disabilities for the enjoyment of their human rights, including through inclusive education

Child Rights Connect, 04 Mar 2019

Child Rights Connect delivered a written and oral statement to the UN Human Rights Council on 4 March 2019 at an event to promote the empowerment of children with disabilities to enjoy their full human rights, including through inclusive education. In the statement, Child Rights Connect says that children with disabilities "are much more likely to grow up in alternative care and face heightened risk of violence."