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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Persons with Disabilities and the Humanitarian Response in Haiti

Women's Refugee Commission, 05 Feb 2010

Key messages and guidance for action

Handbook on Preventing Violence Against Children

Canadian Red Cross , 2010

The Canadian Red Cross has produced a handbook on the prevention of violence against children. The handbook includes specific guidance on preventing violence against vulnerable children, such as children in institutions, children involved in armed conflict and children with disabilities.

Supporting Families to Care for Children with Disabilities in Georgia

Save the Children, 2010

This one-page case study describes the situation of one family in Georgia caring for their daughter with cerebral palsy and the interventions and services provided by Save the Children that enabled the family to get the support they needed to care for their daughter, and enabled the girl to improve her cognitive and motor skills.

Progress for Children: Report Card on Child Protection

UNICEF, 01 Sep 2009

The first comprehensive resource on child protection statistics. Includes data on children without parental care, child trafficking, child marriage, children with disabilities, etc.

Analysis of the Progress and Remaining Challenges in Child Care System Reform: Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyztan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan

UNICEF, Natalia Lyalina and Anna Nordenmark Severinsson, 21 May 2009

Developed by the UNICEF Regional Office for Central and Eastern Europe/Commonwealth of Independent States as a discussion paper for the 2nd Child Protection Forum on Building and Reforming Child Care Systems

It's About Ability: Learning Guide on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

UNICEF and the Victor Pineda Foundation, 10 Mar 2009

Companion resource to It’s About Ability, designed to empower children and young people to speak out on the convention and become advocates for inclusion.

Participation of Disabled Children and Young People

Lucia Winters for Council for Disabled Children , 01 Mar 2009

A directory of resources promoting and guiding the participation of disabled children and young people in program development.

Orphan Care in Russia

Victoria Schmidt, 2009

Current public opinion about the residential care system in contemporary Russia is extremely negative. A majority of Russians, both citizens and professionals, consider that family placement is the best arrangement for orphaned children.

Preventing violence through the development of safe, stable and nurturing relationships between children and their parents and caregivers

WHO and Liverpool John Moores University, 2009

This briefing looks at the effectiveness of interventions that encourage safe, stable and nurturing relationships for preventing child maltreatment and aggressive behaviour in childhood. The focus is on primary prevention programmes, those that are implemented early enough to avoid the development of violent behaviour such as child maltreatment and childhood aggression.

India: The Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS): A centrally Sponsored Scheme of Government-Civil Society Partnership

The Indian Ministry of Women and Child Development , 2009

In 2006 the Indian Ministry of Women and Child Development proposed the adoption of an Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS), which was adopted and launched by the central government in 2009-2010. Recognizing chronic under funding of child protection services in the country and major gaps in the system, the ICPS was expected to significantly contribute to the realization of Government/State responsibility by creating a system that would effectively and efficiently protect children.