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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Left Behind in the War: Dangers Facing Children with Disabilities In Ukraine’s Orphanages

Disability Rights International, 05 May 2022

Disability Rights International (DRI) published these recommendations in response to a visit to Ukraine’s institutions for children with disabilities in late April 2022. DRI visited three facilities for children aged six to adult, and one “baby” home for children from birth to age six.

DRI found that Ukraine’s children with disabilities with the greatest support needs are living in atrocious conditions – entirely overlooked by major international relief agencies and receiving little support from abroad.

Review Framework for Disability Mainstreaming in Parenting Resources

Catholic Relief Services (CRS), 19 Apr 2022

This Framework for Disability Mainstreaming in Parenting Resources is a tool to help organizations and practitioners to review existing parenting resources in terms of information and content gaps, limitations of instructional guidance, and at-home activities. The aim of the framework is to ensure parenting resources are inclusive of the needs of parents of children with disabilities ages 0 to 17 years.

Shadow Report on the Implementation of the CRPD in the European Union

European Network on Independent Living (ENIL), 25 Mar 2022

This video explains the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in the European Union. The Committee is checking if the EU made progress in the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities since 2015. The European Network on on Independent Living (ENIL) submitted a shadow report to the Committee. This video explains what you can find in ENIL's shadow report.

Shadow Report on the Implementation of the CRPD in the European Union

European Network on Independent Living (ENIL), 25 Mar 2022

Children with Disabilities in Zambia: Households with Children with Disabilities in Zambia Face Hardships on Food Access and Dietary Diversity

Catholic Medical Mission Board (CMMB) Zambia, St Catherine's University, SPOON, 24 Mar 2022

This summary report by Catholic Medical Mission Board (CMMB) Zambia and St Catherine's University reports the impact of COVID-19 on the ability of families of children with disabilities to access adequate food. These households named educational and nutritional services as their most pressing support needs.

Handbook on the Crossing of the State Border by Children, Persons with Disabilities and Persons Accompanying them in a State of Emergency or Martial Law (Ukrainian)

Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine, 21 Mar 2022

Цей запис підготовлено Міністерством соціальної політики України за підтримки проекту «Підтримка державних реформ в Україні» (SURGe), відповідно до постанови Кабінету Міністрів України від 27.01.1995 р. № 57». Про затвердження Правил перетину державного кордону громадянами України» (в редакції постанови КМУ від 12.03.2022 р. № 264). У ньому викладено практичні рекомендації для громадян України при перетині державного кордону України.

Handbook on the Crossing of the State Border by Children, Persons with Disabilities and Persons Accompanying them in a State of Emergency or Martial Law

Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine, 21 Mar 2022

This handbook was prepared by the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine with the support of the project "Support to Government Reforms in Ukraine" (SURGe), in accordance with the resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine of 27.01.1995 No. 57 "On approval of the rules of crossing the state border by citizens of Ukraine" (as amended by the Cabinet of Ministers of 12.03.2022 No. 264). It outlines practical guidelines for Ukraine citizens when crossing the State border of Ukraine.

Joint Statement: The Rights of Children with Disabilities

Committee on the Rights of the Child, Committee on the Rights of Children with Disabilities, 18 Mar 2022

In a joint statement published 18 March 2022, the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Committee on the Rights of Children with Disabilities expressed deep concern about the institutionalisation of children with disabilities and called on States Parties to end institutionalisation on the basis of disability and to promote the development of support for children in a family in the community.

Protection of Persons with Disabilities in Ukraine

Global Protection Cluster, 08 Mar 2022

In the current protection crisis unfolding in Ukraine, humanitarian actors must pay particular attention to those who are most at risk of threats to safety and rights violations – including women, children, older people, and people who are blind and/or deaf, persons with psychosocial and intellectual disabilities, those who have mobility limitations, and persons with high support needs. In this brief, the Global Protection Cluster calls on all parties to the conflict and humanitarian actors to ensure the protection and safety of persons with disabilities in Ukraine.

Perceived Needs and Wellbeing of Vietnamese Parents Caring for Children with Disability

Abner Weng, Cheong Poona, Maria Cassanitib, Prasheela Karanc, Rosaleen Owd, 23 Feb 2022

There are limited studies which investigate the perceived needs and wellbeing of parents caring for their children with disability from culturally and linguistically diverse communities. This qualitative study uniquely explored the experiences and cultural factors of Vietnamese parents caring for children with a disability in multicultural Australia.

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