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In this report, Lumos welcomes actions taken by the Republic of Moldova to prevent child abuse and exploitation during the period between 2011-2015. Lumos further notes concern that the National Strategy on Child Protection for 2014-2020 has not been approved by the government.
In regard to implementation of suggested recommendations, in 2007 the government committed to reduce the number of children's institutions by 50%. As of 2012, the government had reduced them by 62%. This report also notes that the number of children with special needs receiving inclusive…
This report from Human Rights Watch focuses on the institutionalization of children with disabilities in Serbia. It is based on 118 in-depth interviews with children with disabilities and their families, disability advocates, staff of residential institutions for children with disabilities, and government officials. The report documents a range of issues experienced by children with disabilities in institutions in Serbia, including segregation, neglect, lack of parental/guardian involvement, lack of privacy, inappropriate medical treatment, lack of access to education, limited freedom of…
This report from Disability Rights International (DRI) outlines the findings from a two-year investigation into the treatment of children and adults with mental disabilities in Mexico City, particularly those in the care of state-funded and private residential facilities. “Despite the fact that they have committed no crime, children and adults with disabilities are locked up and segregated from society,” says the report. Furthermore, the investigation uncovered egregious abuses at many institutions in the city, including those in which children are placed in cages or permanent restraints.…
In this paper, Lumos reviews Bulgaria’s national strategy on deinstitutionalisation, adopted in 2010, and provides recommendations for ensuring the rights of children in the process. This paper has been written in the light of Bulgaria’s Universal Periodic Review. It outlines a set of recommendations which will ensure the deinstitutionalisation process in Bulgaria will meet the needs and respect the rights of all children involved and to help ensure that policy in this area is in line with Bulgaria’s international human rights commitments.
The paper describes the need for a child-centered…
This joint memo was issued by a group of European organizations to clearly state their belief that the draft language on community living in the proposed EU Structural Funds Regulations should be amended to enhance the effect and to better advance the rights of children, persons with disabilities, and older people. The memo highlights the need to clarify and improve the text, and why this is necessary in order to uphold the international legal obligations of the EU to promote the right to community living, particularly for children, persons with disabilities, and older people.
This Human Rights Watch report gives a detailed overview of the situation faced by children with disabilities in orphanages in Russia. According to the report, every child with a disability in Russia has a significant chance of ending up in a state-run orphanage. Nearly 30 percent of all Russian children with disabilities live separately from their families and communities in closed institutions. This report is based on visits by Human Rights Watch researchers to 10 orphanages in 6 regions of Russia, as well as on more than 200 interviews with parents, children, and young people currently and…
Thirteen agencies* working in Africa have issued a Joint Statement calling on African governments to strengthen their child protection systems to secure the right of children to a life free from violence, abuse, exploitation and neglect in both emergency and non-emergency settings. The agencies, which include UNICEF, as well as networks of NGOs, delivered their recommendations during the 22nd Session of the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, on 6 November 2013, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The Joint Statement draws on a…
In its 2013 State of the World's Children Report, UNICEF has chosen to highlight the particular issues, needs, and circumstances ofchildren with disabilities worldwide. The report describes ways in which responses to the situations children with disabilities face often do not grant them the opportunity to flourish and are largely limited to institutionalization, abandonment, or neglect. The report features powerful personal testimonies and recommendations from children with disability, parents, and…
The 4th Forum on the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC) was held between 18 and 20 March 2011 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. As is customary, the Forum was organised ahead of the 17th Ordinary Session of the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC) also taking place in Ethiopia. Ninety-seven activists from 23 countries (of which 19 were in Africa) attended the Forum, which is a framework for strategic partnership to improve child rights in Africa. The following recommendations were made to the…
The first ever World report on disability, produced jointly by WHO and the World Bank, suggests that more than a billion people in the world today experience disability.
People with disabilities have generally poorer health, lower education achievements, fewer economic opportunities and higher rates of poverty than people without disabilities. This is largely due to the lack of services available to them and the many obstacles they face in their everyday lives. The report provides the best available evidence about what works to…