UNICEF today disseminated the ‘State of the World’s Children’s
report—2013’ urging for concentration on the abilities and potential of
children with disabilities for the benefit of the society as a whole.
Will Parks, deputy representative of UNICEF Nepal Country Office, said there should be strengthened and amplified collective voice to advocate for a more equitable and inclusive Nepal, especially for children with disabilities.
The Government of Nepal has signed the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2006 (UNCRPD), and Nepal is one of the 76 countries to have signed and ratified both the Convention and its Optional Protocol.
“Despite all these efforts, people with disabilities still face lots of challenges and society continues to stigmatise and stereotype them, especially in public services, private businesses, public transports, among others,” said Parks. These children are facing unemployment and illiteracy problems due to non-existent or severely limited services and lack of an enabling environment, he added.
Addressing a programme organised to disseminate the report, he said children with disabilities were least likely to receive health care and education, and were most vulnerable to violence, abuse, exploitation and neglect.
About one-third of the total school children across the globe are children with disabilities. According to the Nepal Living Standard Survey–2010/11, more than 20 out of every 100 children with disabilities between the ages of five and 14 have attended school.
They also constitute only about one per cent of the total number of all children enrolled at the primary education level.
In the absence of equal opportunities, children with disabilities cannot develop their potential and are at greater risk of being poor than their peers without disabilities.
Even where children share the same disadvantages, children with disabilities confront additional challenges as a result of their impairments and the many barriers that society places in their way, added the representative.
UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake in his statement said that more efforts to support integration of children with disabilities would help tackle the discrimination that pushes them further into the margins of society.
For many, expulsion begins in the first days of life with their birth going unregistered. Lacking official recognition, they are cut off from the social services and legal protections that are crucial to their survival and prospects.Their marginalisation only increases with discrimination, said Lake.
The report urges all governments to keep their promises to guarantee the equal rights of all their citizens – including their most excluded and vulnerable children. About one-third of the world’s countries have so far failed to ratify the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
The report also appeals to governments to ratify and implement the UNCRPD and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and to support families so that they can meet the higher costs of caring for children with disabilities.
It further calls for measures to fight discrimination among the general public, decision-makers and providers of such essential services as schooling and health care. The report also lays emphasis on the importance of involving children and adolescents with disabilities.
Will Parks, deputy representative of UNICEF Nepal Country Office, said there should be strengthened and amplified collective voice to advocate for a more equitable and inclusive Nepal, especially for children with disabilities.
The Government of Nepal has signed the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2006 (UNCRPD), and Nepal is one of the 76 countries to have signed and ratified both the Convention and its Optional Protocol.
“Despite all these efforts, people with disabilities still face lots of challenges and society continues to stigmatise and stereotype them, especially in public services, private businesses, public transports, among others,” said Parks. These children are facing unemployment and illiteracy problems due to non-existent or severely limited services and lack of an enabling environment, he added.
Addressing a programme organised to disseminate the report, he said children with disabilities were least likely to receive health care and education, and were most vulnerable to violence, abuse, exploitation and neglect.
About one-third of the total school children across the globe are children with disabilities. According to the Nepal Living Standard Survey–2010/11, more than 20 out of every 100 children with disabilities between the ages of five and 14 have attended school.
They also constitute only about one per cent of the total number of all children enrolled at the primary education level.
In the absence of equal opportunities, children with disabilities cannot develop their potential and are at greater risk of being poor than their peers without disabilities.
Even where children share the same disadvantages, children with disabilities confront additional challenges as a result of their impairments and the many barriers that society places in their way, added the representative.
UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake in his statement said that more efforts to support integration of children with disabilities would help tackle the discrimination that pushes them further into the margins of society.
For many, expulsion begins in the first days of life with their birth going unregistered. Lacking official recognition, they are cut off from the social services and legal protections that are crucial to their survival and prospects.Their marginalisation only increases with discrimination, said Lake.
The report urges all governments to keep their promises to guarantee the equal rights of all their citizens – including their most excluded and vulnerable children. About one-third of the world’s countries have so far failed to ratify the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
The report also appeals to governments to ratify and implement the UNCRPD and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and to support families so that they can meet the higher costs of caring for children with disabilities.
It further calls for measures to fight discrimination among the general public, decision-makers and providers of such essential services as schooling and health care. The report also lays emphasis on the importance of involving children and adolescents with disabilities.
Source : The Himalayan Times , 2nd June 2013
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