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obJecTives
The background information and exercises contained in this chapter will enable participants to
work towards the following objectives:
• Understand discrimination against children with disabilities as a human rights issue
• Understand the interrelation and interdependence of the rights of children with
disabilities and other human rights
• Identify ways in which the rights of children with disabilities have been promoted or
denied
• Explain the importance of allowing children with disabilities a voice regarding issues that
involve them
• Understand and apply the provisions on the human rights of children with disabilities in
the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)
• Highlight possible strategies to advance the rights of children with disabilities.
geTTing sTARTed: ThinKing AboUT The hUMAn RighTs of
childRen wiTh disAbiliTies
Children as a whole are marginalized; however, some groups of children, such as children with
disabilities, girl children, and children from ethnic minorities face even greater discrimination.
Children with disabilities are uniquely at greater risk for discrimination due to the fact
that 1) they have a disability and 2) they are children and therefore more vulnerable to
marginalization, exploitation, and abuse. Unless these groups are specifically mentioned in
human rights treaties, they may be deprived of the protections and guarantees of the general
children’s human rights agenda, including the convention on the Rights of Persons with
disabilities (CRPD). For this reason children with disabilities are mentioned in a separate
article in the CRPD. For them, as for all children, the assurance of their human rights,
especially to health, survival, and an adequate standard of living, is critical.
There are an estimated 150 million children with disabilities in the world. More
than 80 percent of them live in developing countries with little or no access to
services, such as education. 1
Many different experiences shape a childhood, including a child’s personal characteristics,
gender, class, ethnicity, culture, religion, (dis)ability, socio-economic situation, location, family
situation, environment, education, work, and sexual orientation. These experiences need to be
taken into account when guaranteeing the human rights and fundamental freedoms of children
with disabilities.
1 Committee on the Rights of the Child, General Comment No. 9: The Rights of Children with Disabilities.
29 Sep. 2006. UN doc. CRC/C/GC/9
http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/crc/docs/co/CRC.C.GC.9.doc
192 hUMAn RighTs. yes! AcTion And AdvocAcy on The RighTs of PeRsons wiTh disAbiliTies