State of the World's Children 2013 - Unicef

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PERSPECTIVE Adjusting, adapting and empowering By Yahia J. Elziq Yahia J. Elziq is a Technical Advisor for Handicap International in Ramallah, State of Palestine. Saja was 7 years old when I met her. At that time I was working in one of the three national rehabilitation centres in the West Bank as an occupational therapist. Although this centre is not set up to handle Saja’s needs and demands as a child with cerebral palsy, we were able to provide therapy sessions to prevent deterioration in her condition. The two main obstacles that still prevent her from reaching appropriate rehabilitation services are the absence of referral mechanisms and coordination between services in the West Bank, and the restrictions on movement that are imposed on Palestinians under occupation. The specialized rehabilitation centre for such conditions is based in East Jerusalem, but Saja’s family was refused permission to enter the city. In addition, children with disabilities in the West Bank, as elsewhere, confront a general lack of knowledge and skills about disability throughout the public and private sectors. They are also faced with a dominant perspective that regards people with disabilities as pitiable and as worthy to receive charity – but not as individuals with rights who have the same entitlements as others, and who can and do contribute to society. In this context Saja has been lucky. After an extensive evaluation, our team developed a plan to support and improve her participation in the community. The priority for her and her family was to have her enrolled in regular school. However, in order to attend a mainstream school, she needed various environmental changes – among them, the school premises had to be physically accessible, and she needed to have a suitable wheelchair. Full collaboration from her family, school and community were absolute necessities. Saja needed integrated activities involving many stakeholders, starting from her own parents, who tended to use available resources in favour of her brother, who has the same 38 THE STATE OF THE WORLD’S CHILDREN 2013: Children with Disabilities
Saja opened my eyes to my own ability to adjust and adapt as a professional – and to the positive impact that we therapeutic professionals can have if we adopt empowering attitudes. condition, leaving her without the opportunity to develop to her full potential. Tackling all these issues was made difficult because of the absence of adequate national policy. There is no inclusive education programme for children with disabilities, for example, and disabilityinclusive policies are not priorities for decision-makers. For these reasons, the fate of children with disabilities relies heavily on the willingness of community members to recognize that these children have the same rights as all children. When these rights are recognized, many issues can be solved – often simply by mobilizing existing community resources. Fortunately, in Saja’s case, negotiations with the school principal succeeded and her classroom was moved from the second to the ground floor. The teachers accepted the idea of having her in their class. By using our own networks of professional and personal contacts, we were able to get her a suitable wheelchair and, thanks to some local doctors and a health centre, her family was able to obtain free treatment to improve her eyesight. Social workers helped raise awareness of her particular situation within her family, and a psychologist supported her in overcoming her experience of discrimination. Over just a couple of years, Saja’s situation improved dramatically as some of her health issues were addressed, her mobility improved and her self-esteem and confidence improved along with her social interactions, knowledge and life skills. As a person, I was overjoyed at seeing Saja’s progress. As a rehabilitation professional, it was highly rewarding. Saja opened my eyes to my own ability to adjust and adapt as a professional – and to the positive impact that we therapeutic professionals can have if we adopt empowering attitudes. More importantly, she helped me to understand the value and importance of taking a holistic view of the individual child and of taking a comprehensive approach in working with persons with disabilities and their community. This is the only way to ensure that children with disabilities can have the same opportunities as other children to participate in community life. I want to share this realization with policymakers so they can take a more empowering, holistic approach to their work. Good policies – made with the involvement of children with disabilities and disabled persons’ organizations, and properly implemented – will help to ensure that when the next Saja comes to us, she and her family will know what she is entitled to, and what she might expect to achieve – which is what every other girl of her age in her community can expect to achieve. This is the message that the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Convention on the Rights of the Child give us, and that we want to promote every day. A STRONG FOUNDATION 39
Page 1 and 2: THE STATE OF THE WORLD’S CHILDREN
Page 3 and 4: THE STATE OF THE WORLD’S CHILDREN
Page 5 and 6: FOREWORD Is there a child who does
Page 7 and 8: FOCUS Violence against children wit
Page 9 and 10: CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Reports such
Page 11 and 12: Under the Convention on the Rights
Page 13 and 14: People with disabilities are becomi
Page 15 and 16: Education is the key to stopping th
Page 17 and 18: (continued from p. 3) the right to
Page 19 and 20: CHAPTER 2 FUNDAMENTALS OF INCLUSION
Page 21 and 22: hierarchy and traditional expectati
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Page 25 and 26: An inclusive kindergarten in Nizhny
Page 27 and 28: Assistive technology products Categ
Page 29 and 30: We need to make media more accessib
Page 31 and 32: CHAPTER 3 A STRONG FOUNDATION Good
Page 33 and 34: Early childhood stunting, which is
Page 35 and 36: are particularly important. Develop
Page 37 and 38: the needs of all children. In an in
Page 39 and 40: Look at Hanif and you will see that
Page 41 and 42: terms for 20 schools at a time, wit
Page 43 and 44: epilepsy. The ketogenic diet is an
Page 45: Reading Braille at a school in Ugan
Page 49 and 50: CHAPTER 4 ESSENTIALS OF PROTECTION
Page 51 and 52: Independent States, institutionaliz
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Page 57 and 58: CHAPTER 5 HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE Hum
Page 59 and 60: Explosive remnants of war (ERW) on
Page 61 and 62: esist, than children without disabi
Page 63 and 64: Since monitoring began in 1999, the
Page 65 and 66: FOCUS (continued) Child casualties
Page 67 and 68: Child casualties by type of explosi
Page 69 and 70: If people with disabilities can’t
Page 71 and 72: CHAPTER 6 MEASURING CHILD DISABILIT
Page 73 and 74: Mental Development Scale, 120 canno
Page 75 and 76: single set of questions for both gr
Page 77 and 78: FOCUS Lessons learned Since 1995, U
Page 79 and 80: A strategy for intervention on beha
Page 81 and 82: Data can be hard to gather: Indigen
Page 83 and 84: CHAPTER 7 AN AGENDA FOR ACTION The
Page 85 and 86: discrimination is vital in reducing
Page 87 and 88: I would like to be confident that w
Page 89 and 90: Support families The CRC states tha
Page 91 and 92: Being visually challenged, I’ve h
Page 93 and 94: Six-year-old Nemanja (far left) sit
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33 South African Disability Institu
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106 Mental Disability Rights Intern
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Statistical Tables Economic and soc
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under-five mortality rate (per 1,00
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TABLE 10. THE RATE OF pROGRESS The
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under-five mortality rankings The f
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TABLE 1 BASIC INdICATORS Countries
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TABLE 1 BASIC INdICATORS Countries
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TABLE 2 NuTRITION Countries and are
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TABLE 2 NuTRITION Countries and are
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TABLE 3 HEALTH Countries Use of imp
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Countries Use of improved drinking
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TABLE 4 HIV/AIdS Prevention among y
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TABLE 4 HIV/AIdS Prevention among y
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TABLE 5 education Countries and are
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TABLE 5 EduCATION Countries and are
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TABLE 6 dEmOGRApHIC INdICATORS Coun
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TABLE 6 dEmOGRApHIC INdICATORS Coun
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TABLE 7 ECONOmIC INdICATORS Countri
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TABLE 7 ECONOmIC INdICATORS Countri
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TABLE 8 WOmEN Countries and areas L
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TABLE 8 WOmEN Countries and areas L
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TABLE 9 CHILd pROTECTION Countries
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TABLE 9 CHILd pROTECTION Countries
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TABLE 10 THE RATE OF pROGRESS Count
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TABLE 10 THE RATE OF pROGRESS Count
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TABLE 11 AdOLESCENTS Countries and
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TABLE 11 AdOLESCENTS Countries and
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TABLE 12 disparities by residence C
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TABLE 12 dISpARITIES By RESIdENCE C
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TABLE 13 dISpARITIES By HOuSEHOLd W
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TABLE 13 dISpARITIES By HOuSEHOLd W
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TABLE 14 EARLy CHILdHOOd dEVELOpmEN
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