OO213 - English Federation of Disability Sport

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PERSPECTIVEAdjusting, adapting and empoweringBy Yahia J. ElziqYahia J. Elziq is a Technical Advisorfor Handicap International inRamallah, State of Palestine.Saja was 7 years old whenI met her.At that time I was workingin one of the three nationalrehabilitation centres in theWest Bank as an occupationaltherapist. Although this centreis not set up to handle Saja’sneeds and demands as a childwith cerebral palsy, we wereable to provide therapy sessionsto prevent deteriorationin her condition. The two mainobstacles that still preventher from reaching appropriaterehabilitation servicesare the absence of referralmechanisms and coordinationbetween services in the WestBank, and the restrictions onmovement that are imposedon Palestinians under occupation.The specialized rehabilitationcentre for such conditionsis based in East Jerusalem, butSaja’s family was refused permissionto enter the city.In addition, children with disabilitiesin the West Bank, aselsewhere, confront a generallack of knowledge and skillsabout disability throughoutthe public and private sectors.They are also faced witha dominant perspective thatregards people with disabilitiesas pitiable and as worthyto receive charity – but not asindividuals with rights whohave the same entitlements asothers, and who can and docontribute to society.In this context Saja has beenlucky. After an extensive evaluation,our team developed aplan to support and improveher participation in the community.The priority for herand her family was to haveher enrolled in regular school.However, in order to attenda mainstream school, sheneeded various environmentalchanges – among them,the school premises had tobe physically accessible, andshe needed to have a suitablewheelchair. Full collaborationfrom her family, schooland community were absolutenecessities. Saja neededintegrated activities involvingmany stakeholders, startingfrom her own parents,who tended to use availableresources in favour of herbrother, who has the same38THE STATE OF THE WORLD’S CHILDREN 2013: Children with Disabilities
Saja opened my eyes to my own ability to adjust and adapt asa professional – and to the positive impact that we therapeuticprofessionals can have if we adopt empowering attitudes.condition, leaving her withoutthe opportunity to develop toher full potential.Tackling all these issues wasmade difficult because of theabsence of adequate nationalpolicy. There is no inclusiveeducation programme forchildren with disabilities, forexample, and disabilityinclusivepolicies are not prioritiesfor decision-makers.For these reasons, the fate ofchildren with disabilities reliesheavily on the willingness ofcommunity members to recognizethat these children havethe same rights as all children.When these rights arerecognized, many issues canbe solved – often simply bymobilizing existing communityresources.Fortunately, in Saja’s case,negotiations with the schoolprincipal succeeded and herclassroom was moved fromthe second to the ground floor.The teachers accepted the ideaof having her in their class.By using our own networksof professional and personalcontacts, we were able to gether a suitable wheelchair and,thanks to some local doctorsand a health centre, her familywas able to obtain free treatmentto improve her eyesight.Social workers helped raiseawareness of her particularsituation within her family, anda psychologist supported herin overcoming her experienceof discrimination.Over just a couple of years,Saja’s situation improveddramatically as some of herhealth issues were addressed,her mobility improved and herself-esteem and confidenceimproved along with her socialinteractions, knowledge andlife skills. As a person, I wasoverjoyed at seeing Saja’sprogress. As a rehabilitationprofessional, it was highlyrewarding.Saja opened my eyes to myown ability to adjust and adaptas a professional – and to thepositive impact that we therapeuticprofessionals can haveif we adopt empowering attitudes.More importantly, shehelped me to understand thevalue and importance of takinga holistic view of the individualchild and of taking a comprehensiveapproach in workingwith persons with disabilitiesand their community. This isthe only way to ensure thatchildren with disabilities canhave the same opportunitiesas other children to participatein community life.I want to share this realizationwith policymakers so theycan take a more empowering,holistic approach to their work.Good policies – made with theinvolvement of children withdisabilities and disabled persons’organizations, and properlyimplemented – will helpto ensure that when the nextSaja comes to us, she and herfamily will know what she isentitled to, and what she mightexpect to achieve – which iswhat every other girl of herage in her community canexpect to achieve. This is themessage that the Conventionon the Rights of Persons withDisabilities and the Conventionon the Rights of the Childgive us, and that we wantto promote every day.A STRONG FOUNDATION39
Page 2 and 3: © United Nations Children’s Fund
Page 5 and 6: FOREWORDIs there a child who does n
Page 7 and 8: FOCUSViolence against children with
Page 9 and 10: CHAPTER 1INTRODUCTIONReports such a
Page 11 and 12: Under the Convention on the Rights
Page 13 and 14: People with disabilities are becomi
Page 16 and 17: PERSPECTIVEI want good memoriesBy N
Page 21 and 22: hierarchy and traditional expectati
Page 23 and 24: to education and health-care servic
Page 25 and 26: An inclusive kindergarten in Nizhny
Page 27 and 28: Assistive technology productsCatego
Page 29 and 30: We need to make media more accessib
Page 31 and 32: CHAPTER 3A STRONGFOUNDATIONGood hea
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 isan i
Page 45: Reading Braille at a school in Ugan
Page 49 and 50: CHAPTER 4ESSENTIALS OFPROTECTIONChi
Page 51 and 52: Independent States, institutionaliz
Page 53 and 54: Children with disabilities are at g
Page 55 and 56: It is much harder to protect childr
Page 57 and 58: CHAPTER 5HUMANITARIANRESPONSEHumani
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 in
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 6MEASURING CHILDDISABILITYA
Page 73 and 74: Mental Development Scale, 120 canno
Page 75 and 76: single set of questions for both gr
Page 77 and 78: FOCUSLessons learnedSince 1995, UNI
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 7AN AGENDAFOR ACTIONThe nat
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 familiesThe CRC states that
Page 92 and 93: (continued from p. 81)Involve child
Page 94 and 95: PERSPECTIVEChildren with disabiliti
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REFERENCESChapter 1 Introduction1 W
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65 United Nations Children’s Fund
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The Landmine Monitor identified mor
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STATISTICAL TABLESOVERVIEWThis refe
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STATISTICAL TABLESWater and sanitat
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STATISTICAL TABLESExplanation of sy
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TABLE 1: BASIC INdICATORSCountriesa
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TABLE 1BASIC INdICATORSCountriesand
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TABLE 2: NuTRITIONCountriesand area
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TABLE 2NuTRITIONCountriesand areasL
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TABLE 3: HEALTHCountriesUse of impr
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TABLE 3CountriesHEALTHUse of improv
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TABLE 4: HIV/AIdSPrevention among y
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TABLE 4HIV/AIdSPrevention among you
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TABLE 5educationCountriesand areasY
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TABLE 5EduCATIONCountriesand areasY
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TABLE 6dEmOGRApHIC INdICATORSCountr
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TABLE 6dEmOGRApHIC INdICATORSCountr
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TABLE 7ECONOmIC INdICATORSCountries
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TABLE 7ECONOmIC INdICATORSCountries
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TABLE 8WOmENCountriesand areasLife
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TABLE 8WOmENCountriesand areasLife
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TABLE 9CHILd pROTECTIONCountriesand
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TABLE 9CHILd pROTECTIONCountriesand
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TABLE 10THE RATE OF pROGRESSCountri
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TABLE 10THE RATE OF pROGRESSCountri
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TABLE 11AdOLESCENTSCountriesand are
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TABLE 11AdOLESCENTSCountriesand are
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TABLE 12disparities by residenceCou
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TABLE 12dISpARITIES By RESIdENCECou
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TABLE 13dISpARITIES By HOuSEHOLd WE
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TABLE 13dISpARITIES By HOuSEHOLd WE
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TABLE 14EARLy CHILdHOOd dEVELOpmENT
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UNICEF HeadquartersUNICEF House3 Un
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OO213 - English Federation of Disability Sport

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