Promoting the Rights of Children with Disabilities, UNICEF

Box 6.3 World Health Organization programme ondisability and rehabilitationThe mission of the Disability and Rehabilitation(DAR) i initiative of the World Health Organization(WHO) is “to enhance the quality of life for personswith disabilities through national, regional andglobal efforts.” The DAR team works with partnerswho implement programmes, including organizationsrepresenting persons with disabilities, andnational and international professional and nonprofessionalnon-governmental organizations.Current activities include:• raising awareness about the magnitude andconsequences of disability• facilitating data collection and analysing or disseminatingdisability-related data and information• supporting, promoting and strengthening healthand rehabilitation services for persons with disabilitiesand their families• promoting the development, production, distributionand servicing of assistive technology• supporting the development, implementation,measuring and monitoring of policies to improvethe rights and opportunities for personswith disabilities• building capacity among health and rehabilitationpolicymakers and service providers, and• fostering multisectoral networks andpartnerships.The DAR programme provides support to WHO memberstates for policy development and for the integrationof rehabilitation into primary health care. Withinthe United Nations system, the DAR team collaborateswith the International Labour Organization (ILO),UNESCO and UNICEF to promote and strengthen thecommunity-based rehabilitation strategy for rehabilitation,equalization of opportunities, poverty reductionand social inclusion of persons with disabilities.The World Health Organization is currently leadingthe preparation of the World Report on Disability, tobe released in 2009.Source:iWorld Health Organization DAR website . See also WHO, ’Disability and Rehabilitation:WHO Action Plan 2006-2011’, WHO, Geneva, 2006,.Toy libraries can also provide an invaluable resource tochildren and families. In Serbia and in Montenegro, toylibraries have been set up in 20 towns with the supportof Save the Children and UNICEF. These librariesare staffed by teachers, special education teachersand psychologists on a voluntary basis. Once a weekcreative workshops are run for the children, includingdrama, drawing and terracotta, as well as discussiongroups during which parents and children can sharetheir experiences. 84Entry into the education system offers another opportunityto identify impairments and provide appropriatesupport. In Fiji, the NGO Project Heaven carries outearly detection of disabilities (visual and auditory impairments)among all primary and secondary schoolstudents. The success of the project encouraged theMinistry of Education to integrate it as a regular fundedactivity of the Ministry. 85Many simple and creative initiatives to supportchildren with disabilities do not require newinfrastructure or investment, but can simply buildon community strengths and pre-existing facilities.In Bangladesh, Handicap International and itslocal partners have worked to integrate a disabilitydimension into the work of community developmentorganizations through its programme on CommunityApproaches to Handicap and Development. Thepartners work with over 100 local communitydevelopment organizations active in mainstreamdevelopment activities, including fishing, microcredit,health, housing, legal aid and women’s justice.A disability perspective is encouraged in all theseactivities by raising the awareness of staff, promotingawareness-raising campaigns, inserting a disabilitydimension into induction programmes for new staffand by training project workers, such as the traditionalbirth attendants who participate in the health projects.This point is also illustrated by the experience ofthe Women’s Credit and Savings Programme inViet Nam, established by Save the Children andrun through the local Women’s Union. Monitoringof these micro-credit schemes demonstrated thatalthough some persons with disabilities were usingthe scheme, many families with disabled membersliving in extreme poverty were afraid to borrow forfear they would be unable to repay the loans. Anawareness-raising workshop held in partnership withthe Women’s Union led to improved access to thescheme for women with disabilities and mothersof children with disabilities. These improvementsincluded an increase in children with disabilitiesreceiving scholarships and attending school andthe provision of free essential treatment, includingtreatment of children suffering from cleft palate andeye conditions. Provision was also made for familieswith disabled members to receive assistance withtheir harvest. The overall result was that the largestNGO credit scheme in Viet Nam gained a cleardisability perspective. 86Where programs work through community developmentorganizations, they avoid having to incur extracosts and benefit from existing skills, connections25 Promoting the Rights of Children with Disabilities Innocenti Digest No. 13