Involve children with disabilities in making decisions as they are not
just beneficiaries, but agents of change, says the State of the World’s
Children 2013: Children with Disabilities report of the United Nations
Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
Panchayat and Social Justice Minister M.K. Muneer released the report
here on Tuesday, which speaks about the importance of the inclusion of
children with disabilities in nation building and why it is important to
hear and heed their voices in policy-making and programmes.
The Minister said that every child should be respected irrespective of
disabilities and provided the same opportunities and rights as the rest
of the children.
“The infant deaths in Attappady have been a wake-up call for the
government regarding the nutrition policy, and it has come with a
comprehensive plan to address the problem. The government has planned to
set up a special school in each panchayat. Going one step ahead, plans
are on the anvil to start rehabilitation centres along with the school,”
he said.
The report says that children with disabilities are often regarded as inferior, exposing them to increased vulnerability.
Speaking at the function, Satish Kumar, Chief of UNICEF State Office for
Tamil Nadu and Kerala, said that discrimination on the grounds of
disability was prevalent among the public, decision-makers and providers
of essential services, which led to the invisibility of this group.
“The report, in fact, points out that survival for such groups of
children is a great challenge as they have to face neglect and
discrimination from society. There should an approach where the children
are provided an inclusive and equitable environment to have an equally
fulfilling life,” he said.
Speaking on the need to create awareness of the need to include children
in all activities of society, N. Ahmed Pillai, Commissioner of State
Commissionerate for Persons with Disabilities, said the country had a
low infant mortality rate, but the number of disabled people was the
rise. There was not sufficient awareness of high-risk pregnancy cases
and preventive facilities. “Even when there were provisions for early
detection of disabilities, the State lacks streamlined activities to
provide proper support and treatment to such identified cases,” he said.
Leela Gangadharan, Chairperson of the Kerala State Commission for
Protection of Child’s Rights, said the State should focus on adopting
more preventive measures in such cases.
“Focus on the working women community, who are now rarely supported by
society. The nutrition policy should be given the main focus,” she said.
Source: http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Thiruvananthapuram/involve-differently-abled-children-in-decision-making-says-unicef-report/article4827276.ece
