This year, UNICEF’s State of the World’s Children Report has called on nations to set targets to include children with disabilities in the mainstream.
India, which has signed and ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and Optional Protocol,now needs to promote home-based care, provideservicesfor children with disabilities and end institutionalisation, stated the report.
The report was released by Social Welfare Minister B.Valarmathi here on Friday.
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It said that a definition of disability should go beyond mere medical classification and incorporate social determinants. It sets a framework to ensure that health and disability are seen within the broader context of social barriers. Since functioning and disability occur in certain contexts, it should be meaningful to assess not only bodily but also the societal and environmental factors at play, it said.
The report is based on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health of the WHO.
“We need to place the problem at the forefront and create a supportive environment for children with disabilities; an atmosphere free from exclusion, one that would encourage them to grow and reach their natural potential,” said Satish Kumar, UNICEF chief of field office, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. “Let us take the first step now,” he urged.
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The report sought to ensure that children have a say in schemes that affect them.
Counting every single child with disability is very important, Dr. Satish Kumar stressed. One widely used global estimate puts the number of children with some disability at 93 million. However, there are varying estimates for the numbers in India. According to Census 2001, 2.13 per cent of India’s population is disabled, but the world report on disability 2011 states that about 25 per cent of the population in India is disabled.