2. Children with disabilities receive the support they require across the life course to live independently and be included in communities
UNICEF embraces a full life-cycle approach to child development, and therefore recognizes the ongoing support needed by children with disabilities and their parents, families and caregivers to overcome barriers and ensure healthy and successful transitions throughout the life course. This includes early identification and intervention; access to appropriate AT;
support to cover disability-related expenses; the provision of inclusive and accessible sexual and reproductive health services and information;
the delivery of mental health and psychosocial support and services that centre on the rights and dignity of children and persons with disabilities; family-friendly policies that allow parents to have adequate time, resources and
services to care and provide for their children;
and a society free from stigma and discrimination. As children with disabilities transition into and during adolescence, they may require age-appropriate support that allows them to be as autonomous as their peers without disabilities. When transitioning to adulthood, they may need support services to live independently, vocational skills and inclusive workplaces. At all ages, children and adults can benefit from the elimination of ableism and the associated stigma and discrimination within communities and social structures. This will require not only continued investments in inclusive and gender-transformative early childhood development (ECD), health, nutrition, social protection, education, WASH and child protection, but also social innovation and norm changes to develop disability-inclusive and responsive support services and systems.
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The importance of early identification and intervention
For all children to grow and reach their full potential, it is critical that they receive high- quality and nurturing services and interventions at the right time. Strengthening the health, nutrition, education, WASH and child protection sectors can help to mainstream and improve the early identification of children with disabilities. Early identification enables the timely implementation of targeted interventions that can support the unique needs of children with disabilities and remove the barriers they face in accessing services.
The period between pregnancy and 3 years of age is a critical time for a child’s growth and development, and when the brain is most susceptible to environmental influences. Throughout the child’s early years, there are multiple opportunities to support families and caregivers in providing a nurturing environment to promote child development; identify children at risk for delays and disabilities; and provide early interventions for those children who may require intensive support. These opportunities require skilled multidisciplinary teams of professionals providing assistance to parents, families and caregivers. In many places, however, the monitoring of child development and screening for delays and disabilities are not performed.
The adoption of the Washington Group on Disability Statistics Question Sets across all relevant data collection efforts, by UNICEF and others, will enable the generation of comparable data to support early identification and intervention. Further investments must be made, including by governments at all levels, to improve birth registration systems and early identification and data collection systems, and to ensure the collection and reporting of adequate, disaggregated data on children with disabilities.
Early identification requires investments in systems-strengthening in all sectors, to ensure that workforces in health, education and social services, including childcare, and in all settings, including crisis and humanitarian response, are equipped and supported to screen, report and respond to early signs of disability in children under 3 years of age. Early identification enables early childhood intervention (ECI), which includes a range of individualized services to improve child development and resilience, and to strengthen family competencies and parenting skills to facilitate children’s development. ECI systems often involve advocacy for the educational and social inclusion of children and their families. They typically include coordinated services supported by national policy, including guidelines and procedures, regulations, and service and personnel standards, to promote the child’s age-appropriate growth and development. The aim of ECI systems is to ensure that all families who have at-risk children under 5 years of age receive resources that assist them in maximizing their child’s physical, language, cognitive and social/emotional development while respecting the diversity of families and communities.
Given the multidisciplinary nature of early identification and ECI services, coordination between the education, health, nutrition, WASH and child protection services sectors is essential. The engagement of the education sector is of central importance; however, greater attention to the inclusion of child protection and child health and nutrition sectors, in particular, will help ensure all children in ECI programmes can access a full range of services.
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3. Children with disabilities grow up in enabling environments with access to resources and opportunities to realize their full potential
UNICEF recognizes that the ongoing stigma, discrimination and other barriers faced by persons with disabilities are fostered by systems and structures that fail them, and that it is the responsibility of governments, donors, multilateral organizations and other key stakeholders to invest in making them more inclusive. UNICEF commits to using its power as a convener with global reach, and with connections to governments, donors and private sector actors, to amplify investments in targeted interventions for children with disabilities, as well as inclusive environments where children with disabilities thrive in all contexts.
4. Children and persons with disabilities benefit from a full range of UNICEF programmes and organizational
investments that embrace inclusivity and diversity
UNICEF strives for a comprehensive, holistic understanding of inclusion that encompasses and embraces the diversity of types of
disabilities and the full identities of persons with disabilities, as with other members of society.
This includes investing in research and data that can expand the understanding of diversity across the spectrum of disability and its impact on how children with disabilities access or experience barriers to services and support, and how communities and societies can be transformed to embrace diversity. In addition, UNICEF commits to generating and using evidence to drive programmatic and operational investments in ending discrimination based on multiple factors, including disability, to ensure the most marginalized people are included in all of its work.
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