The Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) emphasizes that all children have the right to be full members of society, and be included in all forms of participation inside the home and out in the community. Unfortunately, many children with disabilities are not afforded this…

More than 70 years after UNICEF was established, the organization’s mission to promote the full attainment of the rights of all children is as urgent as ever. The UNICEF Strategic Plan 2018–2021 is anchored in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and charts a course towards attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals and the realization…

Thanks to a law in Paraguay, children with disabilities like Arturo can study in regular schools

“Focus on what children can do, their abilities, rather than their disability”

An estimated 93 million children worldwide live with disabilities. Like all children, children with disabilities have ambitions and dreams for their futures. Like all children, they need quality education to develop their skills and realize their full potential. Yet, children with disabilities are often overlooked in policymaking, limiting their…, Getting all children in school and learning, Inclusive education is the most effective way to give all children a fair chance to go to school, learn and develop the skills they need to thrive. Inclusive education means all children in the same classrooms, in the same schools. It means real learning opportunities for groups who have traditionally been excluded – not only children with…, UNICEF’s work to promote inclusive education, To close the education gap for children with disabilities, UNICEF supports government efforts to foster and monitor inclusive education systems. Our work focuses on four key areas:, Advocacy, : UNICEF promotes inclusive education in discussions, high-level events and other forms of outreach geared towards policymakers and the general public., Awareness-raising, : UNICEF shines a spotlight on the needs of children with disabilities by conducting research and hosting roundtables, workshops and other events for government partners., Capacity-building, : UNICEF builds the capacity of education systems in partner countries by training teachers, administrators and communities, and providing technical assistance to Governments., Implementation support, : UNICEF assists with monitoring and evaluation in partner countries to close the implementation gap between policy and practice., More from UNICEF, Resources, Fixing the Broken Promise of Education for All, This report draws on national studies to examine why millions of children continue to be denied the fundamental right to primary education. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities adopts a broad categorization of persons with disabilities and reaffirms that all persons with…, This document provides guidance on what Governments can do to create inclusive education systems. Towards Inclusive Education: The Impact of Disability on School Attendance in Developing Countries Using cross-nationally comparable and nationally representative data from 18 surveys in 15 countries, this paper investigates how disability affects…

How one boy in Ghana is educating an entire community

GENEVA, 7 March 2019 –, At least 75 per cent of the estimated 5.1 million children living with disabilities in Eastern and Central Europe and Central Asia are excluded from quality, inclusive education, UNICEF said today.   Although there is a lack of robust data, available evidence shows that millions of children with disabilities never enter school. For those who do…

For Edna in Bosnia-Herzegovina, 'Down Syndrome' is just a label, and a misleading one at that

Agatha is one of at least 30,000 children living with a disability in Belarus. Early learning is changing her life.

UNICEF Executive Director remarks at the Global Disability Summit, as prepared