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| © U.S. Fund for UNICEF/Charles Bailey |
| In a Da Nang respite center for children with disabilities, a boy works on developing his fine motor skills by stringing beads together to make a necklace. |
Recently, we blogged about UNICEF's new pilot program to help children with disabilities in Vietnam. Today we want to tell you a little bit more about what UNICEF is doing in Vietnam, and we'll also answer that age-old question: What, exactly, is a UNICEF pilot program?
First things first. A UNICEF pilot program is not much different from any other pilot program: the launch of a brand-new program or initiative with the aim of keeping it going and expanding it beyond the initial "pilot" phase. The great thing about UNICEF's pilot programs is that they immediately start saving children's lives. In Vietnam, the government has pledged to replicate UNICEF's pilot program across the entire country.
Right now, UNICEF is working to help the disabled children in the city of Da Nang. UNICEF's first priorities are to find out where children with disabilities live and what their needs are, and to educate parents and teachers. UNICEF will also work to meet disabled children's immediate needs: help build more "respite" centers for disabled children, give them access to medical care and sanitation, and make sure they receive aids like wheelchairs or prostheses.
Yet children with disabilities need so much more than to just have their basic needs met. Education and awareness are paramount to changing these children's lives. Many families simply do not know what help is available to them, so many kids never receive the medical treatment or social services they are entitled to.
Disabled children especially miss out on going to school. Half of all children with disabilities are illiterate, and most do not finish primary school. Even those children who do go to school are often falsely perceived to be intellectually disabled and are simply ignored. UNICEF will train teachers of disabled children and educate families about the resources that are available to them.
For the long term, UNICEF is already working with the Vietnamese government to fully integrate those living with disabilities into society, and to improve the rights of all disabled children. You can read more about the program in our feature story.
We just started our campaign to raise funds to support this unique project. If you'd like to help the children with disabilities in Vietnam, please go to our special donations page, where every dollar donated will be matched by the Ford Foundation. And be sure to check back here for more updates, including a report from UNICEF Ambassador Téa Leoni's recent rip to Vietnam.