Last week, the Southeast Regional Office of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF hosted their final UNICEF Speaker Series of 2012. The program, entitled Access and Opportunity for All: A Conversation about Children and Disability, took place at the world-renowned Shepherd Center and gave experts and concerned Atlantans an opportunity to openly discuss the topic of disability and how it affects young people around the world.
According to the World Health Organization, a staggering 10% of world’s children are disabled. These children are often targets of exclusion, stigmatization, neglect, violence and abuse. UNESCO estimates that in developing countries, up to 90% of these children do not attend school. UNICEF strongly supports the ratification of the world’s newest human rights treaty, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). We need your help to make sure the Senate approves the CRPD before the end of the year, and we urge you to add your voice!
Sports fans, rejoice: Today marks the opening of the 2012 Olympic Games! My family and I are definitely going to spend the next two weeks gathered around the TV—and we’re not even big sports fans. But that’s what makes the Olympics so special: they’re not just about athletic achievement. The games are an expression of global unity and a celebration of human endurance.
UNICEF knows all about the power and importance of sports, especially in a child’s life, and uses sports in very targeted ways to improve the lives of children.
Saturday, December 3, marked the 19th annual International Day of Persons with Disabilities. Sponsored by the United Nations, people from around the world recognize this day in an effort to further an understanding of people with disability, and encourage support for their dignity, rights, and overall well-being. This year’s theme was, “Together for a better world for all: Including persons with disabilities in development.”
According to the World Health Organization, around ten percent of the world’s children have some type of physical or mental health impairment, and around eighty percent of those children live in developing countries. Unfortunately, children with disabilities are among the most marginalized and excluded groups of children. Compared to their peers, they are routinely denied access to health, education and social services. They are often excluded from opportunities to participate in their communities, and are more vulnerable to violence and abuse.
Casey Marsh is part of a delegation of U.S. Fund for UNICEF staff and supporters currently visiting UNICEF’s country programs in Zambia. She will be reporting on her experiences from the field all week.
We have learned a lot about water and sanitation during our time in Zambia. The schools that we visited yesterday featured “hand-washing corners” and the schools and villages told us proudly about the fact that they are striving for one toilet for every family. For many years, villagers have defecated in the fields for lack of better facilities. This caused all kinds of diseases, and UNICEF is supporting a widespread effort to bring healthy sanitation, including pit latrines and water wells, to the region.
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Child Survival
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