About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

6 Int'l J. Child. Rts. 221 (1998)
The Rights of Disabled Children

handle is hein.journals/intjchrb6 and id is 233 raw text is: LA The International Journal of Children's Rights 6: 221-227, 1998. 221 W © 1998 Kluwer Law International. Printed in the Netherlands. PRACTICE AND IMPLEMENTATION The rights of disabled children GERISON LANSDOWN Children ' Rights Office, United Kingdom Giving a focus to the rights of disabled children One of the many innovatory practices introduced by the Committee on the Rights of the Child is the annual commitment to a general discussion day which provides an opportunity to explore a theme of current concern relating to children in some depth. Past discussion days have focused, for example, on youth justice, the girl child, the family, the media and children and armed conflict. In 1997, the theme chosen by the Committee was the rights of disabled children. 'Children living in a world with AIDS' is the theme for the Committee's next general discussion day on 5 October 1998. Whilst it is invidious to pit the claims of one group of children against another in a competitive bid for attention, there is no doubt that the experi- ences of many disabled children throughout the world warrant urgent action. There are 2 billion children in the world, of whom, at a conservative esti- mate, as many as 100 million are disabled. And the evidence of the life chances of these children in many parts of the world make grim reading. Statistics from a range of UN agencies reveal that in many developing coun- tries 90% of disabled children will not survive beyond 20 years of age, 90% of intellectually impaired children do not survive beyond 5 years of age, and only 3% get education beyond the basic minimum. Hundreds of thousands of children with disabilities are condemned to live their lives in institutions, often deprived not only of any love or affection, but also of the most basic physical care, warmth and stimulation. Armed conflict and polit- ical violence, which have such devastating impact on children's lives, also contribute heavily to the toll of disability. They are now the leading causes of injury, impairment and physical disability in children and only 3% of children disabled as a result of war receive any rehabilitative care. Disabled children have been throughout history, and indeed in many societies still are, denied access to education, family life, adequate health

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most