ONE IN TEN

A PUBLICATION OF REHABILITATION INTERNATIONAL/UNICEF COLLABORATION ON CHILDHOOD DISABILITIES

VOLUME 23 - 2002

UN Treaties: Special Session on Children & First Meeting of Ad Hoc Committee Discuss Disability & Human Rights

Editor's Note:
This issue of One in Ten focuses on two major UN initiatives that could have a huge impact on the lives of people with disabilities, particularly children: The UN Special Session on Children that, among other issues, served to evaluate the 10 years of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the first meeting of the Ad Hoc Committee on a Comprehensive and Integral International Convention on Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities.
Both initiatives are imbued with an important new human rights perspective and call attention to the urgent need of implementation and monitoring mechanisms that can generate a real impact from the UN treaties on the more than 600 million disabled children, youths and adults around the globe.
The main focus of this edition will be on the United Nations Special Session on Children, held on May 8-10, 2002 in New York as a follow up to the 1990 Summit on Children. Harilyn Rousso, Executive Director of Disabilities Unlimited Consulting Services and guest editor for this issue, and Tomas Lagerwall, Secretary General of Rehabilitation International, served as rapporteurs for the Session.
In recognition of the importance of the ongoing discussions related to the need for a UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability, Michele Morgan, independent consultant to RI, was invited to also report to One in Ten on the First Meeting of the Ad Hoc Committee established by the UN General Assembly to consider this new Treaty. The meeting was held from July 29-August 9, in New York.
Thomas Hammarberg, one of the participants in the UN Meetings as a member of the official Swedish delegation and Director of the Olof Palme International Centre, gives us a good overview on how the proposed Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities will benefit children with disabilities:
"If it is adopted, there will be more focus on the situation of children with disabilities than what we have now. Governments who ratify will have to report on measures of implementation. UN conventions are not always a panacea for progress, it all depends on political will. A Convention could, however, offer an instrument for pressure on those responsible. It might help to change attitudes from charity to rights."

In This Issue:
? UN Special Session on Children: How Are Children with Disabilities Involved? page 2
· The Voices of Youth with Disabilities page 3
· Interview with Gerison Lansdown, Rights for Disabled Children page 6
· Interview with Zuhy Sayeed, Inclusion International page 7
? Interview with Dr. Uma Tuli, Government of India page 9
· Blind Children in Romania: A Report from WBU page 10
· Highlights of the UNGASS Special Event on Children, Discrimination and Disadvantage page 11
· International Disability Convention: Report on the First Meeting of the Ad Hoc Committee page 12
· Interview with Maria Eugenia Antunez, from Mexico page 15
· Resources page 16

Subtitle:
Ditte Christensen, a young participant from Denmark

Page 2.
UN Special Session on Children:
How Are Children with Disabilities Involved?

Introduction

By Harilyn Rousso, Executive Director of Disabilities Unlimited Consulting Services and guest editor for this issue of One in Ten

Much of this issue of One in Ten focuses on the United Nations Special Session on Children, held on May 8-10, 2002 in New York as a follow up to the 1990 Summit on Children. At this Special Session, delegations from around the world met to finalize an outcome document reflecting international and national commitments to address the needs and rights of children in the coming years. The Session was preceded by a three-day Children's Forum (May 5-7), where those delegates to the official meetings who were under 18 years of age gathered for preparation, advocacy and networking.
Coinciding with the Special Session were various events on children's issues sponsored by NGOs, UN agencies and other entities. Many hundreds of NGOs were active advocates throughout the Special Session. These included several international disability NGOs, who sought to promote the inclusion of the needs and rights of children with disabilities in the outcome document.
This Special Session was unique because of the extensive participation by children. In keeping with this spirit of listening to and learning from youth, the issue highlights the voices of three young people with disabilities who attended the Special Session and the Youth Forum that preceded it: Ditte Christensen from Denmark, Juan Angel De Gouveia from Venezuela and Jehanzeb Khan from Pakistan.
Also featured are excerpts of interviews conducted with three adult participants at the Special Session with strong commitments to disabled children's rights: Zuhy Sayeed, Co-Chair of the Disability Sub-caucus of the Rights of the Child Caucus, who worked extensively to get disability content into the outcome document of the Special Session, A World Fit for Children; Gerison Lansdown, Consultant with Rights for Disabled Children who has been traveling around the globe assessing the impact of the Convention on the Rights of the Child on disabled children; and Dr. Uma Tuli, Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities in the Government of India, who has been advocating for inclusion in her country.
In addition, this issue includes part of a report made by representatives to the Session from the World Blind Union, demonstrating the power of persistent advocacy. Finally, there is a brief overview of a side session entitled UNGASS Special Event on Children, Discrimination and Disadvantage: Preventing Discrimination Against Children - Ensuring Inclusion for All Children, This was sponsored by the Government of Canada, in cooperation with UNICEF , Inclusion International, Armenian Relief Society, Rights for Disabled Children and the NGO Disability Rights Caucus for the UN General Assembly Special Session on Children.
In this session, diverse forms of discrimination - based on disability, gender and ethnicity/race - were all addressed together, thus helping to place disability discrimination in a broader context, and hopefully fostering alliances among diverse child advocates.
What impact did the UN Special Session on Children, with its outcome document, have on the lives of children with disabilities? Will this Session aid efforts to implement the Convention on the Rights of the Child for disabled children? As you will see, answers to these questions vary considerably. What is most striking is the hopefulness of the young people. They believe change can and will occur, and are willing to work to make it happen. It is noteworthy that these young activists are already involved in NGOs. Their enthusiasm and expertise - they know the needs and strengths of disabled children from the inside out - are a powerful reminder of the potential that disabled young people can bring to disability NGOs. Unfortunately, it is too often untapped potential, since many NGOs unwittingly fail to do adequate outreach to children with disabilities. If this issue of One in Ten encourages readers to consider how to involved disabled young people from their community in their work, it will have done its job.

Page 3
The Voices of Youth with Disabilities at the UN Special Session on Children

The UN Special Session on Children (UNGASS) brought together an unprecedented number of children and young people from around the world - more than 300. Youth served as part of official government as well as NGO delegations, with documents provided in child-friendly versions to facilitate youth involvement in discussions and debates. There were a range of activities designed for youth, including the Children's Forum, a three day side session for delegates under 18 years of age that preceded the opening of the General Assembly Special Session, a Children's March from Union Square to the UN, and various forums for young people to express their views to high level officials. There were also several youth designated as reporters, who made daily journal entries on the event's website, capturing their impressions of the events and their impact. Perhaps the clearest confirmation of the importance of children at the Special Session was the fact that that two young people were invited to address the opening session of the General Assembly, a first time occurrence.

What role did children and youth with disabilities play at the Special Session? Although the proportion of youth with disabilities at the Special Session fell far below their one-in-ten presence in the world at large, there were a number of disabled young people there as part of government or NGO delegations, serving as ardent advocates on disability and other issues related to the needs and potential of youth. Presented below are highlights of interviews conducted with two young people with disabilities, one from Denmark, the other from Venezuela, both of whom were official government delegates. In addition, there is an excerpt from a journal entry of one of the youth reporters, a young man from Pakistan disabled as the result of polio.

Ditte Christensen, official delegate from Denmark:
"Leading a full life"

A young filmmaker
involved in disability rights

Interview by Harilyn Rousso

- Tell me a little about yourself.

I'm 22 years old, I live in Copenhagen, the biggest city in Denmark, and I work at a TV station where I'm doing a children's program. I'm very interested in making films and TV programs. I went to a film college in Denmark for eight months, and before that I went to something called gymnasium, a program between high school and college.

- How did you get involved in disability rights? How did you come to this session?

In Denmark, I have been doing some volunteer work with the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Then another organization, DSI, contacted me because they needed some young people with physical disabilities. I have muscular dystrophy, that's why I'm in a wheelchair. DSI wanted me to do some work for them. They needed some people who are leading a normal life, doing things that other people are doing, and don't think about their disability as a limiting thing in their life, but just a part of their life and are able to make it work. So that's how I got here. I'm part of the Danish delegation, which is made up of about ten or twelve members. We take turns going to sessions; only six can attend at a time.

Not enough disability presence

- What is your impression of how the UNGASS is going?

I think it's very good. It is difficult to know how it is going because it is so big, with so many people. I think what's missing is children with disabilities; they are the lowest, always. People talk about child labor, yet people with disabilities can't even work or have a job. When it comes to sexual abuse, while children are said to have rights, when the children have disabilities, they don't have rights, they are not considered real children; that's a big problem.

- Are the sessions including concerns about disabled children?

No and yes. You have to consider that children with disabilities are a small group, they are a minority, so that is why it is difficult to always get them in the discussion. Children without disabilities are having a hard time, so to get in children with disabilities is hard work. Most people are not very close to the disability problem.

- Have you raised the issue of children with disabilities in the sessions you've attended?

Yes, I or another youth with a disability raise questions about what do we do about children with disabilities, depending on which event it is. Every event I've been to, there's been a question about children with disabilities.

- Do you think the UNGASS will help disabled children?
The truth? No. It's too large. Children with Disabilities are minority. That's why when they are fighting for children, like in developing countries, you have a problem, because children with disabilities are the lowest, so it's very difficult to get them on the agenda. It's difficult enough to get children without disabilities on the agenda. It will be many years before this is changed. But still, things are changing all the time, and it's good that you get the subject raised at the meeting. That's very important, but will it help directly? I think I doubt it.

The CRC: In some ways, too superficial

- Do you think the Convention on the Rights of the Child covers the issues of disabled children well?
It depends how you see things. I think when they say "All children should have a right," children with disabilities are part of this. But the problem is that when you get this right, you may need some help or equipment so you can get out and get to school, get a job, get friends, have a life.

- You mean that disabled children may need something extra, some accommodations?
I think it's a problem not only for children with disabilities, but all children. When you look at the rights in the Convention, they are very superficial. They have to be that way because there are so many countries. So you have to go from country to country to find out what is needed here, what is needed there to give children their rights.
- What are the most pressing needs of children with disabilities today?
It's a very difficult question. It depends on where you are living. If you're living in a country like Denmark, you can't get around very well in a wheelchair, but you have personal assistants, you have a car, you have all your physical needs met to lead a normal life. But if you live in some countries in Africa, it will be a totally other issue. There, the issue may be to be respected like a child, with needs and rights like other children. And when the other children, those without disabilities, don't get respected and have rights either, it's much harder. So it depends.

Juan Angel De Gouveia, official delegate from Venezuela: "Activist for deaf and disabled children"

Becoming an advocate and role model

- Tell me a little about yourself.
My parents are deaf, my mother, my father, my grandfather and everyone on my father's side were all deaf, so I was brought up in a deaf community. I went to a school with deaf children, and then I went to high school; there I came to know the hearing community. In 1999, the government asked children to participate in a youth parliament. We suggested the inclusion of some legislation on children in the constitution. I was elected vice president of that parliament for youth. After that, I started working on the rights of children with disabilities - rights to property, to citizenship, to use sign language; also the right to have TV programs with sign language. The parliament accepted all the proposals and they were all included in the new constitution. There were many discussions until the president approved the new constitution.
My organization is called CECODAP - Por Los Derechos de La Infancia y Adolescencia [for the rights of children and adolescents]. We are working for the rights of children and youth with disabilities. I have many responsibilities. I work with children and youth with disabilities; they see how I am working and learn from me. I started to work when I was 17 years old; I'm 20 now.

Representing disabled children at the UNGASS

- How did you get chosen for Venezuelan delegation to the UNGASS?
I have had the pleasure of visiting different countries, representing Venezuela over the past two years. Four months ago I went to Panama. There I got in touch with Liisa Kauppinen, the President of the World Federation of the Deaf. Liisa was impressed with the work we had done in Venezuela; Venezuela had managed to do many things that other countries had not been able to do; she was also impressed that I as a young person had been able to do such important work. Liisa put me in touch with the UN and that's how I was selected. The government supported me, believing my participation would result in many accomplishments; that's how it was possible for me to participate.

- What are your impressions of the Special Session on Children? What do you think it is accomplishing on behalf of children with disabilities?
During these past ten years, it has been difficult to achieve different things, but I presume the next ten years will result in many achievements. I've never lost the spirit that something will happen. I feel optimism, love and the wish to help others. This will be the basis for the work for the coming ten years. It's very important that the heads of state have made it possible for children to come here to express their own views. That's one of the very positive things.

- Has disability been represented in the various sessions and discussions?
Not one hundred percent, but it has been fairly well represented in most sessions. I think we'll be happy ten years from now when we can look at the results that we've been able to achieve. I'm happy I can be here as a deaf young person, but I'd like to see more disabled children participating. People with different disabilities should be working much more closely together.

Pressing needs: Good
education and Integration

- What are the most pressing issues for young people with disabilities today?
Good education and integration of children with disabilities, those are the two fundamental issues. And better relations within the family so that everyone participates. Integration is so important. A child goes to a park, but a child with a disability often doesn't have that possibility. There is that same issue everywhere, from the daily life to the political life. With integration, you can share every person's life and all the community has rights.

Jehanzeb Khan, official delegate from Pakistan and youth reporter at the UNGASS: Advocate for human rights

[This section is drawn from the UNICEF Website.]

Background: Fighting illiteracy, gender inequity and polio

Jehanzeb Khan, 16, believes that illiteracy is the greatest "evil of every society." He has a personal reason for his belief: Jehanzeb was disabled by polio as a young child and believes that if his parents had been educated, they would have had him immunized.
After surviving polio, Jehanzeb developed a "passion to help the needy." Towards that end, he joined Pakistan's Boy Scouts. The organization helps to promote literacy, and, in cooperation with UNICEF, it also supports the campaign for a 'Polio Free Pakistan', a cause that Jehanzeb is passionate about. Jehanzeb is also passionate about girls' rights and has worked in numerous ways to promote education for girls. He has been involved with the UNICEF-supported Girl Child Project in Pakistan, which addresses the special problems faced by girls by helping them obtain education and skills.
Jehanzeb has also been involved with an organization called Brothers Join Meena, an offshoot of the UNICEF-supported Meena Communication Initiative, which helps to promote the rights of girl children in South Asia. 'Meena' is a 13-part animated series about a South Asian girl who fights for her rights, especially the right to go to school, and battles various injustices, including the social stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS.

Excerpt from diary entries from May 4th and May 5th: All the world's children are one

I am Jehanzeb Khan from Baluchistan, Pakistan, and I am here representing the 'Brothers Join Meena' project. That is a joint project between UNICEF and the Baluchistan Boy Scout Association (BBSA) that works on girls' education, immunization of children under one year of age, and hygiene. I worked in a large area with my fellow scouts on motivating parents to educate their children (especially girls), immunize their children and pay attention to hygiene. We, the scouts, and our teachers and supporters motivated them so well that we succeeded in getting 75-80 per cent of the girls in certain areas enrolled in primary schools!
The Children's Forum of the UN Special Session started 5 May. After the opening ceremony, the Forum was a closed event in which only children participated - all the adults were asked to leave. We felt that we, the children of the world, were like one big family.
Groups were formed according to regions and languages. We were given tasks based on our discussion of our problems and what we wanted to achieve from the Children's Forum. Every group made its own presentation. Three committees were formed, for media, evaluation and the closing ceremony.
At the end of the day, I felt very happy I had made so many friends and had gotten the chance to share my views with my brothers and sisters from other countries. I felt that the world's children are one, and nobody can separate them.

PAGE 6
Discrimination and Exclusion Faced by Disabled Children must be Specifically Addressed

Interview with Gerison Lansdown, Rights for Disabled Children
By Harilyn Rousso

- What has the Convention on the Rights of the Child done for children with disabilities?
There are two major things it does. First, it includes disability as grounds for protection against discrimination in Article 2; it is the first human rights treaty that has done that. That is a huge step forward because it demands of governments that provide proper legal protection for disabled children against discrimination.
The second important thing it does is to include Article 23, which specifically addresses the interests of disabled children. On the one hand, that's a very good thing because it highlights that it is important to focus on the rights of disabled children. But when governments are reporting on the rights of the child, what they do regarding disabled children is only respond to Article 23. So you have a Convention with 54 standards for ALL children, and the only ones that get picked up by governments for disabled children are those is Article 23, which are primarily around welfare services and education.
What is lacking is mainstreaming of disability rights. If you look at the Convention as a whole in terms of the right to life, governments never report on how they are ensuring the right to life is protected for disabled children. They never report how the right to information is protected for disabled children, the right to play and recreation, the right to artistic culture, the right to protection from violence, and the special measures that are needed. So in terms of monitoring or implementation of the Convention, there is a very narrow, limited view of what changes are needed.
The other thing about Article 23, it constructs what disabled children need as "special" - special measures and services - so it perpetuates the medical model, that the problem rests with the child and it is up to the government to do something special for that child. There's no commitment in it or understanding about the social model of disability, the obligation of the government to create an environment in which children can fully participate. On the right to participate generally, some governments have done a lot now to begin to build up structures for promoting children's rights to participate. It's very rare that they've given attention to the need to include disabled children within those networks and give them access. They need to do two things. They need to include disabled children generically so that disabled children as children are commenting on all sorts of other issues, but they also need to create space for disabled children to comment on the particular issues of discrimination and exclusion that need to be addressed.

- Has Article 23 been effective in improving the lives of disabled children?
There has been huge variability. The fact that Article 23 is there means that governments always report, there's always something in reports on disabled children and there wouldn't be otherwise. In the reports on the other conventions like CEDAW, disability is not there.
There is a debate in many countries now about the concept of inclusive education. The debate is happening and people have an increasing understanding of the principle, although there is not necessarily any real understanding of what that means, the practical realities.
Some countries have done a great deal. For example, in South Africa they have introduced very tough nondiscrimination legislation that explicitly includes disabled people. They've set up an integrated national strategy for disabled people that is very good for adults, but weaker from a child's perspective, because it's drafted in collaboration with disabled people's organizations, which are predominantly run by adults. They've set up an office in the President's office that is responsible for implementation of the strategy and a joint management team in Parliament to hold that office accountable for implementation; then they have replicated all those structures at the provincial level. They consult widely with disabled people's organizations, they've set up a human rights commission with a disability rights commissioner and children's rights commissioner. They've done a great deal.

- Do you think the Convention helped South Africa to do these things?
The Convention on the Rights of the Child has resulted in a lot of debate and a strong commitment to removing social, psychological and attitudinal barriers. But there's not enough money. For a country that has such enormous poverty and such difficulties coming out of, it's been enormously difficult. All the schools were segregated on racial grounds, on ability grounds, and so on. They have a ten-year strategy, a very detailed strategy for moving toward inclusion. The CRC was crucial to this; it is the lynchpin. The strategy is rooted in the key standards in the Convention.
What the Convention has done is focused the attention of governments on children in a way that children are much more visible than before. If you look internationally, in the decade, we've become aware of the numbers of children involved in conflict. We've become aware of issues around sexual exploitation. The UN has just set up a study around violence. There have been a lot of issues where children were just hidden before. The world has begun to take note that children are the subjects of rights. They haven't done it yet with disability.

- What impact will this UN Special Session have on children with disabilities?
There are some good sections in the outcome document that commit to promoting inclusion, nondiscrimination of disabled people and inclusive education. But it's going to be the same problem: Governments will do their national plans of action and just focus on those tiny bits of the Convention specifically focused on disabled children. We need to provide guidance to governments and NGOs to say that when you are doing your national plan of action, you need to be looking with a lens of disability at all of these paragraphs: on play, on protection, on violence, on information, on reproductive health rights, all things. What are you doing for ALL children, including disabled children.

- What would motivate them to keep disabled children in mind in all aspects of their national plans?
We need the NGO coalitions that have been formed to include disability organizations. Many, many countries have NGO coalitions that have worked together to monitor implementation and have written alternative reports to the Committee on the Rights on the Child. So far, it's too common that disability rights organizations are not in those coalitions. The disability world and children's world run on two separate, parallel lines. We need to work really hard to bring the disability organizations into the NGO coalitions on the rights of the child to make sure that disability is imbedded as a central issue in people's thinking when they are commenting and monitoring on every level. So for example, at the central conference on the sexual exploitation of children, I'm not sure there was enough on disability; disabled children are hugely vulnerable to sexual exploitation.

- What are the next steps in including disability on the international child's rights agenda?
First, we've got to look at each of the national plans of action in its totality in terms of the demands it makes for disabled children, and impositions on governments, and next, we need much greater mobilization of the disability organizations with the NGO coalitions. Third, we need to take advantage of the UN study on children and violence, and make sure that disabled children and their needs, rights and very particular experiences of sexual abuse and violence are properly addressed.

- What do you think are the highest priorities for disabled children?
One of the things that horrifies me most from having done these reports on the status is disabled children is the level of violence, and the inability of disabled children to protect themselves because they can't remove themselves from the abuser, or articulate what has happened. That's why being included in the UN report is so important. Another high priority is the right to be heard - having governments see disabled children as of equal value, as people, and being willing to hear them. Fighting the silencing and invisibility of disabled children is one of our major challenges.

PAGE 8
We Need Children's Advocates all over the World

Interview with Zuhy Sayeed, Co-Chair, Disability Sub-Caucus of the Rights of the Child Caucus
and Special Advisor for the Rights of Children, Inclusion International

By Harilyn Rousso

- What has the Convention on the Rights of the Child meant for children with disabilities?
Article 23 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child did us on the one hand, a great service, on the other, a great disservice. Anyone dealing with policies that came out of the Convention, to put it very simplistically, thought that children with disabilities would be taken care of somewhere else. So the article on education or the article on community life or the article on justice didn't have to worry about children with disabilities because we had a separate article that dealt with children with disabilities.
My gut feeling is that the Convention has done very little, that there is a striking difference between what most governments say they have done for disabled children and what they have actually done. The Convention has created some awareness, but because of the fact that it's buried in a separate article, that it hasn't really done what we need it to do.
Our overarching vision and goal needs to be that children with disabilities be part of every single article of the Convention and every single clause of the outcome document, and we really need to insert children with disabilities into every aspect of the work that we are doing to create a better world for children - every aspect. It can't be separate any more. We've pushed that as far as it can go and it hasn't worked.
- How well do you think the draft outcome statement integrates disability?
The outcome document is weak on disability and what is needed. There are very few references - about eight. They are not strong enough. The Child's Rights Caucus was the only mechanism that was taking feedback from NGOs, and it worked very hard with our suggestions from the Disability Sub-caucus, in order to make sure that children with disabilities were included in various clauses. The Child's Rights Caucus was very supportive, the result of good people, common sense, and an understanding that we are talking about all children. The Caucus put disability in many more places, and in language we suggested. Where the process fell apart was when it came to the official delegations. The language was seen as too permissive, as implying that resources would be necessary, and as being against the best interests of the child. The key problems were the implication of resources and the claim - and this still is out there - that children and adults with disabilities who live in the community would not be safe. People hide behind the issue of disabled people needing to be safe and protected, which to those who are still thinking "way back when" means housing them in institutions where they can be safe and protected. They don't understand the need for building communities so that everyone can be safe and protected.
While we have progressed for quite a while, we need to be really vigilant because there could be a regression. The reason for the regression is lack of a real community understanding, and an unwillingness to release resources to children with disabilities. We have become a very outcome, results-oriented society. For people who don't get it, don't understand, the first reaction to children and youth with disabilities is that they don't produce. Because we are so steeped in that kind of competition, we are tending to hold back more and more the resources because we may not see results and outcomes.

- What do you think needs to happen to put children with disabilities on the agenda of the UN, governments and NGOs?
Being here at the UN this week, I realize there isn't that international will to make a difference for children in general. So when you take our disabled children, those who have already been excluded and marginalized, discriminated against, what chance do they have? If we take where we are today, with this outcome document being really compromised because of government views on what needs or doesn't need to happen, we really need to be very united as organizations that work on behalf of children with disabilities.
We need to be very aware of what implementation and monitoring we can do. We need to create a global awareness and a global agenda. We have to. One organization alone is not going to be able to do it, neither are just the disability organizations alone. We are going to have to find children's advocates all over the world.

PAGE 9
The Greatest Impact at the Special Session was Made by the Children Themselves
Interview with Dr. Uma Tuli,
Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities, Government of India

By Harilyn Rousso

- What has the Convention on the Rights of the Child meant for children with disabilities?

The Convention, by creating awareness on children's rights also helped in focusing attention on the rights of children with disability. In India, for example, The Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act of 1995 takes many of the issues/concerns raised in the Convention forward, keeping in mind the special needs of such children in the country. There have been many changes in India, such as changes in education and the eradication of polio and other diseases that cause disabilities. The time for charity is gone. Today we talk about increasing awareness and acceptance and even more important, recognizing the rights of children with disabilities.

- What effects do you think the UN Special Session on Children had on promoting the rights and addressing the needs of children with disabilities?

At the Special Session, I am afraid, children with disability as such did not figure very prominently. Most speakers only made, if at all, a passing reference to this particular issue. Without sounding biased, I appreciate the statement by India's Minister for Human Resource Development, Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi, who led the Indian delegation, for strongly indicating India's commitment to further strengthen its efforts in upholding the rights of children with disability, particularly in the areas of education and employment.
Obviously each country needs to implement the Convention keeping in mind its specific needs and resources. It is a question of priorities where investing in disabled children should be seen on a par with other children.

- What do you think are the most pressing needs of children with disabilities today?
The most pressing needs are to provide equal rights and full participation to children with disabilities and to understand that these children have potential. We can meet these needs by providing good education leading to employment possibilities. For example, in India, the Ministry of Human Resources and Development has taken actions to increase the number of children with disabilities going to school; and we have been quite successful in some regions in providing informal education combined with vocational training for children with disabilities.

Regarding other pressing needs, special attention should be drawn to the gender issue. Girls have a higher drop out rate than boys and this is particularly remarkable among children with disabilities. The other important issue to take into consideration is the strong links between poverty and disability.

As mentioned above, conventions and summits do have a catalysing effect. But how the momentum is developed and maintained again is a matter for individual countries to follow. The greatest impact at the Special Session was made by the children themselves.

PAGE 10

Blind Children in Romania: A Report from WBU

The World Blind Union sent two representatives to the United Nations Special Session on Children, Ms. Ana Pelaez from Spain and Ms. June Waugh from the United States.
The following is an excerpt from their report.

Advocating for blind children in Romania

Perhaps the most meaningful work we did at the United Nations was in regard to the situation in Romania. Soon after the WBU meeting in Mumbai we received a letter from the Romanian Association for the Blind. The letter constituted a plea for help regarding education and placement of blind children in Romania. The letter was somewhat confusing and unclear regarding the problem, but the quality of desperation was very clear. We made every effort to talk with representatives of the Romanian Mission or government regarding this letter.

Our first meeting was with Karin Hulshof, the UNICEF representative to Romania. She informed us that the situation for blind children, in fact for all children with any special circumstances, was indeed very bad in Romania. The government was emptying out its institutions as a cost saving measure and many children were returned to communities without appropriate programs. Since the summer of 2001 19,000 out of 47,000 children have been taken out of institutions. She highly encouraged us to contact either the Minister of Education or the Minister of Child Welfare as they were both going to be in New York for the Special Session.

A large contingent of the Romanian government was present. We had no luck calling the Romanian Mission to the United Nations. It was suggested that we attend a side event featuring the progress Romania has made combating the AIDS epidemic as the Minister of Health, Dr. Daniela Bartos, was speaking. We introduced ourselves to her before the meeting began and told her of our concerns and asked if we could speak to her at the end for a few minutes. She read and circulated our information to several of her colleagues. At the end of the two-hour meeting she informed us she would not be talking to us, but her assistant would set up a meeting with someone else. We were told we would receive a call in no more than an hour and a half. Needless to say this did not happen. It was becoming quite obvious that there really must be quite a problem in Romania as they were very unwilling to talk to us.

Persistence pays off

We had the great good fortune to be invited to a reception that evening for the President of Romania. It seemed certain that we would find someone there to speak to regarding this issue. We met the President of Romania. Then Karin introduced us to the State Secretary for Child Protection, Ms. Gabriela Coman. She listened to us and was receptive. She said there was a misunderstanding on the part of the Romanian Association of the Blind. She said she would work with us upon her return to Romania the following week as well as be in touch with the Association. Although this contact was brief, it felt like a great victory. We are following up on that conversation now.

June Waugh
North American/Caribbean Region
Children's Committee Representative

May 21, 2002

PAGE 11
Preventing Discrimination Against Children -
Ensuring Inclusion for All Children

Highlights of the UNGASS Special Event on Children, Discrimination and Disadvantage: May 10, 2002

By Harilyn Rousso

( A detailed summary of this event appears in Issue 13 of the webzine Disability World, available at www.disabilityworld.org. A brief overview and some of the comments from the three youth presenters are provided below.)

Overview

This side event occurring on the last day of the UN Special Session on Children provided opportunity for an international dialogue on diverse types of discrimination and disadvantage facing children throughout the world. It was geared toward creating a global agenda to foster inclusion. The session outlined key issues related to discrimination and disadvantage based on disability, gender and ethno-racial diversity, and proposed strategies and actions to combat discrimination and promote inclusion.

The session was moderated by the co-chairs of the Disability Sub-Caucus on the Rights of the Child Caucus, Zuhy Sayeed of Inclusion International and Penny Gargosian of the Armenian Relief Society. Speakers included: Landon Pearson, Senator, Canada; Gerison Lansdown on behalf of the UN Special Rapporteur on Disability and Chair of the CRC Working group on Rights of Disabled Children; Andres Guerrero, Senior Education Advisor, UNICEF; Roberto Leal, Executive Director, Inclusion InterAmericana; Michael Bach, Executive Vice-President, Canadian Association for Community Living; Her Royal Highness Marie Therese-Antangana Assiga-Randa, the Queen of Yaundi, Cameroon; and three youth delegates to the UNGASS: Jennifer Jadwero from Kenya, Myron Wolf-Child from Canada, and Juan Angel De Gouveia fromVenezuela

The session offered varied perspectives on discrimination facing children throughout the world, identified links between varied forms of discrimination, described some effective models to combat discrimination, and called for collective action to promote the rights of ALL children.

Quotes from the youth presenters

Jennifer Jadwero (14 year old girl from Kenya):

"The role of boys and men is important in ending gender-based discrimination. If we girls and women want, we can make them part of the solution and not the problem and if we do that then we will soon can and have a world where all are equal, where all enjoy full human rights and a world without gender discrimination or violence"

Juan Angel De Gouveia (deaf youth from Venezuela):

"There are many countries in the world where there are no schools for disabled children and adolescents. In the case of blind, deaf and physically impaired children and adolescents, there is not an impediment of physical nature. Our brain works just as anyone else's. Then why is it that there are limitations to our education?"

"It is unacceptable that governments have to pay incentives to employers for hiring disabled young people. To which extent is this a disguised act of discrimination? People with disabilities should be employed on the basis of their abilities and potentials."

Myron Wolf-Child (Blackfoot Indian youth from Canada)

"People are not born racist or born to discriminate - but it is taught. The solution may seem pretty obvious now: we must educate people and teach them the truth about the citizens of the world. Such a process could include: incorporating teachings of Aboriginal and Indigenous people into the textbooks of schools, encouraging governments to continue or start using accurate information about the cultural diversity in their nations and most importantly, we as individuals can take it upon ourselves to learn the truth and speak the truth."

PAGE 12
International Disability Convention in Progress

Report on the First Meeting of the UN General Assembly Ad Hoc Committee on a Comprehensive and Integral International Convention on Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities
By Michele Morgan

A New Convention?

Everyday, all over the world, children with disabilities face discrimination. They are denied access to education and other opportunities and rights available to their nondisabled counterparts, are overrepresented among those children experiencing neglect and abuse, and are too often abandoned to institutions that provide inadequate care. Undoubtedly, the international community has a responsibility to advocate for the rights of this marginalized and all too invisible group of children.
On July 29, 2002 the Ad Hoc Committee on a Comprehensive and Integral International Convention on Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities met for the first time to debate proposals for a new international human rights treaty that would ensure the rights of people with disabilities. The two-week meeting was attended by Member States delegations, several NGOs representing people with disabilities and experts in the disability rights field. The outcome of the meeting was positive; the Committee, while not necessarily agreeing to a convention, recommended moving the process forward and agreed to meet again in May or June of 2003 for an additional ten working days. While many non-governmental organizations (NGOs) would have liked more progress, the first session placed the process on a reasonable track.
The Need for a Convention

Although there are international mandates that seek to counter the widespread discrimination facing children and adults with disabilities, such as the World Programme of Action, which pushed forward disability rights and included the formation of the Equalization of Opportunity, and the UN Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities, which defined states responsibility to initiate measures toward full participation and provided for an independent monitoring mechanism, these instruments have not proved sufficient to counter the multiple barriers facing the disability community worldwide. Hence many organizations, including Rehabilitation International, and individuals in the international disability rights community are seeking a UN convention specifically on the rights of people with disabilities.
Mr. Bengt Lindqvist, the UN Special Rappoteur on disability, identified three reasons why a convention is important. First, the existing six core human rights treaties were drafted without regard for disability and a separate convention would be tailored to the needs of people with disabilities. Second, a convention would give "status, authority and visibility" to disability as a human rights issues. Third, the creation of a strong monitoring mechanism would allow for greater compliance and implementation of the measures needed to break down barriers that have prevented people with disabilities from fully participating in society.
The process took a great leap forward when the UN General Assembly, thanks to the initiative by Mexico, created an Ad Hoc Committee to investigate the possibility of a convention on the rights of people with disabilities. The ten-day meeting was chaired by Ambassador Luis Gallegos of Ecuador and consisted of thematic discussions where both Member States and NGOs were allotted time to speak. Important debates took place around whether or not a new human rights convention should be pursued or whether existing legal instruments were sufficient in protecting the rights of people with disabilities.
From the beginning it was apparent that some Member States remained unconvinced of the need for a new convention. These Member States felt that people with disabilities were protected by other human rights conventions and the inclusion of disability in those existing human rights conventions' monitoring bodies reviews would be sufficient to ensure basic human rights for people with disabilities. While Member States differed in their stance on this issue, the NGO caucus presented a united front and advocated relentlessly in favor of a convention.

Multi-Track Approach

Those parties in favor of a new convention argued that a multi-track approach was the best way to proceed. Many Member States were concerned about the effect a new treaty would have on international agreements currently in place. Specifically, Member States wanted to know how a new convention would impact instruments such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which addresses issues related to children and disability in general and more specifically in Article 23, as well as the other five human rights conventions, which are intended to ensure basic human rights for all peoples and the Salamanca Agreement, which calls for inclusive education.
In response to this, NGOs advocating for a multi-track approach stated that a new convention should work in collaboration with existing international disability agreements. This would be achieved by strengthening the Standard Rules, further pushing the disability perspective into the scope and monitoring of the six current UN human rights conventions and, simultaneously, working toward a convention that specifically guarantees the rights of people with disabilities.

NGOs and Advocacy

The Ad Hoc Committee's decision to speed up the process for accreditation for the meeting resulted in more active participation of NGOs. As a result, a variety of NGOs, on the international, regional, national and local level, were able to voice their opinions, share their expertise and advocate effectively. Daily NGO caucus meetings, interventions made by several disability NGO representatives, as well as daily summaries of the meetings and bulletin advisories, served to provide a strong and unified voice for disability organizations and communicated the need for a convention as a necessary step forward in ensuring the basic human rights of all peoples.
NGOs continued the call for "nothing about us without us" by helping to direct discussions, add expert advice and continually focus on the goal of putting a convention in place. In addition, NGOs pressed Member States to come to the next meeting better prepared to substantively address the issues. On the last day of the Ad Hoc Committee meeting, Ambassador Gallegos spoke of the importance of actively including NGOs in future meetings because of their expertise in the disability rights arena.

Outcome of Ad Hoc Meeting

The Committee, while not necessarily agreeing to a convention, recommended moving the process forward and decided to meet again in May or June of 2003 for an additional ten working days. Despite the relatively positive outcome, many in the disability community were disappointed that the Member States had not taken a stronger stance on the definitive need for a convention. Kicki Nordstrom, Chairperson of the International Disability Alliance, asserted that, "Governments need to take off their blinders and acknowledge the conditions under which persons with disabilities live in all countries. When they do that they will see that there is a need for a convention which will specifically protect persons with disabilities."
In the next series of meetings, Member States are encouraged to more actively involve persons with disabilities, representatives of disability organizations and experts in this field both in the continuing work of the Ad Hoc Committee and as members of the delegations. Additionally, a voluntary fund has been established to support the participation of NGOs and experts from developing countries since an estimated 80% of people with disabilities live in the developing world. Governments, civil society and the private sector are invited to contribute to this fund.

How Would a Convention Impact Children with Disabilities?

A convention on human rights for people with disabilities would serve to strengthen the Convention on the Rights of the Child by increasing the awareness of disability as a human rights issue and by specifying the rights and needs people with disabilities have. While the Convention on the Rights of the Child addresses the needs of children with disabilities in general and particularly in Article 23, according to Tomas Lagerwall of Rehabilitation International, it has "not had as strong an impact on children with disabilities as many in the disability community had expected. For this reason, a general convention specifically on disability rights is vitally important."
The reality is that many barriers to equal participation in society remain for children with disabilities. Charlotte Vuyiswa McClain, a member of the South African delegation, cited some of the difficulties facing children with disabilities in her country. "Children with disabilities are even more marginalized and silent than children in general" and this, along with a "culture of shame where myths and the stigma attached to the disabled make such children 'invisible,'" increases the "vulnerability of such children to sexual, physical and emotional abuse." Ms. McClain feels there is a need for a human rights perspective on disability because it "recognizes the differences and puts in place protections."
A Convention on the Rights of the Child was an important step in assuring basic human rights for children. Yet, as Liisa Kauppinen, President of the World Federation of the Deaf, noted, "In a world where only an estimated 20% of the world's Deaf population receive an education and only 1% receive this education in sign language, the need for a convention that can specifically articulate the rights of people with disabilities is great."

Action Needed

The next few months will be critical as Member States prepare their positions for the 2003 meeting. For a convention to succeed, the disability community must influence these preparatory activities. Concerned individuals, communities and organizations need to get involved and lobby their governments to actively support a convention on human rights for people with disabilities.
Resources

Information on the Ad Hoc Committee Meeting including relevant documents, daily summaries and bulletins can be found at:
www.worldenable.net

The Expert Group Meeting on the Comprehensive and Integral International Convention to Promote and Protect the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities:
www.sre.gob.mx/discapacidad/home.htm

"Principles for Drafting a New Treaty":
www.sre.gob.mx/discapacidad/principlesfordrafting.htm

"What Rights Should the Treaty Contain?":
www.sre.gob.mx/discapacidad/whatrights.htm

The Study on the Current Use and Future Potential of the UN Human Rights Instruments in the Context of Disability (Quinn-Degener) commissioned by the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights in Geneva:
www.unhchr.ch/html/menu6/2/disability.doc

PAGE 15
Disability Convention to Increase Protection of Children's Rights

Interview with Maria Eugenia Antunez, Disability Activitist from Mexico By Michele Morgan

- Mexico surprised the world last year by suggesting a disability convention. Why did Mexico take this initiative?

Mexico started its policy of change when President Vicente Fox came to office. He saw the issue of rights related to persons with disabilities as one that had been forgotten by other administrations. Since his arrival we have felt that change was possible.
Since I am an expert on the U.N. Panel for the Standard Rules, I receive a lot of information and I knew that the international NGOs were looking for a far-reaching law. I also work at the Presidential Office for Disabled Persons as the Manager of International Affairs and I spoke with some officers at the Secretary of Foreign Affairs. They, especially Ambassador Luis Alfonso De Alba, could also see the challenge in taking up this issue and, as a result, started to plan a strategy. In the end, the foreign affairs officers came to see Mr. Victor Hugo Flores, my boss and Chair of the Presidential Office, and together they decided to initiate the process at the international conference in Durban.

- What is your personal involvement in the work for a convention?

I have a unique perspective on the convention process because I am an official delegate from Mexico, a woman with a disability and I have a daughter with disabilities. I've been an advocate for fifteen years and have attended the U.N. Panel of Experts for the Standard Rules for four years. In my work for the Mexican Government I have had the opportunity to advise the President's decisions on disability issues.

"I have a 3-year old baby girl with a disability and I don't have any more time to wait.
I want my child and all other children with disabilities to grow up in a world where their rights are protected. "

I think the most important action I can take as a person with disabilities is threefold; first, I know some leaders worldwide; second, I can hear the people's needs in different countries; and third, I know that I can influence the internal decisions.

- What impact do you think a disability convention would have on children with disabilities? What would it add to the existing Convention on the Rights of the Child?

When a child becomes disabled the entire family is affected. If the parents really love the child and have support they will start looking for assistance to help meet the needs of that child. If parents do not accept their child with disabilities then they might keep the child at home and limit his access to society. Parents might even go so far as to neglect and exploit the image of the child. As a result, I think a special convention on the rights of people with disabilities can help ensure that all children with disabilities are treated with dignity and that they and their families are given access to the resources they need, such as access to learning sign language, or to wheelchairs that fit them and allow them to engage more fully in their surroundings. Medical and education rehabilitation services are necessary for children with disabilities and a convention would help ensure access to these services. The dignity of children with disabilities who have been poorly treated and neglected must be addressed by the convention because these children are the future of the world.

- When do you think we will have a convention?

We think the process will not last for more than three years. This is a noble cause and no country should stand in the way of achieving the goal of such a convention. I have a 3-year old baby girl with a disability and I don't have any more time to wait for a convention.on the rights for people with disabilities. I want my child and all other children with disabilities to grow up in a world where their rights are protected and they have access to all the services they need so they can actively participate and contribute to society around them.

PAGE 16

Resources ? RESOURCES ? Resources

Materials that can be downloaded from the UNICEF website: www.unicef.org/specialsession/

A World Fit for Children: Outcome document of the Special Session - the official text of the outcome document approved at the Special Session of the General Assembly on Children on 10 May 2002. Available in PDF format in English, French, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, Arabic; and Word format in English, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, Arabic, French.

We the Children: Meeting the promises of the World Summit for Children by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. The report assesses the progress made in meeting the commitments made to the children around the globe at the 1990 World Summit for Children. It also includes best practices and lessons learned, obstacles to progress, and a plan of action for building a world fit for children.

A World Fit for Us. A message delivered to the Special Session by child delegates.

Other materials

It is our world too! A report on the lives of disabled children. Gerison Lansdown, Rights for Disabled Children. Assesses progress in implementing the Convention on the Rights of the Child throughout the world. Published by Disability Awareness in Action on behalf of Rights for Disabled Children, 2001. Available in print, tape and ASCII disk. To order, contact DAA at 11 Belgrave Road, London SW1V 1RB, UK.

Disabled children in South Africa: Progress in implementing the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Gerison Lansdown, Rights for Disabled Children. Published by Disability Awareness in Action on behalf of Rights for Disabled Children, 2002. Available in print, tape, ASCII disk and English Braille. To order, Contact DAA at 11 Belgrave Road, London SW1V 1RB, UK.

Disabled children's rights - A practical guide. International Save the Children Alliance. Desribes violations of the rights of disabled children as well as good or improving practices from 70 countries worldwide. Published by Save the Children Sweden, 2001. Book and CD-ROM. To order, go to www.childrightsbooks.org, or contact Save the Children Sweden, Publishing, 107 88 Stockholm, Sweden. Fax: +46 8 698 9025.

Child Rights Caucus: NGO Follow-Up to the Special Session on Children [briefing paper]
Provides information on how NGOs can participate in the process of developing National Plans of Action (NPAs) in the follow-up to the UN Special Session on Children. Available in both Word and PDF formats at: http://www.crin.org/resources/

Does "every child" and "all children" include children with disabilities? One in Ten - Vol. 22, 2001. This Issue of One in Ten contains current position papers on the rights and needs of children with disabilities. The papers were developed by Rehabilitation International and by Disability Awareness in Action. Available in print and in electronic version, in English, Spanish and French. To order, see information below.

ONE IN TEN
Volume 23 - 2002
Recent issues of One in Ten,
in English, French and Spanish
can be found on the RI web site, www.rehab-international.org

Articles represent the authors' views and do not necessarily indicate UNICEF policy.
EDITOR
o Rosangela Berman-Bieler
rbbieler@aol.com

PROJECT SUPERVISION
o Gulbadan Habibi, Project Officer, Child Protection Section,
Programme Division, UNICEF
ghabibi@unicef.org

o Barbara Duncan, Director of
Communications, RI
bjdnycla@aol.com

UNICEF HOUSE
3 UN Plaza
New York, NY 10017, USA
Fax: 1 (212) 735-4413

REHABILITATION INTERNATIONAL
Tomas Lagerwall
Secretary General
25 East 21st Street
New York, NY 10010, USA
Fax: 1 (212) 505-0871
sec_gen@rehab-international.org