40/27 Empowering children with disabilities for the enjoyment of their human rights, including through inclusive education - Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Document Type: Final Report
Date: 2019 Jan
Session: 40th Regular Session (2019 Feb)
Agenda Item: Item2: Annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and reports of the Office of the High Commissioner and the Secretary-General, Item3: Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development
GE.19-01035(E)
Human Rights Council Fortieth session
25 February–22 March 2019
Agenda items 2 and 3
Annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner
for Human Rights and reports of the Office of the
High Commissioner and the Secretary-General
Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil
political, economic, social and cultural rights,
including the right to development
Empowering children with disabilities for the enjoyment of their human rights, including through inclusive education*
Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Summary
In the present report, submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 37/20,
the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights provides an overview of the
legal framework and practical measures to empower children with disabilities. She focuses
on empowerment through participation and inclusive education, and analyses how to foster
the personal and public decision-making of children with disabilities, their inclusion in the
community and their protection from abuse, exploitation and violence. The High
Commissioner concludes the report with a number of recommendations to assist States in
empowering children with disabilities for the enjoyment of their human rights.
* Agreement was reached to publish the present report after the standard publication date owing to circumstances beyond the submitter’s control.
United Nations A/HRC/40/27
I. Introduction
1. In its resolution 37/20, the Human Rights Council requested the United Nations
High Commissioner for Human Rights to prepare a report on the theme of empowering
children with disabilities for the enjoyment of their human rights, including through
inclusive education, and to present it to the Council at its fortieth session with a view to
providing information for the annual full-day meeting on the rights of the child.
2. Children with disabilities hold the same rights as all children, and their
empowerment depends upon the realization of those rights. Recognition and respect for a
child’s agency as a participant in the family, community and society is frequently
overlooked, or rejected as inappropriate across cultures and regions. Children with
disabilities face a range of intersecting barriers to the enjoyment and exercise of their rights
due to their gender, age, impairment, colour, race, ethnic or social origin and religion,
among other grounds. From birth, children with disabilities face a greater risk of not being
registered nor counted, being denied education and equal opportunities of play and
inclusion in the community. Compared to other children, they are more likely to be placed
in institutions and to be exposed to violence in those settings, as well as in the home, at
school and in the community at large. The rights violations that children with disabilities
experience are intensified by the barriers that they face in claiming their rights, including
their right to participation, to express their views and be heard in decision-making, and in
their access to justice.
3. Although “empowerment” has not been defined by international human rights law, it
is widely understood as a term that covers a broad range of measures aimed at achieving
self-determination and full participation in society. Empowerment is about enabling each
individual to take hold of their own inherent power to shape their life and the life of their
community. It is also about avoiding and eliminating measures and practices that have the
effect of diminishing, ignoring or dismissing one’s power in this same respect. In the
present report, the High Commissioner addresses the empowerment of children with
disabilities in terms of supporting and fostering their agency, and equipping them with the
competences, knowledge and environments to enable them to determine the direction of
their own lives and of the life of their community, particularly in the exercise of their rights
and in matters concerning them.
4. A robust legal and policy framework, increased understanding and awareness of the
rights of children with disabilities, and the implementation of good practices for inclusion
and participation can help to empower children with disabilities to enjoy their rights in full
and on an equal footing with other children. Their inclusion in education is one crucial
element of such empowerment and a central pathway to enabling their active involvement
in the community and in decisions and policies that affect them. Children with disabilities
can be empowered by system-wide measures to eliminate discrimination and harmful
stereotypes, protect them from violence and abuse, ensure their right to live in their
community supported by their families in their empowerment, and ensure effective
monitoring, accountability and access to justice.
5. For the preparation of the present report, the Office of the High Commissioner
addressed a note verbale to all Member States requesting their input. The Office received
written contributions from 25 States. It also received submissions from a number of civil
society organizations, United Nations agencies and other international entities, including
the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Special Representative of the
Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict.1
1 See www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Children/ThematicReports/Pages/ChildrenWithDisabilities.aspx.
II. Empowerment through participation
6. Empowerment and decision-making are mutually reinforcing. Having a say and
taking part in decisions concerning one’s own life and community promote agency and
empowerment. At the same time, an enabling environment that fosters empowerment and
the exercise of rights serves to strengthen participation and decision-making further.
Participation is an ongoing process that includes information-sharing and dialogue between
children and adults based on mutual respect, and in which children can learn how their
views and those of adults are taken into account and shape the outcome of such processes.2
The meaningful participation of children with disabilities in all matters affecting their lives
is fundamental in the implementation of their rights, and should thus be at the heart of their
empowerment.3 It empowers children by helping them to build competence, skills and
knowledge, expand aspirations and gain confidence. It also leads to the recognition on the
part of duty bearers that children with disabilities are rights holders entitled to play an
active role in their communities and in society at large.4 Participation is a cross-cutting
concept that is both a substantive right and a principle underlying the realization of all
human rights of children with disabilities.
A. Legal framework
7. Both the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities set out a robust normative framework for the full and effective
participation of children with disabilities in all decisions that affect them, whether they
concern them individually or directly, regarding the entire range of their rights, including
access to care, education, health, play or any other aspect of their life, or they relate to
general policies relevant to all children, with or without disabilities. According to article 12
of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, States parties are to assure to the child who is
capable of forming his or her views the right to express their views freely in all matters
affecting the child, the views of the child being given due weight in accordance with the
child’s age and maturity. This right reinforces the status of the child as an active participant
in the promotion, protection and monitoring of his or her rights. The Committee on the
Rights of the Child has interpreted the right to be heard under article 12 as one of the
Convention’s fundamental values and general principles, along with the right to non-
discrimination, the right to life and development, and the primary consideration of the
child’s best interests.5
8. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities builds on the language of
article 12 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child by requiring States to ensure that
children with disabilities have the right to express their views freely on all matters affecting
them, their views being given due weight in accordance with their age and maturity, on an
equal basis with other children, and to be provided with disability- and age-appropriate
assistance to realize that right. It differs from the Convention on the Rights of the Child in
that it does not refer to the child’s capability to form his or her views as a prerequisite to
enjoy the right to be heard. This omission reflects the understanding that all children,
regardless of their age and manner of communication, should be regarded as capable of
forming views and, with appropriate support, conveying them. As stressed subsequently by
the Committee on the Rights of the Child, the young age or the impairment of a child does
not deprive them of the right to express their views nor reduce the weight given to the
child’s views in determining their interests.6
2 Committee on the Rights of the Child, general comment No. 12 (2009) on the right of the child to be heard, para. 3.
3 Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, general comment No. 7, paras. 24–26, 33 and
74.
4 Ibid., paras. 24–26 and 74.
5 Committee on the Rights of the Child, general comment No. 12, para. 2.
6 Ibid., para. 21.
9. The Convention on the Rights of the Child thus reinforces the obligation of States to
recognize and respect the evolving capacities of children with disabilities and to provide
support to strengthen their capacities to enable independent decision-making. In its general
comment No. 20 (2016) on the implementation of the rights of the child during
adolescence, the Committee on the Rights of the Child called for the provision of supported
decision-making for adolescents with disabilities in order to facilitate their active
participation in all matters concerning them. Direction and guidance should be offered in a
child-centred way, through dialogue and example, in ways that enhance young children’s
capacities to exercise their rights, including their right to participation. 7 In this respect,
article 7 of the Convention introduces an explicit requirement that children with disabilities
must be provided with disability- and age-appropriate assistance to realize their right to be
heard.
10. Examples of specific support and accommodation that children with disabilities may
require include sign language interpretation, Easy Read format, Braille, tactile
communication, communication software, gesture to voice conversion technology and
personal digital assistants. Non-verbal forms of communication, including play, body
language, facial expressions and drawing and painting, must also be recognized and
respected. For instance, expression through art has been successfully used to explore the
perspective of children with disabilities who do not communicate verbally. It may require
time to build an appropriate communication method as, for example, in the case of children
with autism or multiple impairments, whose communication may have to be facilitated
through specific means.
11. The requirement to involve the child in all matters affecting them must be
interpreted broadly.8 The child’s views should be sought and taken into account in all
decisions and proceedings affecting them, and their right to be heard should be consistently
applied by all those concerned, including parents, teachers, caregivers, medical
professionals, social workers, administrators, judges, lawyers, parliamentarians and others.
This is particularly important in those areas where children with disabilities are more likely
to be subjected to human rights violations, for example, in relation to enjoying and
exercising their rights to family, to live and be included in the community, to freedom from
abuse, exploitation and violence, and to access to justice and inclusive education, among
others.
B. Enabling children with disabilities to decide on their own lives
12. Children with disabilities must have a say on where and with whom they want to
live. They must be enabled to meaningfully participate in all decisions relating to their care
arrangements, including proceedings concerning removal from parents or placement in
alternative care.9 In its general comment No. 7 (2018) on the participation of persons with
disabilities, including children with disabilities, through their representative organizations,
in the implementation and monitoring of the Convention, the Committee on the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities recommended that States ensure consultations with and the active
involvement of children with disabilities in the adoption of all plans and strategies as well
as for follow-up and monitoring when implementing the right to independent living in the
community. Family law and policies should moreover include provisions to support and
educate the parents of children with disabilities on their responsibility to involve their
children in decisions affecting them.
13. Empowerment implies that children with disabilities exercise specific skills that are
generally not acquired in family settings where there is no experience relating to living with
an impairment. Furthermore, the needs arising from particular impairments may not relate
to existing knowledge in their communities, and children may require specific training in
order to manage their day-to-day needs. Learning how to manage their own bodies
7 Committee on the Rights of the Child, general comment No. 5, para. 17. 8 Committee on the Rights of the Child, general comment No. 12, paras. 26 and 27. 9 Ibid., paras. 53, 54 and 97.
according to their diversity without stigma is fundamental to building their autonomy and
self-esteem. Children should have access to such training so that they can develop
independence to be fully included and participate in society.
14. For children with disabilities, understanding how their bodies function and to
acquire the skills necessary to take care of themselves has repercussions beyond their social
inclusion and development. For example, gender-based violence can be underreported
when young people with disabilities do not know the boundaries of their intimacy and,
consequently, do not denounce when such limits have been breached against their will.
Children with disabilities are often treated as children beyond reaching majority, and
commonly face infringements of their intimacy in family and institutional settings. Children
with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities are disproportionately affected by this
phenomenon. Sexuality education builds understanding of their own bodies as well as
confidence to identify their own limits, and thus helps to prevent abuse and facilitate their
healthy transitioning from childhood to adolescence and adulthood.
C. Participation of children with disabilities in decisions affecting them
15. All children, including children with disabilities, are entitled to participate in public
decision-making and measures that affect their lives.10 Both the Committee on the Rights of
the Child and the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities have emphasized
that there is no limitation on the scope of proceedings in which the child can be heard.11
This should include not only issues that can be described as “disability-related” (for
example, deinstitutionalization, disability benefits, personal assistance, accessibility
requirements or reasonable accommodation policies), but also issues that affect all children
(such as family and support services, education, health, access to justice, social and
environmental protection urban planning, public resource allocation, transport, or school
design). Article 4, paragraph 3 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
explicitly refers to the obligation of States to “closely consult with and actively involve
persons with disabilities, including children with disabilities, through their representative
organizations” in the development and implementation of legislation and policies and other
decision-making processes concerning them.
16. The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has explained that
“representative organizations” are organizations that are led, directed and governed by
persons with disabilities. They include organizations and initiatives of children and young
persons with disabilities that are fundamental for the participation of children in public and
community life and for their right to be heard and their freedom of expression and
association.12 The Committee has emphasized that adults have a key and supportive role to
play in enabling children and young persons with disabilities to establish and act, formally
or informally, within their own organizations and initiatives. The State is responsible for
creating an enabling environment for the establishment and functioning of child-led
organizations, including by increasing public resources to enable them to fulfil their role
under the Convention.13 These spaces should allow children to safely explore and express
their views without criticism or punishment. Particular attention should be paid in this
regard to the inclusion of the most marginalized groups and girls with disabilities, and the
constituencies or representative organizations of persons with disabilities representing
specific impairment groups.
17. Many States are already implementing good practices in this regard. For example, in
its submission, the Plurinational State of Bolivia explained that the Ministry of Education
coordinates actions with organizations led by persons with disabilities in order to strengthen
their participation, representation and co-responsibility within the community. In this
10 Committee on the Rights of the Child, general comment No. 12, para. 87. 11 Ibid., para. 32. 12 Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, general comment No. 7, para. 12 (f).
13 See CRPD/C/GAB/CO/1, para. 9, CRPD/C/KEN/CO/1, para. 8, CRPD/C/AUS/CO/1, para. 13
and CRPD/C/HUN/CO/1, para. 14.
context, councils have been set up to support the participation of persons with impairments
in matters affecting them, in coordination with associations of parents of children with
disabilities. Ombudspersons also play an important role in supporting the participation of
children and adolescents with disabilities in decision-making at the municipal level.
18. In its submission, Denmark described how the Danish Disability Council supports
campaigns to raise awareness and promote respect for the rights of persons with disabilities.
The Act on Social Services stipulates that municipalities, in cooperation with parents, are to
involve the child or young person with impaired physical or mental function when
identifying their needs, taking into account their views, age and maturity, as well as their
best interests. A caseworker tool, developed to strengthen the support given by
municipalities to children with disabilities, stores relevant information on their
circumstances, including on the individual views of the child.
III. Core elements of an enabling environment
A. Living and being included in the community
19. Families can be a fundamental channel to a child’s empowerment. The importance
of growing up in a supportive family environment for the full and harmonious development
of a child’s personality is recognized throughout the Convention on the Rights of the Child
and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.14 Article 23 of the latter
treaty guarantees the equal rights of children with disabilities with respect to family life,
and sets out the State’s obligation to provide early and comprehensive information, services
and support to children with disabilities and their families in order to prevent concealment,
abandonment, neglect and segregation of children with disabilities (para. 3). It prohibits a
child’s separation from their parents against their will unless deemed in the child’s best
interests, precluding any separation on the basis of a disability of either the child or one or
both of the parents (para. 4); and where the immediate family is unable to care for them,
every effort should be made to provide alternative care within the wider family and, as a
measure of last resort, within the community in a family setting (para. 5). The standards
clearly show that, for children, the core of the right to live independently and be included in
the community entails a right to grow up in a family, and that the necessary information,
guidance and assistance should be provided to families to ensure that they can in turn
provide support and living conditions necessary for the child’s optimum development.15
This support must be respectful of the rights and evolving capacities of the child and the
increasing contribution they make to their own lives.16
20. Despite the fact that the placement of children with disabilities in institutional care
remains a practice in many countries,17 according to article 19 of the Convention on the
Rights of Persons with Disabilities, all persons with disabilities have the right to live in the
community, with choices equal to those of others, and must have the opportunity to choose
their place of residence and where and with whom they live on an equal basis with others.
The institutionalization of children with disabilities heightens their risk of rights violations
on multiple grounds, and is in itself an inherently disempowering practice that impedes
their inclusion and participation in the community. The Committee on the Rights of Persons
with Disabilities has in particular highlighted the higher risk run by children with
intellectual disabilities, children with autism and children with psychosocial disabilities
14 See preamble to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and preamble to the Convention on the
Rights of Persons with Disabilities and arts. 5, 9 and 18.
15 See Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, general comment No. 5, paras. 37, 67, 75
and 87, and Committee on the Rights of the Child, general comment No. 20, para. 50.
16 Committee on the Rights of the Child, general comment No. 20, para. 50.
17 UNICEF, Children and Young People with Disabilities, Fact Sheet, May 2013, p. 24. See also
UNICEF, The State of the World’s Children Report 2013: Children with Disabilities, May 2013, p. 42;
and United Nations, Realization of the Sustainable Development Goals by, for and with Persons with
Disabilities, UN Flagship Report on Disability and Development 2018, p. 247.
being placed into institutions, frequently upon the advice of medical professionals. There is
ample evidence demonstrating that institutions are detrimental to a child’s development and
well-being. Children growing up in institutional environments experience delays in their
development, especially in early childhood, and potentially irreversible psychological
damage, including that caused by emotional neglect. Institutionalized children run a much
higher risk of psychological, physical and sexual violence. Moreover, institutionalization is
one of the most serious barriers to inclusive education.
21. Article 19 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities provides for
the right to live independently and be included in the community, which precludes
segregation and institutionalization for the purposes of care or treatment. The Committee on
the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has repeatedly identified deinstitutionalization as a
matter of priority. It has stressed that States are required to have a strategy and a concrete
action plan for deinstitutionalization that requires the closure of institutions as well as
systematic transformation leading to the creation of community-based inclusive support
services. 18 These strategies must be cross-sectoral, involving social welfare, social
protection, health, education and finance ministries, in order to establish coherent and
sustainable community and family-based services. They should engage all actors to the
same end, including training and awareness-raising among community and social workers,
as well as health and education professionals, in order to foster a commitment by the entire
community.
22. Engagement with the community is necessary to facilitate empowerment. No child is
an island; children flourish when they are included in their community, and they should be
exposed to multiple spaces where they can participate and feel that they belong. School
should not be portrayed as the only option; sports and peer support and exchange are also
activities and spaces that foster their inclusion and empowerment.
23. In spite of the ongoing practice of institutionalizing children with disabilities,
targeted efforts towards deinstitutionalization are being made in a number of countries. In
its submission, Croatia described its plan of deinstitutionalization and transformation of
social welfare homes and other legal entities, a national strategy to implement
deinstitutionalization and the transformation of care institutions, particularly by developing
the range of non-institutional services for children with developmental disabilities, and
supporting their full inclusion in community life by ensuring the availability of the requisite
services. A variety of community services have been developed to support the inclusion of
children with developmental disabilities in community life. These include organized
housing with support, counselling and other services provided through mobile teams,
psychosocial support services, and early intervention and assistance to facilitate the
inclusion of children with disabilities in education. The strategy includes specialized
training for education assistants and efforts to increase the involvement of children with
disabilities in the community through sport, alongside the expansion of accessible sporting
and other community facilities.
24. According to the submission of Romania, the National Authority for the Protection
of the Rights of the Child and Adoption is implementing a project on the development of
plans for the deinstitutionalization of children deprived of parental care and their transfer to
community-based care, with the aim of continuing the process of deinstitutionalization of
children, including children with disabilities. The project supports the capacity of local
authorities to close down institutions and to develop alternative services for children
through the social protection system. Children with disabilities are involved in the
assessment of activities carried out within the project, and their opinions are taken into
account when the placement centres where they reside are in the process of being closed.
25. In Sweden, in order to promote the full participation and equality of children with
disabilities, all institutional accommodation has been phased out, replaced by alternative
forms of community-based financial support and targeted services, developed to enable
children with disabilities to live independently. The Försäkringskassan administers targeted
18 See Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, general comment No. 5.
social insurance for parents who have children with disabilities, in addition to the regular
financial support provided under the social insurance system.
B. Freedom from abuse, exploitation and violence
26. Children with disabilities face a heightened risk of abuse, exploitation and violence
as much in times of peace as in situations of humanitarian emergency. This is due to a
number of factors, including widespread stigma and discrimination, lack of accessible
information or support with regard to theirs right and due assistance, lack of legal standing,
and lack of access to justice. The result is a vicious circle of harm and impunity that
disempowers children with disabilities and impedes their participation and exercise of
rights.
27. While data remain scarce and unsystematic, there is widespread evidence that
women and girls with disabilities are more likely to be subjected to violence, including
sexual violence.19 Children with psychosocial or intellectual disabilities are among the most
vulnerable, with almost five times the risk of sexual violence than their non-disabled
peers.20 Girls with disabilities are particularly vulnerable, as they are often the target of
violence and other harmful practices adopted within the family, communities and
institutions. In many countries, girls with disabilities are at greater risk of infanticide, and
vulnerable to other intersecting forms of risk associated with their specific situation or
identity, such as in the case of girls living in institutions, in situations of conflict or
migration, or those with albinism.21
28. In some cases, girls and boys with disabilities become the object of “correction” or
treatment by families, caregivers or within institutions, made to undergo traumatic or
abusive procedures without their consent, such as electroconvulsive therapy,
psychosurgery, experimental mercury detoxification treatment, harsh behavioural
modification regimes (including packing for autistic children), conductive education for
children with cerebral palsy, and limb-lengthening for children with restricted growth.
Measures may also be taken to halt a girl’s sexual and reproductive development, such as in
the case of growth attenuation treatment, forced sterilization or forced contraception, which
violate the right to health, the right to family, the protection of personal and physical
integrity, protection from violence, abuse and exploitation. Such interventions are invasive,
painful and irreversible, and may amount to torture or ill-treatment, particularly when
applied against the subject’s will (A/73/161, para. 41). In addition, these practices are
inherently disempowering and violate the principle of respect for the evolving capacities of
children with disabilities and their right to preserve their identity, as stipulated in article 3
(h) of the Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
29. Article 16 of the Convention requires States to take all appropriate legislative,
administrative, social and education measures to protect persons with disabilities from all
forms of exploitation, violence and abuse, including their gender-based aspects, both within
and outside the home, and specifically calls for women- and child-focused legislation to
ensure that instances of exploitation, violence and abuse against persons with disabilities
are identified, investigated and, where appropriate, prosecuted. 22 In its general
19 United Nations, UN Flagship Report, pp. 290–294.
20 World Health Organization (WHO), “Violence against adults and children with disabilities”, available
from www.who.int/disabilities/violence/en.
21 Joint general recommendation No. 31 of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against
Women/general comment No. 18 of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (2014) on harmful
practices, para. 9.
22 This provision is complemented by article 19 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child,
Committee on the Rights of the Child, general comments No. 13 (2011) on the right of the child to
freedom from all forms of violence and Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against
Women, general recommendation No. 35 (2017) on gender-based violence against women, updating
general recommendation No. 19, and their joint general recommendation No. 31/general comment No.
18, in which each Committee highlights the need to take targeted measures to prevent and respond to
violence against children with disabilities.
recommendation No. 35, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against
Women called upon States to establish appropriate and accessible protection mechanisms to
prevent further or potential violence, and to remove the barriers that persons with
disabilities face;23 and to adopt measures to ensure that both services and information are
accessible to them, including hotlines, shelters, victim support services and reporting and
complaints mechanisms (see CEDAW/C/FIN/CO/7, para. 33, CEDAW/C/KEN/CO/8,
paras. 23 and 47, and CEDAW/C/ARG/CO/7, para. 21). Furthermore, an independent body
must be designated with the mandate to monitor services and facilities for children and
adults with disabilities, including institutions (art. 16, para. 3), and data on victims and
survivors of violence should be collected and disaggregated in order to better formulate
policies for prevention and protection (see CRPD/C/HTI/CO/1, para. 31 and
CRPD/C/MNE/CO/1, para. 33).
30. Children with disabilities are also more exposed to bullying at school and beyond.
Bullying can be manifested in different ways – as violence, but also as indifference and
“invisibilization”. Children with disabilities are particularly vulnerable to bullying in
segregated settings, such as in homes, special schools or day-care centres. Although
bullying is not an issue faced exclusively by children with disabilities, segregated and
mainstream educational settings can facilitate it. All children should be valued as human
beings; inclusive education settings should foster diversity in all its expressions, including
on the basis of disability.
C. Access to justice
31. Access to justice and the availability of effective remedies allow children with
disabilities to receive redress and reparation for violations of their human rights. While in
most cases it will be unlikely that they can return the individual to the situation before the
violation was committed, the act of seeking justice and having the wrong acknowledged is a
process of exercising agency, and can in itself be empowering for the particular individual
and beyond – for their family and community. For most children, and children with
disabilities in particular, however, access to justice is beyond reach. Public administration
and justice systems and services are not tailored to recognize children’s rights and agency,
or their own unique experiences and perspectives. 24 The act of reporting or seeking
assistance is impeded when children with disabilities do not have accessible information or
contact with the outside world. They may not know that they possess rights, or what their
rights entail, nor how to report and file a complaint or seek justice.
32. Article 12, paragraph 2 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child specifically
empowers children to be heard in any judicial and administrative proceedings relevant to
them. In its general comment No. 10 (2007) on children’s rights in juvenile justice, the
Committee on the Rights of the Child emphasized that different accommodations should be
made to ensure access to justice for children, including children with disabilities. For
example, age-appropriate procedural accommodations may require modified courtroom
procedures and practices, specific settings and age-appropriate assistance, among others.
According to article 13 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, States
parties to the Convention should ensure effective access to justice and participation by
persons with disabilities in that process on an equal basis with others, including through the
provision of procedural and age-appropriate accommodations. In the view of the
Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, legal reforms should be undertaken
to ensure the provision of procedural accommodations appropriate to age and impairment
(see CRPD/C/DEU/CO/1, para. 28), so that all children with disabilities have access to
justice and may express their opinion in the course of the determination of their best
interests (see CRPD/C/MEX/CO/1, para. 26).
23 Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, general recommendation No. 35,
para. 40 (b).
24 UNICEF, Children’s Equitable Access to Justice: Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia,
2015, p. 118.
33. In order for the above to be possible, the relevant mechanisms must provide
accessible, inclusive, confidential and gender-sensitive procedures to ensure that children
with disabilities can participate on an equal basis with others and voice their views without
risk of re-victimization or fear of reprisal.25
34. The absence of accessible, child-friendly information and awareness-raising about
children’s rights limit the opportunities for children with disabilities to invoke their rights
and to hold the Government and others to account. Learning about their rights, acquiring
the skills of participation, gaining confidence in gathering and applying information,
engaging in dialogue with others and understanding the responsibilities of Governments are
all vital elements in creating an articulate citizenry.26 Moreover, children with disabilities
can be supported by civil society and national human rights institutions in navigating the
system to submit complaints and seek justice; for example, in Turkey, between 2014 and
2016, 24 regional seminars were held to build the capacity of civil society and to enhance
dialogue between public sector and civil society organizations, particularly those
advocating for the rights of persons with disabilities, including children with disabilities.
This initiative was complemented by national public awareness-raising campaigns on the
rights of persons with disabilities, which also involved the release of three educational
animated films.
D. Awareness-raising
35. Discrimination against children with disabilities may be fuelled by widespread
stigma and negative stereotypes about their impairments, as well as by other grounds, such
as gender and age. Beliefs that children with disabilities are cursed and bring misfortune to
the family and community, that they practice witchcraft, cannot be educated or are a burden
to society are direct causes of segregation and institutionalization, and render such persons
particularly vulnerable to violence, abuse, bullying and exploitation.
36. To combat discrimination, article 8 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities calls upon States to foster respect for the rights and dignity of persons with
disabilities and to combat stereotypes, prejudices and harmful practices, including those
based on sex and age, in all areas of life. Public awareness-raising campaigns should be
carried out to promote positive perceptions and greater social awareness of persons with
disabilities, and recognition of their skills and contributions. Furthermore, training and
other information programmes should be conducted to educate children with disabilities
and others about their rights, as a key means to changing attitudes. Campaigns and training
should aim at raising awareness of the risks that children with disabilities face and at
deconstructing disempowering social and cultural beliefs concerning children with
disabilities, including beliefs held with regard to specific impairments, such as in the case
of children with albinism, intellectual disabilities, autism or psychosocial disabilities.
37. In Norway for example, the Escalation Plan against Violence and Abuse (2017–
2021) was devised to address the challenges associated with violence against and abuse of
children, including children with disabilities. In this context, the Government has
committed to more effectively provide information to groups of children at heightened risk
of experiencing violence, in particular children with disabilities. Among other measures, it
launched “Jeg Vet”, a digital resource used to educate children, including those with
disabilities, on their right to be protected from violence. In addition, the Directorate for
Children, Youth and Family Affairs has published guidelines and public information on
how to disclose and address violence and sexual abuse against children with disabilities.
38. In Malta, the Career Guidance and Transitions Programme empowers children with
disabilities by encouraging them to believe that they can and should pursue their education
to tertiary level, alongside other students. The specific measures in place were designed to
support them to continue with post-secondary opportunities, thereby reducing the number
25 Ibid.
26 UNICEF, Take Us Seriously! Engaging Children with Disabilities in Decisions Affecting their Lives,
June 2013, p. 10.
of early school-leavers among children with disabilities. The programme includes
vocational training and career guidance for children and young people with disabilities, and
efforts to integrate them into their general education. A one-week career exposure
experience is offered to students with disabilities to introduce them to the world of work,
alongside a career portfolio exercise whereby students are guided individually to
understand their interests, abilities and future career possibilities.
IV. Empowerment through inclusive education
39. The right of children with disabilities to inclusive education is enshrined in both the
Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities. Article 28 of the Convention of the Rights of the Child requires that education,
including free compulsory primary education and accessible secondary education, must be
provided to every child on the basis of equality of opportunity. This provision should be
read in conjunction with article 2, which prohibits discrimination on any ground, including
disability, and article 23, which requires the provision of support to children with
disabilities to enable them to have effective access to and receive education and training.27
Article 24 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities guarantees the right
to education, spelling out and strengthening its inclusive aspect, as it obliges States to
ensure an inclusive education system at all levels, including inclusive, quality and free
primary education and secondary education in the community, and prohibits the exclusion
of children with disabilities from the general education system on the basis of disability.
A. Inclusive education as a multiplier right
40. Inclusive education empowers children with disabilities because it equips them with
the competences, knowledge and skills that they need to enjoy fully their human rights and
participate fully in society, throughout their childhood and later as adults. The empowering
effect of education is highlighted in article 29 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child,
which defines the aims of education and its central role in realizing rights. In its general
comment No. 1 (2001) on the aims of education, the Committee on the Rights of the Child
explained that education as interpreted in article 29 went far beyond formal schooling to
embrace the broad range of life experiences and learning processes which enable children,
individually and collectively, to develop their personalities, talents and abilities and to live
a full and satisfying life within society. The concept of empowerment through education is
similarly reflected in article 24 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities, which includes among the goals of inclusive education those of enabling
persons with disabilities to participate effectively in a free society, and the development of
their personality, talents and abilities to their fullest potential.
41. Viewed in this light, the right to inclusive education is a multiplier right. In its
general comment No. 4 (2016) on the right to inclusive education, the Committee on the
Rights of Persons with Disabilities explained that inclusive education was to be understood
as a means of realizing other human rights and, in particular, the primary means by which
persons with disabilities could lift themselves out of poverty, obtain the means to
participate fully in their communities and be safeguarded from exploitation. It was also the
primary means of achieving inclusive societies. 28 By the same token, when access to
inclusive education is denied, the disempowering impact extends beyond the right to
education. For instance, the lack of inclusive education has been a major driving force
behind the institutionalization of children with disabilities; in the absence of inclusive
schools in the community, parents are often compelled to place their children in an
27 See also Committee on the Rights of the Child, general comment No. 20, paras. 68 and 70.
28 In paragraph 85 of its general comment No. 7 (2018) on the participation of persons with disabilities,
including children with disabilities, through their representative organizations, in the implementation
and monitoring of the Convention, the Committee provided further recognition of how inclusive
education is essential to the right to participate.
institution with the misconceived expectation that they receive at least some form of
education.
B. Implementing the right to education
42. Inclusion in education is more than a means of ending segregation. Inclusive
education involves “a commitment to creating schools which respect and value diversity,
and aim to promote democratic principles and a set of values and beliefs relating to equality
and social justice so that all children can participate in teaching and learning”.29 In its
general comment No. 4, the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities pointed
out that inclusive education was not about placing children with disabilities in existing
mainstream educational institutions and leaving them to adjust to the standardized
requirements of such institutions; rather, it involved a process of systemic reform
embodying changes and modifications in content, teaching methods, approaches, structures
and strategies in education to overcome barriers with a vision serving to provide all
students of the relevant age range with an equitable and participatory learning experience
and the environment that best corresponds to their requirements and preferences. Inclusive
education recognizes the capacity of every child to learn.
1. Legal and policy framework
43. The implementation of the right to inclusive education requires that States put in
place a comprehensive and coordinated legislative and policy framework ensuring a non-
discrimination approach and a progressive realization process to transform the general
education system into an inclusive system.30 To ensure the non-discrimination perspective,
laws and policies should explicitly comprise a “no-rejection clause”, forbidding the denial
of admission into mainstream schools and guaranteeing continuity in education. As an anti-
discrimination measure, such a clause would have immediate effect, and should be
reinforced and complemented by the provision of reasonable accommodation for
individuals with disabilities. Impairment-based assessment for the assignment of schools
should be discontinued, and the support needs for effective participation in mainstream
schools assessed.
2. Transformation of the education system
44. Inclusive education requires that the entire educational system be made accessible,
while the organizational culture of schools must be transformed to include all students,
including those with greater support requirements. A curriculum that has been adapted to
the situation of students with disabilities and others can support the transformational
process towards fully inclusive systems. Resources currently dedicated to special education
should be made available in the general education system, as segregated settings are
progressively replaced by inclusive settings. This implies investing in training, and the
provision of support and accessible materials and technologies.
3. Training
45. Inclusive education cannot be achieved if teachers are insufficiently aware of its
benefits, have uninformed or outdated opinions about the educational capabilities and needs
of children with disabilities, or lack the expertise to work with all students, with and
without disabilities. Conversely, teachers who are committed to teaching all children and
have the pedagogical skills to work in a diverse classroom environment are instrumental in
empowering children with disabilities to benefit fully from their education. As part of both
their initial training and continuous professional development, teachers at the preschool,
primary, secondary, tertiary and vocational education levels should be provided with the
core competencies and values necessary to work in an inclusive educational environment.
29 The right of children with disabilities to education: a rights-based approach to inclusive education,
Position Paper, UNICEF, 2012, p. 8.
30 Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, general comment No. 4, para. 63.
Teachers should be trained to assess pupils’ strengths and needs, and to adapt their teaching
programmes and methodologies accordingly. They should be trained also to engage
collaboratively with other professionals, work in partnership with parents, use available
technologies in order to support learning, and monitor the success of the approaches
employed. As a priority, States should invest in and support the recruitment and continuous
education of teachers with disabilities, who bring unique expertise and skills into the
learning environment, help to break down barriers and serve as important role models for
students with disabilities.
4. Gender equality
46. Special attention should be paid to ensuring full access to inclusive education for
girls with disabilities, who often face additional barriers due to intersecting forms of
discrimination and exclusion. When parents refuse to send girls with disabilities to school,
the State has a duty to intervene to protect the child’s right to education, including by
addressing the lack of value placed on the education of girls. 31 The consequences are
telling: women with disabilities have markedly lower rates of literacy and employment
when compared to both women and men in general, and even to men with disabilities.32
Girls with disabilities are also particularly vulnerable to violence and abuse, including
sexual violence, in educational settings. 33 States must take special measures to prevent
gender-based violence in educational settings, and tackle gender stereotyping. Such
measures should include the elimination of negative gender stereotypes from textbooks and
curricula.34
5. Resource allocation
47. Inclusive education cannot be fully implemented without the allocation of adequate
financial recourses. For instance, in Ireland, almost 19 per cent of the overall education
budget is allocated to additional support for children, including for, in particular, those with
disabilities. The allocation covers teaching assistant posts, learning support/resource teacher
posts, teacher training and continuous professional development, an assistive technology
scheme, school transport arrangements, and modifications to school buildings. It is,
however, important to stress that inclusive education does not necessarily require larger
public spending, especially considering the long-term perspective. It has been empirically
shown that maintaining segregated, separate and parallel education systems is more
expensive and less sustainable than inclusive education models. Collaborative work
between students, parental involvement in the classroom and teacher problem-solving and
mutual support have been shown to be effective. Some of the most innovative
developments in inclusive education have been witnessed in low-income countries, such as
the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Lesotho, Morocco, Uganda, Viet Nam and
Yemen.35
6. Data collection and disaggregation
48. To understand gaps and identify those who have been left behind, article 31 of the
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities requires the State to collect
information and to disaggregate data in order to identify and address barriers faced by
children with disabilities. 36 The Sustainable Development Goals echo the obligation of
States to make available high-quality, timely and reliable data disaggregated by several
grounds, including gender, age and disability (target 17.18). Various types of qualitative
and quantitative data are needed, including information on the type of impairment, the
barriers encountered and the support provided, and the impact on the family’s situation.
Disaggregated information specifically on the areas considered in the present report, such
31 Ibid., paras. 39 and 46.
32 See United Nations, United Nations Flagship Report, pp. 137–138.
33 Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, general comment No. 4, para. 51.
34 Ibid., para. 46.
35 Peter Mittler, Overcoming Exclusion: Social Justice through Education (London, Routledge, 2013).
36 Also recommended by the Committee on the Rights of the Child in its general comments No. 5 and
No. 9; see also CRC/C/ERI/CO/4, para. 20, CRC/C/HND/CO/4-5, para. 16, CRC/C/GHA/CO/3-5,
para. 16, CRC/C/MEX/CO/4-5, para. 46 and CRC/C/NDL/CO/4, para. 17.
as awareness-raising, decision-making, access to justice, freedom from abuse and
exploitation, inclusive education, among others, are also needed.
7. Situations of humanitarian emergency
49. In situations of humanitarian emergency, children with disabilities are less likely to
have access to humanitarian aid, such as food and medicines, or to receive an education
than other children;37 girls with disabilities are also less likely to attend school in refugee
camps than boys with disabilities. 38 The Committee on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities has recognized that situations of armed conflict, humanitarian emergencies and
natural disasters have a disproportionate impact on the rights of children with disabilities,
and has called upon States parties to adopt inclusive disaster risk reduction strategies in
their humanitarian responses (see CRPD/C/NPL/CO/1, para. 20 and CRPD/C/OMN/CO/1,
para. 24). Children should have access to humanitarian aid as a priority, and enjoy equal
access to inclusive education as other children in situations of humanitarian emergency.
Their views and realities should be taken into consideration in the different governing
structures in camps and emergency settlements.
50. Learning environments, whether they are set up as a temporary measure or continue
in a protracted crisis, must ensure the right of children with disabilities to education on the
basis of equality with others. Furthermore, measures should be taken to ensure that learning
environments are safe and accessible for girls with disabilities, within the classroom but
also on the way to and from school. Learners with disabilities must not be denied access to
educational establishments on the basis that evacuating them in emergency situations would
be impossible, and reasonable accommodation must be provided.39
V. Conclusions and recommendations
51. Children with disabilities hold the same rights as all children, and their
empowerment is essential to the realization of their rights. Yet they often encounter
significant barriers in exercising and having access to these rights, such as stigma and
stereotypes due to their age, gender, impairment or other factor. International human
rights law, particularly the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention
on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, provides a robust framework for the
empowerment of children with disabilities through a broad range of measures aimed
at fostering personal and public decision-making, ensuring their full inclusion in
education and in the community, protecting them against abuse, exploitation and
violence, raising awareness and ensuring their access to justice. States should embrace
these obligations to promote the empowerment of children with disabilities and their
full participation in society.
52. In the light of the above conclusions, the United Nations High Commissioner
for Human Rights recommends that States and other stakeholders:
(a) Recognize and implement through the legislative and policy framework
the right of children with disabilities to be heard, regardless of their impairment, age
or manner of communication, on all matters affecting their lives and within public
decision-making, including in situations of humanitarian emergency, and ensure that
information and support are accessible and made available in a manner that respects
their evolving capacities and strengthens their independent decision-making;
(b) Adopt and implement in the legislative, policy and budgetary framework
the right to inclusive education, ensuring equal access of children with disabilities to
mainstream schools, including by means of a non-rejection policy; individual
education plans; the provision of reasonable accommodation; accessibility of
educational environments and materials; the provision of adapted educational
materials, assistive devices, information and communications technology and support;
37 See UNICEF, Guidance: Including children with disabilities in humanitarian action, p. 13.
38 See Women’s Refugee Commission, Disabilities among Refugees and Conflict-Affected Populations,
2008. 39 Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, general comment No. 4, para. 14.
ensuring bilingual and multilingual education; ensuring the teaching of sign
languages, deaf culture and human rights education; mandatory and regular training
of all teachers including within core teaching curricula; and the employment of
teachers with disabilities across all schools;
(c) Actively involve children with disabilities and their representative
organizations in all matters affecting them by adopting strategies to ensure their
participation in decision-making that include disability- and age-appropriate support;
guaranteeing the accessibility of all procedures, spaces and communications relating
to public decision-making and providing reasonable accommodation; and supporting
the establishment of representative organizations of children with disabilities, in
particular self-advocacy organizations of children with intellectual or psychosocial
impairments, and those representing girls with disabilities;
(d) Adopt a strategy and action plan for deinstitutionalization involving
systematic transformation, including the development of community-based support
services and peer support networks, covering support for families to uphold the right
of children with disabilities to grow up in their family or in a family-based setting, and
to participate and be included in the community;
(e) Prohibit violence against and abuse and exploitation of children with
disabilities, including all harmful practices that violate their integrity, dignity and
right to preserve their identity, including the right to health and sexual and
reproductive health, with apply effective criminal sanctions to perpetrators;
(f) Ensure the availability of appropriate and accessible protection
mechanisms to prevent and respond to abuse, violence and exploitation, such as
accessible information, hotlines, shelters, victim support services and reporting and
complaint mechanisms; and designate an independent body with a mandate to
monitor services and facilities for children with disabilities, including institutions,
supported by disaggregated data on victims and survivors of violence;
(g) Take immediate measures to ensure that girls and boys with disabilities
have access to accessible, inclusive, confidential and gender-sensitive redress
mechanisms by guaranteeing the provision of procedural and age-appropriate
accommodations to ensure their effective role as direct and indirect participants,
including as witnesses, in all legal proceedings; and conduct regular training on the
rights of children with disabilities, together with reasonable accommodation and
support for personnel working in the administration of justice, social assistance and
community services, health care and education;
(h) In consultation with children with disabilities and their representative
organizations, conduct local and nationwide awareness-raising campaigns to combat
stereotypes and promote their positive role as equal and active participants in and
contributors to society, and to increase public information and awareness on the
rights of children with disabilities, including their equal right to education;
(i) Alongside children with disabilities and their representative
organizations, undertake monitoring and evaluation, research, studies and the
systematic collection and publication of accessible data, disaggregated by sex and
disability, among other criteria, across all sectors, in order to formulate effective
policies and programmes for their empowerment;
(j) Implement transparent and participatory budgeting involving children
with disabilities, and define specific budgetary lines for children with disabilities that
are protected in situations of humanitarian emergency, natural disaster or economic
recession;
(k) Promote the empowerment of children with disabilities and the
realization of their rights, and their participation and full inclusion in society, in the
context of international cooperation and the implementation of measures to achieve
the Sustainable Development Goals.