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Summary: Disabled young people from the UK, Bangladesh and China are today addressing the United Nations in New York in a final attempt at preventing millions of children with disabilities being written out of a new UN Convention.
[NEW YORK, 17 January 2006] - Disabled young people from the UK, Bangladesh and China are today addressing the United Nations in New York in a final attempt at preventing millions of children with disabilities being written out of a new UN Convention. The young people, representatives of Save the Children, fear that the UN's first ever Convention on the rights of disabled people is about to be drafted without addressing the rights of children with disabilities, potentially leaving millions of disabled children around the world at risk by ignoring their needs. Jasmine Whitbread, Save the Children Chief Executive, said: "We cannot stand by while an estimated 150 - 200 million children with disabilities are ignored. The stigma attached to a disabled child means that in many countries they aren't even registered at birth, they become invisible and face abandonment while others are committed to institutions, neglected or hidden away." Save the Children wants the draft text of the Convention to address specific violations of disabled children's rights such as birth registration. Children with disabilities are disproportionately vulnerable to non-registration, with their birth, and indeed their very existence often being denied by their families. Without registration, children aren't recognised in law and as a result are at greater risk of institutionalisation, forced sterilisation and exclusion from education. Nancy Maguire from the UK, who will address the UN said: "Whilst this is a great opportunity to tell influential people why disabled children must have their rights acknowledged I also feel disappointed that governments from around the world could over-look children and young people like me. Growing up with a disability, I faced a lot of problems and injustices. I hope that they will listen and understand but most importantly ensure the Convention gives the same rights to children as adults with disabilities." Yao Yue, from China, also addressing the UN, said: "In my country the stigma and cost of caring for a disabled child are great with some children being abandoned at birth. If they are lucky enough to be found before they die, they'll be sent to welfare homes, and maybe grow up there." In other countries such as India, having a disabled child is sometimes perceived as a result of having committed a sin in a past life, so children with disabilities can be rejected by their families and their communities. Whitbread, continued: "Only five percent of disabled children in developing countries have access to support of any kind and less than five percent go to school. Children with disabilities face intense discrimination and stigma and don't have the same opportunities as non-disabled children. "It's crucial that the UN listens to our six representatives and takes this opportunity to ensure that disabled children are recognised and protected, and have their rights fully realised. Without securing these changes we will have failed millions of vulnerable children throughout the world." Ends