Present Imperfect: Episode 4 - Gavin Wood on The Rights of Children With Disabilities

UNICEF Innocenti presents Present Imperfect, a podcast series exploring the evolution of child rights over the past three decades - and the decades to come, 35 years after the approval of the Convention on the Rights of the Child or CRC by the United Nations General Assembly in 1989. Globally nearly 240 million children live with disabilities, and the vast majority in low- and middle-income countries. Two international Conventions, namely the Convention on the rights of the child, and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with disabilities, adopted in 2006, recognize the human rights and fundamental freedoms of children with disabilities. Children with disabilities are one of the most marginalized and excluded groups. Social challenges such as poverty, conflicts, and the weakness of the socio-political systems amplify exclusion and discrimination, worsening the situation of children with disabilities. In this episode Dr. Gavin Wood discusses the rights of children with disabilities and their inclusion. The experiences of children with disabilities are shaped by many aspects of their identity, such as gender, ethnicity and sometimes they experience multiple forms of discrimination. Inclusive policies are those that consider the voices, needs and priorities of children with disabilities in designing how to implement resources across all sectors, from health to education to family to schools, and are critical to fulfil their rights and enable them to participate fully in society. Gavin discusses the critical role of research in informing policy and practice, evaluating effectiveness, raising awareness and advocacy, identifying gaps and innovations, and providing global comparisons and benchmark. His research work at UNICEF Innocenti includes early identification and intervention for children with disabilities looking at cost effective; scalable inclusion education models for low resource settings that promote enrolment; retention and learning and development; preventing and protecting children with disabilities from all forms of violence and abuse; social protection interventions to support families with disability related expenses to access appropriate and affordable assistive devices and care.