The Children’s Fund of the UN (UNICEF), in partnership with the delegation of the EU in BIH and USAID is beginning their 18-month campaign aimed at raising awareness, changing attitudes and behavior of public towards children with development difficulties.
The campaign dedicated to children with disabilities “Speaking about possibilities, join us!” will be presented in Sarajevo on Tuesday.
Ambassador Peter Sorensen, Head of the EU delegation to BIH and Special EU Representative, David Barth, Director of the USAID Mission to BiH and Florence Bauer, Representative of UNICEF to BiH will present the joint initiative to the public.
This will be a chance for the presentation of UNICEF’s global report on the state of children in the world in 2013, dedicated to children with disabilities.
UNICEF said that the recent research has shown that in BIH 40 percent of the total population would not allow a child with development disabilities to go to school together with their child.
Around 60 percent of the population would not allow their child to enter into a marriage with someone who has development disabilities. More than 40 percent of people think that children with development disabilities should attend special educational institutions, while only 20 percent see the positive developmental impact of inclusion.
“Children with development disabilities have the same rights and needs as all children. They have a right to progress, to be included in the life of their community and society, to live a healthy life and to realize their full potential, as well as to become productive members of society. However, children with disabilities are often invisible in politics, data information, societies, which increases their exclusion and contributes to inequality. They often have less access to services and are more likely to be exposed to neglect and abuse. We wish to change that’’, said in joint statement of the EU, UNICEF, and USAID.
The slogan and goal of the campaign is also an invitation to individuals, organizations, associations, commercial partners and government institutions to contribute to social changes for the goodwill of all.
The Ambassador of UNICEF to BiH Edin Džeko was the first to support the campaign through active participation.
“The presentation of the campaign devoted to children with development disabilities will be held today at 11:30 on the premises of the UN in BIH (Zmaja od Bosne b.b.) in Sarajevo”, announced UNICEF.
