Disabled children demonstrate their talents on World Disability Day
TASHKENT, UZBEKISTAN, 2 December 2005: Helping children with disabilities to avoid exclusion and isolation. For Elyor, aged 9, and Navruza, aged 8, the event in Tashkent to mark World Disability Day was more than a celebration of the achievements of disabled children. It was the start of their dreams becoming reality. The hall filled with representatives from the government, NGOs, international organizations and the media, to attend an event organized by the Republican Centre for Social Adaptation of Children (RSCAC) and UNICEF. Unobserved by most, Elyor and Navruza quietly and confidently made their way to the front row of the hall. Their movements may have looked slow and awkward, but for both it was a major achievement, as they were both walking again. Two years ago, Elyor would have been lying on his bed at home, his legs paralysed since early childhood. His mother, Ogiloy, struggled alone, to look after Elyor and his brothers and sisters. Navruza also faced a life of isolation at home, unable to more her legs as a result of a childhood illness. Both children now attend a Sunday School for children with and without disabilities, in Angren city, 100 km from Tashkent. The school is one of the initiatives that is being celebrated in Uzbekistan on World Disability Day. The school provides medical advice, physiotherapy, education to parents on health issues and how to bring up their disabled children. For the children, they delight in attending specialist classes in art, ceramics, needlework, embroidery, singing and dancing. UNICEF Report on Children and Disability The main findings of a recent UNICEF report, together with those of a national assessment on the situation of children with disabilities in Uzbekistan (undertaken by the RCSAC with UNICEF support), were presented by UNICEF Uzbekistan Representative, Mr Reza Hossaini. According to the UNICEF Innocenti Insight, Children and Disability in Transition in CEE/CIS and Baltic States, the total number of children registered as disabled across the region’s 27 countries has tripled from about 500,000 in 1990 to 1.5 million in 2000. In Uzbekistan, the number of children registered as disabled increased from 70,000 in 1996 to 125,000 in 2005. This significant increase is due to a greater recognition of disability and greater number of parents seeking assistance, rather than an actual increase in impairments. The report finds that poverty and disability go hand in hand. Families with children with disabilities tend to be poorer than other families. Disability continues to be poorly diagnosed and often goes untreated, thereby leading to lasting disadvantage. Lacking proper support from the State and with limited access to quality basic social services for treatment and care of their children, many parents feel that they have no choice but to give up their children. What these families need is strong social and economic support. But the situation is changing. Uzbekistan is the first CIS country that adopted a law on social protection of people with disabilities, as well as a state program on the rehabilitation of people with disabilities. Work is also underway in providing inclusive education and promotion of the right of children to live in a family environment. “We need to start thinking about empowering families, giving them the support services, giving them the means, including the financial means, to help them look after their children. We have to start working with the community to take away the barrier preventing disabled children from integrating. They don’t need any sympathy. They are as able as us if they are given an opportunity,” continued Mr Hossaini. As Mr Hossaini finished his impassioned call for action, one of the most important moments in Elyor’s life was about to happen. Ogiloy, carrying Elyor, stood at the front of the crowded hall, “Since attending the school I am happy, my son is happy. Now he has a chance in life. He also has an interest in life, which he did not have before,” said Ogiloy, “he has a lot of hopes and I think he will reach them and achieve his objectives.” Then it was Elyor’s turn. With a confident grin on his face, he began to sing. The room was hushed as everyone listened intently, before breaking into loud applause. It was a memorable moment for Elyor and the audience. Stigma and discrimination in Uzbekistan Now it is the turn of all concerned parties in Uzbekistan, to make a positive difference in the lives of children with disabilities and their families and make their voices heard. Only by working together can everybody’s abilities have no limits.
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