Disability Inclusive Early Childhood Development Kits for Emergencies
Guidance for the East Asia and Pacific region
Highlights
In emergency contexts, where disruptions and stressors can severely impact children’s well-being and development, providing safe spaces for play and learning is vital. In development and humanitarian contexts, children with disabilities often face barriers to accessing appropriate play, learning, and social interaction. The barriers they encounter may be exacerbated in crises, increasing their exclusion and limiting their development opportunities, and support for their well-being and mental health.
UNICEF East Asia and Pacific Regional Office has developed a disability-inclusive Early Childhood and Development (ECD) Kit for emergencies, designed to provide play opportunities for children with different types of disabilities. The kit was piloted in the UNICEF Mindanao Field Office in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) of the Philippines, and the UNICEF Myanmar Country Office.
This guidance provides information and ideas to support the play and inclusion of young children aged 0 to 6 years with disabilities when using the EAPRO Disability Inclusive ECD Kit. The guidance may also be useful for those using the standard UNICEF ECD kit or those without an ECD kit to provide guidance on how to adapt or make toys and other items for children with disabilities in ECD programmes.
