All children and adolescents included in education
Towards equal opportunities and inclusive development
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Our challenges
Although all children and adolescents have the same human rights and should enjoy the same educational opportunities to reach their full potential, children with disabilities continue to face multiple barriers1.
Hundreds of children and adolescents with disabilities have not yet returned to school after school closures.
What are we doing?
By working with our partners in governments, international cooperation agencies and civil society organizations, our goal for 2025 is to increase access to quality INCLUSIVE learning opportunities for the 5% of the most vulnerable children and adolescents, some 4.3 million across the region.
Our work is focused on ensuring that children and adolescents with disabilities:
- Are empowered and recognized as the best advocates for their rights and take an active role in efforts to scale up inclusion and ensure all results are sustainable.
- Receive the support they need to live independently and be included in their communities.
We work with stakeholders to:
- Strengthen policies and environments that promote effective opportunities for children with disabilities to realize their full potential.
- Ensure that programs and investments are committed to inclusion and diversity in education and other areas of social life.
- Prevent stigma, discrimination, neglect, and violence against children with disabilities.
- Promote diversity and inclusion.
Our efforts in the region
Reference Publications
Explore our resources
Learn about our country offices experiences
Fuentes:
1 United Nations Children Fund, Reconocidos, Counted, Included. Using data to shed light on the well-being of children with disabilities, UNICEF, New York, November 2021.
2 United Nations Children Fund, The Right of Children with Disabilities to Education: A Rights-Based Approach to Inclusive Education, UNICEF, Ginebra, 2012.
3 Filmer, Deon, ‘Disability, Poverty, and Schooling in Developing Countries: Results from 14 household surveys’, Wordbank Economic Review, vol.22. no. 1, January 2008, pp. 141-163.
4 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, EFA Global Monitoring Report 2010: Reaching the Marginalized, UNESCO, Paris, 2010, p. 184.
5 United Nations Children Fund, ‘Children and Young People with Disabilities Fact Sheet, May 2013, accessed in February 2022.
6 Ibid.
7 United Nations Children Fund, It’s About Inclusion: Access to Education, Health, and Social Protection Services for Children with Disabilities in Armenia, UNICEF, 2012.
8 Reconocidos, Counted, Included. Using data to shed light on the well-being of children with disabilities, UNICEF, New York, November 2021.
9 Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, Panorama Social de América Latina, 2021, ECLAC, (LC/PUB.2021/17-P), Santiago, 2022.