Cyclone affected children in Tonga, go back to school

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Removing the "dis" from ability

By Karen Allen, UNICEF Pacific Representative

School for Disabled Children in Tarawa performed songs and dances with great glee.
© UNICEF Pacific/2013/Allen

Facilities are simple but school spirit is high at the School for Disabled Children in Tarawa. Each of the classrooms has caring teachers, and each class is carefully organised according to needs and learning levels of children. There is so much demand, that one class of older children, is in a rough storage shelter, but this does not dim the enthusiasm of the visually impaired and mute learners, who, I discovered, are very good artists. In other classrooms children were learning to read and type in Braille, singing songs, working out math problems, and learning how to get maximum use of legs and arms affected by cerebral palsy. Every child gets a nourishing meal, every school day, and there are health screening visits, too. Sadly, sometimes they reveal abuse.

The State of the World’s Children 2013: Children with Disabilities

In the Pacific, The State of the World’s Children 2013: Children with Disabilities report was launched by Minister Counsellor, Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), Mr. John Davidson, who emphasized the importance of mainstreaming disability across all development. In thanking him, UNICEF Pacific Representative, Dr Isiye Ndombi said “children with disabilities have the same rights as all children, including the right to be recognized and provided with the same opportunities to flourish enjoyed by others. However, they are too often invisible—in statistics, in policies, in societies.”

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One world - Different Abilities

UNICEF videos showing the situation of children living with disabilities in Pacific Island Countries (PICs).