The African Report on Children with Disabilities: Promising starts and persisting challenges
The African Child Policy Forum (ACPF)
December 2014 :: 157 pages

Excerpt from Executive Summary
The overarching aim of ACPF’s The African Report on Children with Disabilities: Promising starts and persisting challenges is to provide description, analysis and synthesis of the situation of children with disabilities across Africa, and to provide concrete recommendations for future policy and programme reform.

The report reviews the situation of children with disabilities from a pan-African perspective, and presents recommendations to promote inclusive and accessible laws, policies, and programmes for children with disabilities throughout Africa. The report is based on extensive research and evidence generated by ACPF and other institutions.

The lack of reliable and appropriately disaggregated data on children with disabilities is an impediment to the formulation of legal frameworks and their implementation. The lack of reliable data stems in part from a lack of standardised definitions of disability and a general lack of nationally representative data. Existing ambiguities in data are also a result of no distinction being made between degrees of severity of impairment.

In addition, data is affected by the fact that parental stigma exacerbates low birth registration of children with disabilities. For example, more than 79 per cent of children with visual impairments and 24 per cent of children with multiple disabilities are not registered in Ethiopia, while in Uganda, about 79 per cent of children with multiple disabilities and 58 per cent of children with intellectual impairments are not registered at birth.

Key Findings
:: Law and policies to promote and protect the rights of children with disabilities are not in place or are poorly monitored or implemented.
:: Data and statistics on children with disabilities are not credible or reliable, are not appropriately disaggregated on the basis of disability, gender and age where needed, and do not accurately capture the number of children with disabilities or their needs.
:: Children with disabilities and their families encounter stigma and discrimination.
:: Multiple barriers create inaccessible infrastructure, information, and communication systems, thus impacting the realisation of rights for children with disabilities.
:: Children with disabilities have limited access to early childhood development, education, health care, rehabilitation, and justice systems.
:: Children with disabilities experience various forms of exploitation, violence and abuse.

The African Child Policy Forum (ACPF) describes itself as an independent, not-for-profit, pan-African institution of policy research and dialogue on the African child. ACPF “was established with the conviction that putting children first on the public agenda is fundamental to the realisation of their rights and wellbeing, and to bringing about lasting social and economic progress in Africa.” http://www.africanchildforum.org http://www.africanchild.info

Editorial
Changing attitudes to child disability in Africa
The Lancet
Nov 29, 2014 Volume 384 Number 9958 p1901 – 1998 e58 – 61
It is a punishment from God, witchcraft, the fault of the mother, reincarnation. These are all frequently stated causes for disability in children in Africa. Such false beliefs are deeply rooted in tradition and culture. In truth, most children with disabilities in Africa have been disabled by the sad predicaments that continue to haunt the continent: war, poverty, and inadequate access to health care. A new report released this week by the African Child Policy Forum draws attention to the challenges facing children with disabilities in Africa.

Africa has a large population of children with disabilities; the prevalence of moderate to severe disability in children aged younger than 14 years is 6•4%. These children are largely invisible in society because of stigma and discrimination by most people, including their parents. They face many physical barriers in daily life, discriminatory practices, and even direct abuse and violence. For example, children with speech impairments are at five times greater risk of neglect and physical abuse than children without disabilities, and three times greater risk of sexual abuse, according to the report. Mortality in children younger than 5 years with disabilities in some African countries is as high as 80%.

The report calls for five priority actions for African nations: put in place and implement appropriate legislation, policy, and programmes in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; develop and implement effective child protection measures; ensure provision of basic services in a disability-friendly manner; improve physical accessibility of the built environment; and generate evidence and promote evidence-based advocacy and learning.
Children with disabilities have valuable contributions to make to society but are kept from realising their full potential because of people’s attitudes to disability. As Shuaib Chalklen, UN Special Rapporteur on Disability, states in the report, the hope is that its findings will “re-orient society’s thinking and its treatment of children with disabilities, moving from an attitude of rejection and neglect to one of respect and inclusion”. Prominent, respected members of African society have a vital part to play in aiding this reorientation.