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<p class="MsoNormal"><b>From the Human Rights Watch:<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Bula Vinaka All,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">The 2021 Report of UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with</span>
<span style="font-size:12.0pt">Disabilities</span> access it via the two attachement to this email.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Also, a story is below from the Human Rights Watch.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#444444">High Risk in Conflicts for Children with Disabilities<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#444444">Urgently Strengthen Protection, Assistance, Inclusion<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">Children with disabilities often face increased risk of harm during armed conflict and crises, Human
Rights Watch said today. The <a href="https://www.hrw.org/topic/united-nations"><span style="color:blue;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">United Nations</span></a> and governments around the world need to urgently ensure protection and assistance
for children with disabilities in these circumstances.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">“Armed conflict takes a devastating toll on children with disabilities, yet governments and the UN
have not done nearly enough to protect them,” said <a href="https://www.hrw.org/about/people/jane-buchanan"><span style="color:blue;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">Jane Buchanan</span></a>, deputy disability rights director at Human Rights Watch.
“Governments, the UN Security Council, UN agencies, and aid groups should urgently step up efforts to protect and assist children with disabilities as part of their commitments toward children affected by hostilities.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">Since 2015, Human Rights Watch has documented the impact of armed conflict and crises on children
with disabilities in Afghanistan, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Gaza Strip in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, South Sudan, Syria, and Yemen.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">Children with disabilities are often at greater risk during attacks, including risk of abandonment.
Their families can face a split-second decision, either to flee only with family members who can flee easily, or to remain behind to provide support. Children with physical disabilities can struggle to flee without assistance and assistive devices such as
wheelchairs, prostheses, crutches, or hearing aids. Children who have visual, hearing, developmental, or intellectual disabilities may not hear, know about, or understand what is happening. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">Children with disabilities can also experience disruptions to education, lack access to services and
humanitarian assistance, and face lasting psychological harm. Conflict can worsen poverty for them and their families, affecting their ability to meet basic needs, let alone get assistive devices or rehabilitation.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">The disruption of education during conflict and crises places a high burden on children with disabilities.
Government forces and armed groups <a href="https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/crd0711webwcover.pdf"><span style="color:blue;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">may attack, occupy</span></a>, and destroy schools. Remaining options for schooling
may be inaccessible or difficult to flee in case of attack. Children with disabilities are more likely to be out of school and without access to education provided by humanitarian organizations, which may have limited options for inclusive programs and lack
trained staff.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">A former student in <a href="https://www.hrw.org/report/2021/12/16/they-are-destroying-our-future/armed-separatist-attacks-students-teachers-and"><span style="color:blue;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">Cameroon’s</span></a> Anglophone
regions, where civilians have been caught in attacks by armed separatists and government forces, and whose leg had been amputated said: “Education for [students with disabilities] was already a luxury prior to the crisis and has just become impossible now.
Nowadays, only those who can run go to school.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">For children with disabilities, lack of access to support and services and education exacerbates conflict’s
impact on mental health. Trauma caused by armed conflict and a lack of subsequent mental health support can harm a <a href="https://www.unicef.org/protection/mental-health-psychosocial-support-in-emergencies" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">child’s
development</span></a> and <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00975/full" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">life trajectory</span></a>.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">In 2019, the UN Security Council <a href="https://undocs.org/s/res/2475(2019)" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">adopted
a landmark resolution</span></a> on protecting civilians with disabilities during armed conflict, focusing on the duty to protect, assist, consult, and end impunity for crimes. The report said the UN secretary-general should include relevant information and
recommendations regarding people with disabilities in his briefings and thematic and geographic reports to the Security Council.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">However, there has been little mention of children with disabilities in these reports. A January 2022 <a href="https://childrenandarmedconflict.un.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Study-on-the-evolution-of-the-Children-and-Armed-Conflict-mandate-1996-2021.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">study</span></a> by
the special representative of the secretary-general for children and armed conflict, Virginia Gamba de Potgieter, found that children with disabilities have overwhelmingly been left out of 25 years of UN action to help children caught in armed conflict.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">In a <a href="https://undocs.org/en/A/76/146" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">July
2021 report</span></a>, the UN special rapporteur on disability said that governments and militaries should “develop specific protections for persons with disabilities during the conduct of hostilities” and undertake “disability-inclusive programming” in humanitarian
action.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">Governments, the UN Security Council, and United Nations agencies and bodies should ensure that existing
efforts to monitor, report, and respond to child rights violations in armed conflict include children with disabilities. Together with humanitarian organizations, they should also improve humanitarian coordination and assistance so that children with disabilities
have access to nutrition, health care, education, assistive devices, and psychosocial support.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">“Bold commitments and targeted action are needed to protect and include children with disabilities,
who have largely been forgotten,” Buchanan said. “After 25 years of action on children in armed conflict, the UN, including the secretary-general, and member states should immediately make sure that children with disabilities are included fully in all UN efforts
on children in armed conflict, and that children with disabilities receive equal protection and assistance.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><u><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#444444">Difficulty fleeing attack<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">Children with disabilities can be at a higher risk during armed attacks without assistance or assistive
devices or because they can’t hear or don’t know that an attack is happening.<a name="_Hlk74150721"><o:p></o:p></a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="mso-bookmark:_Hlk74150721"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">Ahmed, who lives in Idlib governorate in Syria with his six
children, including an 11-year-old girl who is deaf, said<span style="border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444"><a href="https://www.hrw.org/report/2020/10/15/targeting-life-idlib/syrian-and-russian-strikes-civilian-infrastructure"><span style="color:blue;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">he
and his wife fear</span></a> for their daughter’s safety because she cannot hear airstrikes or shelling. “My wife and I keep our eye on her all the time, and if we hear an attack, we have to physically go and grab her to bring her with us to the shelter,”
he said. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">Osman, whose 12-year-old daughter has a physical disability, struggled to flee an airstrike on their
community in northeast Syria in 2019 because his daughter did not have a wheelchair. He carried her at first but quickly became exhausted. His brother found a wheelbarrow to push the girl in, and they managed to escape. “That’s how we were able to flee,” he
said. “I pushed the wheelbarrow for nine kilometers. It was very difficult.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">The family eventually obtained a broken wheelchair that had belonged to someone who had died. “The
[wheel]chair she is using now … it’s hard to use this chair, and I have no tools to work on it,” he said. “It’s very expensive to buy a new one.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><b><u><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">Abandonment<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">Children who are unable to flee independently and do not have someone to support them can be left
behind.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">In Cameroon, a 5-year-old blind child was left in his house in the South-West region when soldiers
arrived in the village in January 2019. His <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/08/05/cameroon-people-disabilities-caught-crisis"><span style="color:blue;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">father said</span></a>:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">
<span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#444444">“</span><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">That morning my wife and I went to the farm and left the child with his elder brother, who
is only 11. The military invaded the community, and my 11-year-old boy ran away, leaving the child alone. The child attempted to run, but he fell in a pit toilet. Luckily, he was still alive when we found him.</span><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#444444">”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">In 2015, Human Rights Watch interviewed Hamamatou, then 13, from southwestern Central African Republic,
who had polio and could not walk independently. When armed fighters attacked Hamamatou’s community, her brother carried her on his back until he became too tired to continue. “I told him, ‘Souleymane, put me down and save yourself,’” she said. “He said he
would come back for me if they didn’t kill him.” He <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/04/28/central-african-republic-people-disabilities-left-behind"><span style="color:blue;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">never came back</span></a>.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><b><u><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">Barriers to Education<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">Children with disabilities are at a higher risk of being unable to reach a school and being left out
of formal education and educational services provided by humanitarian organizations. For children with physical disabilities, barriers can include inaccessible roads, inaccessible school facilities, and lack of assistive devices. One student in Afghanistan
who uses a wheelchair <a href="https://www.hrw.org/report/2020/04/28/disability-not-weakness/discrimination-and-barriers-facing-women-and-girls"><span style="color:blue;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">said</span></a>: “Unfortunately, I cannot go
to school by myself, I need someone to take me to school and pick me up. The school has no ramp, so it’s hard for me to get in and out of the classroom, and sometimes even that’s impossible.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">In 2015, in the Central African Republic, Human Rights Watch found very few children with disabilities
enrolled in schools in camps for internally displaced people. The school in the M’Poko camp had 3,797 children enrolled, of whom only 14 had disabilities. School staff <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/04/28/central-african-republic-people-disabilities-left-behind"><span style="color:blue;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">reported</span></a> that
some parents hesitated to send their children with physical disabilities to school out of fear that they would be unable to flee an attack.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">Attacks on schools interfere with access to school for all children, including children with disabilities.
According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), since the Syria conflict began in 2011, <a href="https://www.unicef.org/syria/education" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">more than 7,000 schools</span></a> have
been damaged and destroyed. The 2021 UN Humanitarian Needs Overview on Syria <a href="https://www.humanitarianresponse.info/sites/www.humanitarianresponse.info/files/documents/files/syria_2021_humanitarian_needs_overview.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">estimates</span></a> that
there is one functioning classroom for every 53 school-age children, and that children with disabilities <a href="https://www.humanitarianresponse.info/sites/www.humanitarianresponse.info/files/documents/files/syria_2021_humanitarian_needs_overview.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">are
less likely</span></a> to be included. The <a href="https://www.humanitarianresponse.info/sites/www.humanitarianresponse.info/files/documents/files/syria_2021_humanitarian_needs_overview.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">report
highlighted</span></a> that existing schools are characterized by unsafe infrastructure, including absent walls, roofs, staircases, windows, or heating, as well as severe overcrowding. In Cameroon, armed separatists <a href="https://www.hrw.org/report/2021/12/16/they-are-destroying-our-future/armed-separatist-attacks-students-teachers-and#_ftn164"><span style="color:blue;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">have
attacked</span></a> at least 70 schools since 2017.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">Osman said his 12-year-old daughter has never gone to school. “Most of the schools we had before the
war were completely destroyed during the war,” he said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">In 2018, UNICEF <a href="https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Children_with_disabilities_in_sutuations_of_armed_conflict.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">reported</span></a> that
attacks on schools “can reverse progress on inclusion, pushing previously included children with disabilities into domestic isolation or exploitative work.” An October 2021 UN Security Council resolution <a href="https://undocs.org/en/S/RES/2601(2021)" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">strongly
condemned</span></a> attacks on schools and said that governments should ensure education for children with disabilities “on an equal basis provided in the context of armed conflict.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">Barriers to Basic Services<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">Many children and families Human Rights Watch interviewed said they couldn’t afford basic necessities,
such as food and health care, and especially struggled to provide items such as assistive devices or diapers for older children, as well as rehabilitation or other therapies.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">Lack of access to nutrition and health care can exacerbate existing disabilities. When Human Rights
Watch interviewed Mamadou, a 14-year-old with physical disabilities in the Central African Republic, in 2015, <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/12/03/people-disabilities-added-risk-war-displacement"><span style="color:blue;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">he
weighed less</span></a> than 8 kilograms and had an acute pulmonary infection. Dozens of people in the same camp, including children with disabilities, <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/12/03/people-disabilities-added-risk-war-displacement"><span style="color:blue;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">had
died</span></a> from malnutrition, respiratory illnesses, and other diseases.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">In Afghanistan, a lack of female health workers and female trained professionals has <a href="https://www.hrw.org/report/2020/04/28/disability-not-weakness/discrimination-and-barriers-facing-women-and-girls"><span style="color:blue;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">limited
access</span></a> to rehabilitative services for girls with disabilities.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">In 2020, Humanity & Inclusion <a href="https://humanity-inclusion.org.uk/sn_uploads/document/2020-05_Report-YEMEN-Explosive-Weapons-Death-Sentence-to-Civilians_EN_Web.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">reported</span></a> that
conflict-related deterioration of infrastructure, health care, and other services in Yemen, including because of the use of explosive weapons in areas with civilian populations, had a disproportionate impact on children and adults with disabilities. They found
that 86 percent of people with disabilities <a href="https://humanity-inclusion.org.uk/sn_uploads/document/2020-05_Report-YEMEN-Explosive-Weapons-Death-Sentence-to-Civilians_EN_Web.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">surveyed</span></a> had
experienced problems in getting services due to physical barriers, lack of security, and economic and social discrimination. <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/12/03/people-disabilities-added-risk-war-displacement"><span style="color:blue;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">Increased
prices of medications</span></a> and denial of humanitarian assistance are also serious concerns. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">Hanan, a 4-year-old girl with cerebral palsy and epilepsy in Yemen, needed medications that became
unaffordable. In 2015, <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/12/03/people-disabilities-added-risk-war-displacement"><span style="color:blue;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">her father said</span></a>: “Her medication is important for her health
because when she takes it regularly, she only experiences an epileptic seizure once every two weeks. But when she does not take the medicine, she experiences a seizure twice a day…. It’s hard to feel useless.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">In a June 2020 address to the UN Security Council, Raja Abdullah Almasabi, a disability rights activist
from Yemen, <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/08/04/statement-raja-abdullah-almasabi-un-security-council-july-28-2020"><span style="color:blue;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">said</span></a>: “Denial of humanitarian access has created chronic
health conditions, especially among children, such as malnutrition. This is one of the primary reasons why many children in Yemen have acquired a disability.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">Ahmed A., an 18-year-old man from Syria, requires adult diapers because his disability affects his
bladder and bowel control. Because adult diapers are more expensive, he wears children’s diapers that do not meet his needs. “It’s hard emotionally,” he said. “That I am in this situation because we cannot afford the right diapers. I cannot go out with my
friends. I just sit at home.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">Sites for internally displaced people or refugees are often not accessible. Children may need to <a href="https://www.hrw.org/report/2017/04/19/going-toilet-when-you-want/sanitation-human-right"><span style="color:blue;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">crawl
or drag</span></a> themselves in unsanitary conditions to reach a latrine. Uneven terrain in camps for displaced people in <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/04/28/central-african-republic-people-disabilities-left-behind"><span style="color:blue;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">the
Central African Republic</span></a> made navigation dangerous or impossible for children who are blind or who use assistive devices to move around.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">Israeli restrictions that limit access to electricity in Gaza <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/12/03/gaza-israeli-restrictions-harm-people-disabilities"><span style="color:blue;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">impact
people with disabilities</span></a> in particular ways. A mother of an 11-year-old girl with cerebral palsy and an intellectual disability said that without electricity she cannot operate a nebulizer her daughter needs when she was trouble breathing, putting
her health at risk. <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/12/03/gaza-israeli-restrictions-harm-people-disabilities"><span style="color:blue;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">She said</span></a> that her daughter’s “chest starts going up and down,
she breathes quickly, her heart beats quickly and her eyes move really fast … Sometimes I cry when electricity is cut off, wishing I could do anything not to see her in that condition.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><b><u><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">Lack of Devices<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">Children with physical and sensory disabilities in many cases cannot get adequate prosthetic or assistive
devices. A 16-year-old boy who lost a leg after stepping on a landmine in northwest Syria said: “A prosthetic leg would help a lot... It will help me to come and go without having to ask other people for help. It will help me emotionally. Today, I cannot go,
I cannot do anything alone. I need to have my father there to help me, even to walk.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">If children have access to assistive devices, they are often not tailored or appropriate for their
needs. Alaa, a 5-year-old girl with a developmental disability who lives with her family in a camp for internally placed persons north of Aleppo governorate in Syria, cannot walk without support. Her mother said that a humanitarian organization provided her
with a wheelchair, but photos shared by her mother show Alaa in an adult wheelchair <a href="https://www.who.int/disabilities/publications/technology/English%20Wheelchair%20Guidelines%20(EN%20for%20the%20web).pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">not
appropriate</span></a> for her age and her disability.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">Research in Cameroon in 2019 found that security forces had destroyed and looted hundreds of homes
across the Anglophone regions. People with disabilities <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/08/05/cameroon-people-disabilities-caught-crisis"><span style="color:blue;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">often lost everything</span></a>, including
their assistive devices, accessible homes, and livelihoods.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">A UNICEF representative <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/12/03/gaza-israeli-restrictions-harm-people-disabilities"><span style="color:blue;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">interviewed</span></a> in
2019 said that children in Gaza whose limbs have been amputated have difficulty getting prosthetic and assistive devices as they grow and require replacements. Israeli import restrictions, shortfalls in local authorities’ and aid groups’ provision of necessary
devices, and lack of expertise in Gaza to repair damaged devices <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/12/03/gaza-israeli-restrictions-harm-people-disabilities"><span style="color:blue;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">all limit</span></a> the availability
of assistive devices.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">Harm to Mental Health<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">Research <a href="http://blogs.worldbank.org/health/mental-health-services-situations-conflict-fragility-and-violence-what-do" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">indicates</span></a> that
all children living in conflict and crises zones are at high risk of depression, anxiety, and other mental health conditions. Children and families interviewed in multiple countries reported signs of psychological distress in children such as anxiety, sadness,
extreme agitation, or frequent trouble sleeping. Lack of access to support and services and education exacerbates conflict’s impact on mental health.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">A teacher at the secondary school in Mendankwe, a village in Cameroon’s North-West region that was
attacked by armed separatists in June and September 2020, <a href="https://www.hrw.org/report/2021/12/16/they-are-destroying-our-future/armed-separatist-attacks-students-teachers-and"><span style="color:blue;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">said</span></a>:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">They [children with disabilities] suffered more than others… They were particularly traumatized by
the violence they witnessed.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">Many of the deaf children we have in school have been internally displaced. They told me that even
if they could not hear the gunshots when their communities were under attack, they felt them, they felt the panic, they saw the terror in the eyes of their families trying to escape to safety. Some of these children have trouble sleeping, and they cannot concentrate
or do their homework.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">Ahmed, father of an 11-year-old girl with a hearing disability, said sudden attacks and fleeing in
Syria had a more profound impact on his daughter, Shahid, than on his other five children:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">Shahid was psychologically affected. Whenever there was airstrike, the children became terrified,
and we started yelling and trying to run to the shelters, and when she saw us in that situation, she started to cry. Now whenever there is something unexpected, even if someone rushes into the house, she starts to cry.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">In the Central African Republic, a 17-year-old-boy with an intellectual and physical disability, Suleiman,
was fleeing when he saw his uncle being brutally killed. Suleiman appeared to be traumatized by what he saw. He had not received psychosocial support. He <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/04/28/central-african-republic-people-disabilities-left-behind"><span style="color:blue;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">said</span></a>:
“My uncle’s death in front of my eyes continues to scare me. … When I sleep, I have nightmares that bring back the images of the events I lived. I haven’t spoken to anyone about it.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">In 2019, a father of three in South Sudan said that one of his daughters <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/05/31/south-sudan-people-disabilities-older-people-face-danger"><span style="color:blue;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">became
traumatized</span></a> after seeing the dead bodies of her aunt and cousins in December 2013 as they fled an attack:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">Before the war, she was OK. But then, she started to insult everyone and run away from home for many
days at a time. At the hospital, they didn’t know what she has but they gave her Phenorbitone (used to treat anxiety symptoms). Now, she can’t even go to school here. Otherwise, she gets into fights with other children or just runs away, and there is no fence
around the school to keep her in there.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">In 2020, Save the Children <a href="https://resourcecentre.savethechildren.net/pdf/five_years_of_fear_and_loss_4th_pp.pdf/" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">reported</span></a> that
over half of the children they surveyed in Yemen reported feelings of sadness and depression, “with more than 1 in 10 saying they feel that way constantly.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><b><u><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">The UN and Children with Disabilities<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">UN <a href="https://c/Users/buchanj.LOCAL/Downloads/S_RES_2475(2019)-EN.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">Resolution
2475</span></a> (2019) on people with disabilities in armed conflict asks the secretary-general to include information and data on people with disabilities in his reporting. The secretary-general is <a href="https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/the-role-of-the-secretary-general" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">mandated</span></a> to
bring to the Security Council’s attention any matter that may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security. However, the secretary-general has not included consistent, substantive reporting on abuses against and the experiences of people with
disabilities in country-specific reports and briefings.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">The secretary-general’s reports on some of the countries included in this and previous Human Rights
Watch’s research (Afghanistan, Central African Republic, Palestine, South Sudan, and Syria) either did not mention the conflict’s impact on people with disabilities at all or made only brief reference. Only <a href="https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/atf/cf/%7B65BFCF9B-6D27-4E9C-8CD3-CF6E4FF96FF9%7D/s_2019_674.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">one</span></a> of
the nine reports on the humanitarian situation in Syria since 2019 mentions the specific needs of people with disabilities and <a href="https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/atf/cf/%7B65BFCF9B-6D27-4E9C-8CD3-CF6E4FF96FF9%7D/s_2020_1031.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">two</span></a> <a href="https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/atf/cf/%7B65BFCF9B-6D27-4E9C-8CD3-CF6E4FF96FF9%7D/s_2020_813.pd" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">mention</span></a> people
with disabilities who had been killed.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">The secretary-general’s annual reports on protection of civilians have been more inclusive. All such
reports since 2019 have included information on the impact of armed conflict on people with disabilities. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">For reporting specifically about children with disabilities, a January 2022 <a href="https://childrenandarmedconflict.un.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Study-on-the-evolution-of-the-Children-and-Armed-Conflict-mandate-1996-2021.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">report</span></a> by
the secretary-general’s special representative for children and armed conflict <a href="https://childrenandarmedconflict.un.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Study-on-the-evolution-of-the-Children-and-Armed-Conflict-mandate-1996-2021.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">found
that</span></a> children with disabilities have overwhelmingly been left out of 25 years of UN action on children in armed conflict and recommended greater attention going forward.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">Some of these gaps include the secretary-general’s 2020 annual report to the Security Council on children
in armed conflict, <a href="https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/atf/cf/%7B65BFCF9B-6D27-4E9C-8CD3-CF6E4FF96FF9%7D/S_2020_525_E.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">which mentions</span></a> children with
disabilities only in relation to reintegration programs for child soldiers. While all of the secretary-general’s annual reports about children in armed conflict include data on children who have been “maimed,” or acquired a permanent injury, the reports do
not elaborate on their rights as children with disabilities, or include other information on the conflict’s impact on children with disabilities. Five country-specific reports on children in armed conflict <a href="https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/un_documents_type/secretary-generals-reports/?ctype=Children%20and%20Armed%20Conflict&cbtype=children-and-armed-conflict" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">since</span></a> Resolution
2475 similarly only included information on “maiming.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">The secretary-general’s 2022 report on children and armed conflict should recognize the specific abuses
and exclusion experienced by children with disabilities, including those who have acquired a disability, are out of school, and lack access to humanitarian assistance, and provide recommendations to the Security Council and governments to guarantee their rights.
In addition, in all its reporting, the UN should consider using another term to refer to violations against children that result in serious injury other than “maiming.” Although “maiming” is a term used in international humanitarian law, it is not consistent
with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), and can be stigmatizing to people with disabilities. Consultation with organizations of people with disabilities is crucial in identifying alternative language.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">Resolution 2475 <a href="https://undocs.org/s/res/2475(2019)" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">called
for</span></a> “sustainable, timely, appropriate, inclusive and accessible assistance to civilians with disabilities affected by armed conflict, including reintegration, rehabilitation and psychosocial support,” including for children. The UN, governments,
and humanitarian organizations should improve humanitarian coordination and assistance to guarantee children with disabilities access to basic services, including health care, education, assistive devices, and psychosocial support.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">Resolution 2475 also emphasized the importance of including people with disabilities across United
Nations peacekeeping and peacebuilding efforts. Specific progress remains limited. Recent resolutions renewing mandates for UN peacekeeping missions in the Central African Republic and South Sudan fail to call for specific protection and assistance for people
with disabilities and deployment of disability protection advisers. The mandate <a href="https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/atf/cf/%7B65BFCF9B-6D27-4E9C-8CD3-CF6E4FF96FF9%7D/s_res_2567.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">did
include</span></a> other specialized advisers for children and women. Future resolutions and all child protection programs in UN peace operations and political missions should be inclusive of children with disabilities.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">Kind regards<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Candara",sans-serif;color:#444444">Paradise Tabucala<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">Public Relations & Communications Officer<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-AU"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-AU"><img border="0" width="123" height="123" style="width:1.2777in;height:1.2777in" id="x_Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image004.png@01D8631D.3FDA4460"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">Pacific Disability Forum<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">Ground Floor, Kadavu House, Victoria Parade | GPO Box 18458 | Suva, Fiji
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">Phone: (+679) 3312008 | (+679) 3307530
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">Mobile: (+679) 8990 134 (Vodafone)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">Fax: (+679) 3310469
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">Email:
<a href="mailto:paradise.tabucala@pacificdisability.org"><span style="color:#444444;text-decoration:none">paradise.tabucala@pacificdisability.org</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444">Website:
<a href="http://www.pacificdisability.org"><span style="color:#444444;text-decoration:none">www.pacificdisability.org</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><b><span lang="EN-NZ" style="font-family:"Abadi Extra Light",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in"> </span></b><span lang="EN-AU"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><b><span lang="EN-NZ" style="font-family:"Abadi Extra Light",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">Organisation in special consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Commission
since 2012.</span></b><span lang="EN-AU"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><i><span lang="EN-NZ" style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Abadi Extra Light",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">The information contained in this email message is intended only for
the addressee(s). If you <b>are</b> not the intended recipient, you must not use, disclose, copy or distribute this message or the information in it, including any attachments. If you receive this email in error please notify the sender immediately</span></i><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Abadi Extra Light",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in"> </span><span lang="EN-AU"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"var\(--font-serif\)";color:#444444"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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