Youth With Disabilities

Why focus on young people with disabilities?

Young people with disabilities are among the poorest and most marginalised of the world’s youth.  Estimates suggest that there are between 180 and 220 million youth with disabilities worldwide, and nearly 80 percent of them live in developing countries.

When a child is born or develops a disability, it is often seen as a tragic event by his or her family and community. In many countries, there are certain traditional beliefs associated with the causes of disability, such as curses and contagion, which results in these children and their mothers being shunned and isolated. Moreover, families tend not to prioritise the needs of children with disabilities, which is shown by higher levels of malnutrition, lower rates of immunisation, and higher rates of infection and communicable disease among children with disabilities.  …read more here – United Nations Social and Economic Affairs