Children with disability have the right to grow up and develop their full potentials like any other children.
This is the main message from UNICEF’s State of the World’s Children Report 2013 launched on Thursday.The report highlights the situation of children living with disabilities and calls for more efforts to support their integration in order to help tackle the discrimination that pushes them further into the margins of society.
UNICEF South Sudan’s Representative Yasmin Ali Haque said “children with disabilities have the same rights and needs as all children.”
She added that children living with disabilities should be given equal opportunities to ensure that they grow up to their full potential to become independent and productive citizens.
According to the 2008 census, 75.7 percent of all people living with disabilities in South Sudan have never attended school, contributing to the high illiteracy rates in the country.
In 2011, almost 22 thousand of the total school population were identified as learners with special needs in South Sudan primary schools.