UniCredit supports UNICEF programme to promote inclusive society for children with disability in Kazakhstan
The programme is aimed at creating an interagency system to provide assistance on the local level for children with disabilities and is funded by UniCredit Foundation. The goal of the programme is promoting inclusive society to develop mechanisms for the inclusion of children with disabilities into communities and day care centres. The programme will result in the creation of child friendly spaces, which will allow children with disabilities to attend day care centres, establish contacts with peers and enable their parents to better their knowledge and practices of care for the children at home. The communication component of the programme will stimulate society's tolerant attitude towards children with disability.
The project has a number of tasks to perform, namely, the development and modelling of the interagency mechanism for the early identification of disabilities and early development and abilitation programmes on the primary health care level and the inclusion of children with disabilities into communities in Astana city and Karaganda region.
The attitude of society towards children with disability is not always unambiguous. The isolation of the child with disabilities from his/her healthy peers leads to the social and economic exclusion of the child and his/her family from society. Parents sometimes prefer sending children to special residential care institutions as the main solution for their correctional and abilitation education. It is known that the placement of children in institutions (institutionalization), no matter how well intentioned, hinders intellectual, physical, emotional and social development of child. Which is why the programme will also address the issue of creating support systems for parents dealing with a child with disabilities or facing difficulties at home. This, in turn, will prevent the unnecessary institutionalization of a child with disability and ensure that the child grows in a loving family environment, UNICEF Kazakhstan press release reads.
"The achievement of inclusion of all requires joint efforts by city and regional administrations, departments of health, education, social protection as well we as the civil sector. That is why UNICEF, UniCredit and the relevant state bodies decided to unite their efforts to promote inclusive society in Kazakhstan," says UNICEF Child Protection Officer in Kazakhstan Tatiana Aderikhina.
The important aspect of the programme is the intersectoral coordination between health, education, and social welfare systems in order to ensure combined service support to different aspects of the child's and his/her family's needs and to enable social inclusion. The programme will also encourage partnerships between different service providers, non-governmental organizations, parents' associations and families for the implementation and protection of the rights of children with disabilities, especially those living in poor families or in residential institutions.