UNICEF Launches Initiative to Provide Assistance to Children With Disabilities ...(quired to see if they qualified for soci...),Health

Added Ms Leoni: "The situation for children with disabilities is extremely difficult. With few care options, many are confined to their beds with little or no prospects for their future. Families without assistance are relegated to their homes to care for their children -- depriving them of the opportunity to work, earn a living or interact with their communities. Caring for children with disabilities is literally a 24-hour-a-day job."

The community-based pilot program will provide a comprehensive package of services specifically designed to be inclusive of children with disabilities. This program will, include: training health workers and caregivers to properly monitor the health and nutrition status of children living with disabilities, developing water and sanitation facilities in schools that specifically focus on meeting the needs of disabled children, training social and welfare workers to better understand how to assist families caring for disabled children and supporting respite centers by providing rehabilitative aids such as wheelchairs, prosthetic limbs and more.

"Although there are already two respite centers in Da Nang, they serve just a fraction of the people living with disabilities in the area because many families are unaware of the services or find traveling to and from the centers too difficult a journey," said Stern. "It is therefore essential to the program's success that we educate the community about the resources that are available to them so that they can take advantage of these services."

UNICEF will also work closely with the government to improve legal policies and standards that promote the inclusion of the rights and specific needs
'/>"/>