UNICEF is calling for human rights and fundamental freedoms of children with disabilities to be fully respected
Podgorica, June 11, 2010 - UNICEF is alarmed by any threat to the life and dignity of a child and reaffirmed that children with disabilities had the same human rights and fundamental freedoms that all children enjoyed.
Montenegro has ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UN CRC), a binding treaty of international law which codifies principles of non-discrimination, the right to life, survival and development, devotion to the best interests of the child and respect for the views of the child for all children, in all countries and cultures, at all times and without exception, simply through the fact of their being born into the human family.
Article 23 of the UN CRC refers to the rights of children with disabilities guaranteeing them the right to special care, education and training to help them enjoy a full and decent life in dignity and achieve the greatest degree of self-reliance and social integration possible.
UNICEF will continue to support Montenegro’s government to take all necessary measures to ensure the full enjoyment by children with disabilities of all human rights and fundamental freedoms on an equal basis with other children. Finally, UNICEF will continue to work with all relevant partners to assure that in all actions concerning children with disabilities, the best interests of the child is a primary consideration.
2. States Parties recognize the right of the disabled child to special care and shall encourage and ensure the extension, subject to available resources, to the eligible child and those responsible for his or her care, of assistance for which application is made and which is appropriate to the child's condition and to the circumstances of the parents or others caring for the child.
3. Recognizing the special needs of a disabled child, assistance extended in accordance with paragraph 2 of the present article shall be provided free of charge, whenever possible, taking into account the financial resources of the parents or others caring for the child, and shall be designed to ensure that the disabled child has effective access to and receives education, training, health care services, rehabilitation services, preparation for employment and recreation opportunities in a manner conducive to the child's achieving the fullest possible social integration and individual development, including his or her cultural and spiritual development
4. States Parties shall promote, in the spirit of international cooperation, the exchange of appropriate information in the field of preventive health care and of medical, psychological and functional treatment of disabled children, including dissemination of and access to information concerning methods of rehabilitation, education and vocational services, with the aim of enabling States Parties to improve their capabilities and skills and to widen their experience in these areas. In this regard, particular account shall be taken of the needs of developing countries.