Voices of children and those with disabilities should be included in decision-making processes, a student urged Unicef after taking over as its chief for a day.
Riya Sardar, 16, who uses calipers to walk and sometimes a wheelchair because of locomotor disability, said it was imperative to include children’s voices to better understand their needs and challenges.
“This should include all kinds of children, those with and without disabilities. Often, children with disabilities are forgotten and our challenges remain unattended,” Riya told Metro on Wednesday.
The Class IX student quoted examples of how she and others with disabilities have been rendered invisible and their dignity compromised in their everyday life.
Riya, who goes to a school in South 24-Parganas, could not appear for a computer test this week because the teacher was taking the exam on the second floor.
“When I enquired I was told that I would be awarded marks and it would be managed. But I was present at school and this approach takes away my dignity,” said Riya.
She also shared with Metro the need to have interpreters in hospitals.
“A friend of mine has difficulty in hearing and speech. Not everyone can understand sign language so all hospitals must have an interpreter so people like her can explain their discomfort,” said Riya.
Riya said there have been some changes in her school after her parents and the NGO Sanchar she is associated with intervened.
“Initially, there was no ramp in the toilet of our school. Now, a ramp has been built and the toilet has become accessible. Classes are now held on the ground floor of our school after requests and intervention from my parents and Sanchar,” she said.
Sanchar works with people with disabilities to ensure their community-based rehabilitation.
Riya’s concern was not only for those with disabilities but also for those without. “There are girls who have had to quit their studies because of financial and social pressures. They have to be heard to so that they do not slip through the cracks,” she said.
As part of Unicef’s Kids’ Takeover programme on World Children’s Day, the Class IX student held the chair of Monjur Hossain, chief of Unicef in Bengal.
After assuming the chair, she decided that the UN body would meet the children once annually and their opinions would be included while planning the children’s development programme.
Unicef said that an annual meeting with children would be organised as part of their movement to “listen to the future” and their participation in decision-making would be adequately promoted.
“The idea and drive to include children’s voices in our work will promote and ensure children’s participation through platforms created to listen to them. Such initiatives will help us to understand their problems and opinions to ensure inclusive decision-making and realise their rights,” said Hossain.