Disability: Get Informed Protect Children Stigma, ignorance, neglect, superstition and communication barriers for children with disabilities are among the social factors that explain their discrimination and isolation from society. Disability is a social issue — it results from the interaction
Disability: Get Informed Protect Children Stigma, ignorance, neglect, superstition and communication barriers for children with disabilities are among the social factors that explain their discrimination and isolation from society. Disability is a social issue — it results from the interaction between people with “long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments which, in interaction with various barriers, may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others” (Article 1, Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability). It is not the impairment itself, but rather attitudes and environmental barriers that result in disability. Children with disabilities are often ‘invisible’ to service providers and they are at greater risk of violence than their non-disabled peers. Children with disabilities are often disproportionately placed in alternative care, rather than remaining with their families. These raise concerns for their protection.
UNICEF’s strategy is to promote the recognition of all children as full members of society and the respect for all of their rights without any discrimination. We work with partners to promote the inclusion of children with disabilities into society by stimulating changes in attitudes and practices of the general public and service providers toward children with disabilities. Further, UNICEF works with governments to help ensure that family members of persons with disabilities, who are often the primary caretakers, and children with disabilities themselves, receive assistance from the State for disability-related expenses, adequate training, counselling, financial assistance and respite care. We also support efforts to ensure that all programmes, including recreational programmes, public services, facilities and relevant buildings are accessible.
A jumbo-sized cloud of tiny birds called red-billed queleas surrounds an elephant at the Satao Camp water hole in East Tsavo, Kenya. Photographer Antero Topp said: “There are big trees close to waterhole where the birds landed and at that time we suddenly heard a strong crack. A huge branch had been broken by the weight of these tiny birds despite them only weighing about 10 grams each. All the birds took off and you could hear an unbelievable whoosh… Picture: ANTERO TOPP / CATERS NEWS (via Pictures of the day: 1 March 2012 - Telegraph)
The plunge from 71,581 feet was a success. Next up: 120,000 feet.
Daredevil adventurer Felix Baumgartner’s plans to plunge 23 miles from the edge of space back to Earth — a Red Bull-sponsored stunt that would be the world’s highest freefall — and on Thursday, his team announced the completion of a key test flight over Roswell, N.M.
“The height of Felix’s test flight was significant, as it was the first time he passed the Armstrong Line of approximately 63,000 feet, where the atmospheric pressure truly tests Felix’s custom-made space suit,” his team said in a news release.
Heavy fighting raged near Baba Amro in Homs on Wednesday after elite Syrian troops attacked the rebel-held bastion that has endured 25 days of siege and fierce bombardment, activists said.
The Farouq Brigade of the Free Syrian Army was trying to hold off the assault led by units of the armored Fourth Division, which is commanded by Maher al-Assad, the hardline brother of President Bashar al-Assad.
The rebels have sworn to fight to the last man, according to Ahmed, an activist who said he had just left Baba Amro. He said other opposition areas of Homs were also under attack but gave no details of casualties.
An ant appears to be trying to roll a perfectly spherical droplet of water back to its nest. Photographer Rakesh Rocky from Warangal, India, came across the plucky insects with a ball. But although the ball may have looked like a water drop, it was actually a water-absorbing polymer - or water gel - a biodegradable, non-toxic absorbent crystal alternative soil for potting plants. It can absorb approximately 400 times its weight in water.