GENEVA, MARCH 5 – Children with disabilities hold the same rights as other children and even though they face extensive risks and challenges, there are however great opportunities to empower them and realize their rights, the Italian Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva, Ambassador Gian Lorenzo Cornado, said today, opening a side event on “promoting quality alternative care for children with disabilities” co-sponsored by the Permanent Mission of Italy in the framework of the 40th Session of the Human Rights Council and further to the full day annual meeting on the Rights of the Child.
The panel was organized in partnership with ATD Fourth World, International Social Service and several other NGOs and was also co-sponsored by UNICEF, the EU Delegation and the Permanent Mission of Uruguay. Experts from Italy, Moldova, Azerbaijan, Rwanda, Cambodia and Jamaica presented best practices from each region. The discussion was moderated by Mr. Alfredo Ferrante, representing the Department for policies of the family of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, who recalled how the Italian commitment on the issues of child protection and the promotion of the rights of minors with disabilities was testified, among other things, by the recent appointment of a Minister for family and disability, with significant functions of national coordination on these matters. Some good Italian practices were then presented regarding support measures for the protection of families with children with disabilities, also for the purpose of preventing unnecessary separations. (@OnuItalia)