CRC/C/15/Add.259
page 12
that alternative care allows the child to maintain personal relations and direct contact with
the mother who remains in prison. The Committee encourages the State party to seek
assistance from, among others, UNICEF and other United Nations bodies in this regard.
5. Basic health and welfare
Children with disabilities
55.
Welcoming the State party’s efforts to eliminate discrimination against children with
disabilities and to promote their integration into society with equal opportunities, inter alia, by
implementing the Programme on Community-based Rehabilitation, the Committee is concerned
about the de facto discrimination faced by children with disabilities and their invisible role in
society. The Committee notes with concern the inadequate implementation of domestic
disability legislation, for example, the Magna Charta for Disabled Persons (Republic Act
No. 7277 enacted in 1992) and the relevant provisions of the Child and Youth Welfare Code,
particularly at the local level. The Committee is concerned that many children with disabilities
live in poverty and their access to social and health services and education is limited.
Furthermore, deeply rooted misbeliefs and prevailing prejudices against children with disabilities
in Philippine society give cause for concern.
56.
In the light of the United Nations Standard Rules on the Equalization of
Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities (General Assembly resolution 48/96) and the
recommendations adopted by the Committee on its day of general discussion on the rights
of children with disabilities (see CRC/C/69), the Committee recommends that the State
party take all necessary measures to:
(a)
Prevent and prohibit all forms of discrimination against children with
disabilities and ensure equal opportunities for their full participation in all spheres of life
by implementing the domestic disability legislation and the national Community-based
Rehabilitation Programme and by including disability aspects in all relevant policymaking
and national planning;
(b)
Collect adequate statistical data on children with disabilities and use such
disaggregated data in developing policies and programmes to promote their equal
opportunities in society paying particular attention to children with disabilities living in
the most remote areas of the country;
(c)
Ensure that public education policy and school curricula reflect in all their
aspects the principle of full participation and equality and include children with disabilities
in the mainstream school system to the extent possible and, where necessary, establish
special education programmes tailored to their special needs;
(d)
Provide children with disabilities with access to adequate social and health
services and the physical environment, information and communication;