Q: What is the general situation of refugee children with disabilities in Lebanon?

A:Palestinian Refugee Children with Disabilities (PRCWDs) are one of the most marginalized groups within and outside Palestinian camps in Lebanon owing to their refugee status and their “disabilities”1; they struggle daily to meet their physical, psychological or social needs.

According to a data review conducted by World Vision, Children with Disabilities (CwDs) are usually not integrated into the community with other children and are faced with many constraints accessing education. On the one hand, the camps’ infrastructure constitutes a physical barrier to the access of CwDs to schooling and education, as most of the roads are quite narrow and not user-friendly for persons with disabilities, especially children. CwDs are not integrated in the community due to prevailing social taboos regarding persons with disabilities2.

On the other hand, it is impossible to undertake any kind of shelter rehabilitation in the Palestinian camps in Lebanon due to a ban by the Lebanese Government since 1998, on the entry of construction materials, which proves to be a major problem to home adaptation for people with disabilities.

Moreover, CwDs often do not even have informal education or any other form of recreational activities and many surveys have shown that most kindergarten schools in the country do not accept CwDs. In general, more than half of CwDs are illiterate while only 0.6 percent of PRWDs have undergone any form of vocational training despite the fact that majority (58 percent) have movement disorders and therefore, stand to benefit from programs such as school mainstreaming3. Further, most parents cannot afford to pay tuition fees and this adds to the barriers of CwDs to access formal or informal types of education. Even CwDs who have completed their education and who have undergone training on certain skills often do not find internships in companies or enterprises because of their disabilities. Thus, without access to educational opportunities and vocational training, CwDs will have limited chances to be active and productive, thus, limiting the likelihood that they will be able to equally participate in education, training, work, recreation and other activities in their respective communities or in the broader society.

Q: Are there any special measures undertaken for children with disabilities?

A:In 1992, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has adopted a policy intended for Persons with Disabilities, specifically aimed at enhancing education for CwDs, which incorporates staff training on inclusive education and rehabilitation of UNRWA schools to make them accessible to CwDs. However, the policy focuses mainly on children with visual impairments and children with some physical disabilities, excluding de facto children with other disabilities. In fact, environmental barriers for CwDs are not limited to the premises of UNRWA schools, but extend to or include all camp areas. In addition, attitudinal barriers as well as institutional constraints in schools and the UNRWA remain widespread in Palestinian camps.

Q: By law, do refugee children with disabilities have the right to enroll in regular schools? How is this implemented or observed?

A: The situation of Palestinian refugees is chronic and politically fragile; although UNRWA is responsible for providing educational services for Palestinian refugee children4, its mandate does not offer pre-school care in any camp in Lebanon or elsewhere. Therefore, the service is made available by local and international NGOs such as Najdeh Association, Saint Vincent De Paul, Joint Christian Committee, Ghassan Kanafani Association, among others. Classroom occupancy rates and pupil-teacher ratios are well below UNESCO’s and the host authority’s standards. The use of classrooms for double shifts in 77 percent of UNRWA schools severely limits non-formal learning and support while rented schools, often in deplorable conditions fail to provide the environment conducive to learning, making it more difficult for CwDs to access and properly utilize the classrooms for learning.

One of the greatest challenges is providing quality education to Palestinian refugees, specifically CwDs; this also greatly limits their chances of finding sustainable income generating opportunities in the future.

Finally, it is worth mentioning that the most important barrier facing CwDs in this context is the legal framework for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, which excludes them from accessing services provided by the Lebanese government, protection mechanisms and guarantees that other refugees are entitled to according to international law. This further restricts CwDs to claim their rights under the law.

Q:What are the main interventions of your organization?

A:There are currently seventeen (17) NGOs, fifteen (15) of which are members of a group of NGOs working with PwDs, called the “Palestinian Disability Forum” (PDF), which collectively offers occasional support services to Palestinian refugees with disabilities living in camps in Lebanon. However, the provision of these services is contingent on the availability of funding sources and hence, cannot be made available on a regular basis.
Among them, World Vision targets children with disability as part of World Vision’s refugee program projects, which have been implemented in the Palestinian camps since 1997. The approach for these projects is community-based and focused on long-term development. This process builds a strong basis for further community development work in education, vocational training, and health.
World Vision is currently implementing a project in partnership with two local organizations: Nabil Badran Centre (NBC) and Sour Community Disability Project-Women’s Humanitarian Organization (SCDP-WHO titled “Right to Education for Palestinian Refugee Children with Disabilities” .which specifically targets education for Palestinian refugee children with disability. This project started in January 2008 and will continue though September 2011. World Vision is implementing the project in partnership with two local organizations: Nabil Badran Centre (NBC) and Sour Community Disability Project-Women’s Humanitarian Organization (SCDP-WHO).

The partners in this project will try to find solutions for problems faced by Palestinian refugee children with disability who are living in camps and gatherings of Palestinian refuges in Tyr region; and to find solutions for problems that are prohibiting them or disabling them from adhering totally or partially to a formal or non formal or professional educational program.

Q:What are the main challenges for the enrolment of refugee children with disabilities in inclusive schools?

A:Children with Disability s typically face a wide range of barriers: attitudinal, environmental and institutional. In addition, they are more severely affected by the socio-economic problems of their respective families.

Discussions with key stakeholders (i.e., local and international NGOs, community-based organizations) working with CWDs revealed that most UNRWA schools are physically accessible to CWDs but they were still not accepted mainly due to the teachers’ lack of capacity to handle children with disabilities.

The lack of special education providers in some of the refugee camps makes referrals to institutions outside the camps (i.e., Lebanese institutions) necessary. Despite the fact that professional, parental and the community’s attitude towards inclusive education has improved in recent years, capacities and skills to work in the field are still minimal, lacking an encompassing global policy, pool of specialists, awareness-raising and training of various stakeholders in the sector.