Working Toward Community Integration of Disabled Children
In Azerbaijan, 18 out of 1,000 children are disabled and face discrimination and social exclusion with little or no support for them and their families. Anar Khalilov, a 16-year-old boy with muscular dystrophy is one of these children. By the age of 9, the disease had forced Anar into a wheelchair and, as a result, to drop out of school, which lacked accessible facilities. From that point on, Anar left his family’s apartment just once or twice a month, because it was located on the fourth floor of a building with no elevator service. Completely isolated from his community and any opportunity to make friends, Anar rarely participated in school and cultural events. Even when Anar’s mother managed to carry him downstairs, they still needed help with transport.
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Anar (in wheelchair) participates in a role play activity at the opening
ceremony for the USAID-supported Children and Family Support Center in
Mingechevir.
Photo Credit: Save the Children |
Since 2004, USAID’s Children and Family Support Centers have provided community-based support services to address the social exclusion of disabled children and reduce the burden on their families as an alternative to institutionalization. Anar is among those who have benefited from these services.
Within two days of the Center’s intervention, a bank account was opened for him and 20 kindergartens provided donations to support his therapy and his family. Efforts of the local “Marhamat” Community Action Group (CAG) led to the production of a television program about Anar, which aired on Mingechevir TV. Upon receiving a donated computer for his use, the Center secured a teacher to train Anar on computer skills, which will allow him to continue his education at home. Local people volunteered to carry Anar up and down his building’s stairs to attend center’s activities and the Center has paid for his transportation to and from their site. In the meantime, staff are working with the local municipality to ascertain any financial benefits he is entitled to as a physically-challenged child. Thanks to these services, Anar has become an active member of the Center and his community, where he often takes on the role of master of ceremonies. Community and family members alike have remarked on his improved speaking ability and confidence.
Perhaps one of the most promising developments is that Anar has expressed his readiness to join the children’s self-advocacy group, which is being formed to give children the opportunity to have their voices heard. This will be an important step for Anar—and his peers—and will offer the opportunity to raise awareness among local policymakers about the needs and experiences of disabled children and help promote the rights of vulnerable children to social inclusion in their communities.
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