Last time you were here, you were looking to help vulnerable children and families. Your support can save and change lives.
Since 1992, International Day of Persons with Disabilities has been observed annually on 3 December. It is a United Nations sanctioned day, which focuses on breaking down barriers for disabled persons around the world. The most vulnerable, and in need of support, are those who live in developing communities overseas.
This year the UN’s Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has introduced a virtual meeting on December 5, to enhance the commemoration. The objective? To create an interactive dialogue around the importance of innovation and transformative solutions for inclusive development. As the observance day nears, we’d like to explain why we believe IDPwD should be marked on every calendar, and how you can get involved.
In the 1990s the United Nations recognised that people living with disabilities face barriers of a structural, social and cultural nature, all around the world. The occasion is intended to encourage advocacy on behalf of disabled persons, and draw attention to priorities related to their inclusion, support, care and wellbeing.
IDPwD also celebrates the achievements and contributions of people living with disabilities, reinforcing the value and meaning they bring to the global community.
Today, IDPwD is part of a growing conversation about empowerment and inclusion. Each year the UN announces a theme, which provides focus for the efforts of organisations and individuals over the succeeding year to create a more inclusive environment, working towards unconditional acceptance.
The theme for International Day of Persons with Disabilities 2023 is: ‘United in action to rescue and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for, with and by persons with disabilities.’
You can find out more the SDGs here.
The cycle of social isolation begins in childhood, with many children living with disability facing exclusion.
By supporting children with disabilities, we can create a climate of acceptance, empowerment and opportunity from childhood, which will produce resilient adults. In the right environment, living with disability should not prevent a child from participating in play, school and other facets of childhood like their peers. We just need to provide every child with the same opportunities.
Effective disability advocacy promotes, protects, and supports the full and equal human rights of a person or group.
Advocates help people with disabilities speak up and protect their rights and interests by supporting or working on their behalf.
Advocacy can be divided into six categories:
Want to support children with disabilities this IDPwD? There’s a number of ways you can get involved:
When you take action in support of children living with disability this IDPwD, you are joining forces with the United Nations in a global effort to promote acceptance and inclusion. No supportive act is too small, or without impact. What’s most important is that we recognise where we can be of help, and get out there to make a difference.
It can sometimes be challenging to find meaningful gifts at Christmas.
But this year, you can bring true joy to your friends and family without going anywhere near a shopping centre.
By purchasing a life-changing charity Christmas gift from our Gifts for Good catalogue, you can share a feel-good moment with a loved one, and bring happiness to the life of a child in need. Your act of kindness is a gift that can bring lasting joy.
This year our Gifts for Good catalogue is filled to the brim with creative and thoughtful Christmas donation presents. To help you decide between the lifesavers and big ticket items, here are five gifts that should be on every Christmas list.
When you give a goat to a family in a developing community, you can help change an entire village. That’s why Chola, from ChildFund Zambia, says the communities we work with love receiving goats.
“The goat program is one of our most successful programs,” he says.
When you give your Christmas donation gift, a family in need will receive a goat and training that will help them turn your initial investment into a family business.
As part of the program, a baby goat is passed to a neighbouring family, which sustains and expands the program.
Help keep children safe and healthy
When children cannot access clean water they are more likely to get sick, less likely to stay in school, and their parents are more likely to have to pay expensive medical bills to keep them healthy.
Handwashing stations are essential now more than ever to prevent the spread of COVID-19, and other infectious diseases in developing communities.
By giving a handwashing station as your charity Christmas gift, you can keep children healthy and in school.
Provide a scholarship for a girl like Eliya
The United Nations estimates that of the 600 million adolescent girls that will enter the workforce in the next decade, more than 90% of those living in developing countries will work in the informal sector where low pay, abuse and exploitation are common.
Educated and skilled workers are in high demand, but roughly a quarter of young people – most of them female – are currently not employed or unable to access further education or training.
When you give the charity Christmas gift of a scholarship for a girl in Zambia you are helping her stay in school so she can progress to a meaningful career and make a difference in her community.
Give a gift that keeps giving
Giving fruit trees and vegetable seeds as your charity Christmas gift not only helps provide children in disadvantaged communities with much-needed nutrition, it can help pay for school fees, medical costs and increase a family’s overall wellbeing.
Ten mango, banana, guava and orange seedlings will grow into reliable fruit trees, producing a delicious source of vitamins for children in communities where food is often in short supply.
As family gardens grow, these crops can be sold at local markets, helping children for years to come.
Help children with the gift of clean water
Give the gift of clean water to a school or even an entire community! Your charity Christmas gift donation will be pooled with others to fund the construction and maintenance of a solar-powered deepwater borehole system.
This generous gift will bring change to children in need and their families in the communities where we work.
Your Christmas donation gift could feed, shelter, clothe and heal a child in any of the countries where we work. To add something special to your Christmas list, browse our gift catalogue, or find out more about how our Gifts for Good work.
