Study reveals major gaps as disability services remain heavily centralised in urban areas

An ongoing study by the Fiji Human Rights and Anti Discrimination Commission on the status of the promotion and protection of the rights of children with disabilities has found that there is evidence that there is a heavy centralization of services for children with disabilities in the urban areas, and there aren't any equally accessible services in the rural and maritime areas. Director Loukinikini Lewaravu says there is a clear need for collaboration and working together of services, relevant services and stakeholders as there appears to be a still, a continual silent working in this space. She says they have also found that there is a lack of financial funding and support for activities and projects on children with disabilities.Lewaravu says there has been great progress by Fiji in terms of its legal framework where Fiji ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and domesticated the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities by putting in place a rights of persons with disability legislation and reviewed the National Policy on Persons with Disabilities.However, she says it is evident that despite the strong legal framework in place, there still exists challenges and gaps.She says baseline study on the rights of children with disabilities in Fiji, launched in February, assesses how well Fiji is promoting and protecting these rights. Lewaravu says the first phase, involving 28 to 30 consultations with government, CSOs, NGOs and service providers, is nearing completion, with community level consultations scheduled for early next year. She says consultations will include direct interviews with children with disabilities, their families and carers.The Commission has also opened online submissions to allow the public to share views in written, audio or visual form while a public survey will soon be released to gather further insights.The Director is urging families and communities to participate, stressing that meaningful input is essential to ensuring a complete and accurate report.