Gender-based Violence against Children and Youth with Disabilities: A Toolkit for Child Protection Actors

Women's Refugee Commission

CHILD- AND YOUTH-LED PARTICIPATORY ASSESSMENT ON GBV AND DISABILITY

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TOOL 2: INFORMATION SESSION FOR POTENTIAL PARTICIPANTS

Purpose of this tool

This tool provides guidance for staff and partners planning the information session with potential participants. The information session provides an opportunity for children and youth with disabilities and their caregivers to learn more about the assessment, thereby contributing to the informed consent process, and for staff that will be facilitating the assessment to identify the different communication preferences of individuals. It can also play a critical role in supporting children and youth with and without disabilities to get to know each other, making them more comfortable in the following activities.

Example: Information session agenda

During this time, walk around to individuals who you may need to learn more about to facilitate their participation in the activities. These may include:

AN ICE-BREAKER ACTIVITY: VALUING DIFFERENCE

Divide the group in two and ask members to regroup based on differences or similarities of the following characteristics:

FACILLITATOR'S NOTE: The same people will regroup under the different characteristics. Signs and symbols can also be used, or children can indicate that they are part of the group in any way that they feel comfortable. This activity aims to develop an understanding and appreciation of human diversity.

Discuss with the entire group that diversity is a natural part of human life. Everybody has differences, whether that difference relates to color, gender, size, shape, religion, neighborhood or anything else. A disability is no different. It may limit a person's mobility (ability to walk) or his or her ability to hear, see, taste or smell, but it does not limit his or her strengths and abilities. Differences in a group are valuable. Those differences are where creativity and new ideas are born.

* Extracted from: UNICEF, It's About Ability: Learning Guide to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (New York: UNICEF, 2009). http://www.unicef.org/publications/files/ Its_About_Ability_Learning_Guide_EN.pdf

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ChildFund International

2821 Emerywood Parkway

Richmond, Virginia 23294-3725 USA

global@childfund.org

www.childfund.org

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Women's Refugee Commission

122 East 42nd Street, New York, NY 10168-1289

t. 212.551.3115

info@wrcommission.org

womensrefugeecommission.org

Notes

1 https://www.womensrefugeecommission.org/disabilities/resources/1291-youth-disabilities-toolkit-presentation