CRPD/C/PHL/CO/1
(d)
The absence of measures to ensure that the views and opinions of children
with disabilities are considered in all matters affecting their lives.
17.
The Committee recommends that the State party:
(a)
Adopt a comprehensive strategy and action plan for the promotion and
protection of the rights of children with disabilities, and allocate specific human,
technical and financial resources, including for monitoring mechanisms, to assess
their implementation;
(b)
Take measures to develop and strengthen respect for the rights of
children with disabilities at home, and enhance support for the families of such
children, including early childhood programmes, in accordance with the standards
established under international human rights law, in particular the Convention on the
Rights of the Child. The State party should pay particular attention to children with
disabilities living in rural areas and those belonging to ethnic and religious minorities,
as well as migrant, refugee and asylum-seeking children;
(c)
Take measures to make mainstream schools accessible so that children
with disabilities in rural areas can attend schools while living with their families;
(d)
Strengthen and ensure national coverage of referral systems, including
community-based rehabilitation of children with disabilities across the country;
(e)
Set up protocols and guidelines aimed at consulting with children with
disabilities through their representative organizations, ensuring support according to
their age and disability, in relation to issues affecting them.
Awareness-raising (art. 8)
18.
The Committee is concerned about:
(a)
The emphasis of the State party on prevention of impairment rather than
inclusion and exercising rights, and that public resources are allocated to annual events that
reinforce the medical approach to disability;
(b)
The lack of awareness regarding attitudinal barriers and other hardships
confronting women and girls with intellectual or psychosocial disabilities;
(c)
The lack of information on the outcomes of “sensitization training” and
proclamations of the State party in addressing public apathy and negative attitudes against
persons with disabilities.
19.
The Committee recommends that the State party:
(a)
Strengthen awareness-raising campaigns, in cooperation with
organizations of persons with disabilities, to foster a positive image of persons with
disabilities as human rights-holders;
(b)
Ensure that awareness-raising activities recognize the cross-cutting
nature of the Convention, and adopt the human rights model of disability as a key
strategy to strengthen public awareness regarding disability;
(c)
Strengthen training and capacity-building activities among public
authorities, in particular civil servants responsible for implementing the Convention;
(d)
Operationalize monitoring instruments to ascertain awareness-raising
campaigns and their outcomes in eliminating negative perceptions of persons with
disabilities in society.
Accessibility (art. 9)
20.
The Committee is concerned that measures such as Batas Pambansa No. 344, also
known as the Accessibility Law, and Republic Act No. 7277 do not include the principles
of accessibility through universal design as set forth in articles 2 and 9 of the Convention. It
is also concerned about the absence of a national action plan on accessibility, that only city
buses are required to comply with accessibility requirements and the fact that the current
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