UNICEF teams up with H&M Foundation to launch inclusivity campaign for children

A new global awareness campaign initiated by UNICEF and supported by the H&M Foundation launches today, focusing on inclusion of the 240 million children around the world who live with disabilities.

According to the November 2021 UNICEF report, Seen, Counted, Included. Using data to shed light on the well-being of children with disabilities, children with disabilities have a:

• 49 per cent greater probability of never attending school
• 41 per cent greater probability of being discriminated against
• 51 per cent more likely to feel unhappy.

Regardless of where these children grow up, they are more likely to experience greater difficulties with exclusion and lack of participation than children without disabilities are. The report advises that the keys to change are increased knowledge, representation and inclusion.

“Our experience is that children with disabilities experience stigma and discrimination in all parts of life, something that the report also shows,” explained Pernilla Baralt, Executive Director of UNICEF Sweden. 

“At the same time, we see that the key to changing lives is full inclusion. That requires knowledge and a change in attitudes and behaviors. We all have to take responsibility to actively involve children in issues concerning their lives and their needs.”

UNICEF and the H&M Foundation have worked together since 2014. The first three-year partnership aimed to place early childhood development on the global agenda and help give the most vulnerable and excluded children the best start in life. In 2017, H&M Foundation and UNICEF renewed their commitment, and the foundation invested in UNICEF’s early childhood development programmes, helping to reach more than 145,000 children, parents, teachers and influencers in Timor-Leste, Egypt, Mali and Vietnam. At the same time H&M Foundation also added funds for a programme aimed at giving children with disabilities in Bulgaria, Peru and Uganda access to early childhood development services. 

The Be Inclusive campaign launch aligns with the Global Disability Summit taking place in Norway this week, 14-17 February 2022.