unite

1. To assist schools to not only develop an anti-bullying policy but also to be able to implement the policy.
2. To advocate for the adoption a zero tolerance of bullying at schools by the Department of Education and schools.
3. To change the attitudes of the community towards children with ID.
4. To develop tools to empower children with ID and caregivers on how they can deal with bullying within schools/community.

• Empowerment of children with ID
• Strengthening and empowerment of parents & caregivers
• Engagement of non-state actors
• Setting up systems and methods / guidelines for behaviour & practice
• Promotion of accountability mechanisms

For many children with ID all their lives, being stigmatized and mocked is nothing unusual. Many have come to expect this as the ‘natural order of things’, rather than see this as a violation of their rights. The UNITE programme promotes the awareness that bullying is not acceptable and that children and their families have a right to be treated with dignity and respect.

UNITE lays the foundation of a strong education, awareness and participatory programme which listens to the voices and needs of these children, the programme gives them the tools to protect themselves and their peers and to adopt an appropriate attitude needed to claim their rights.

Empowerment includes developing an understanding of what bullying and abusive behaviour constitutes; working in groups to build a rejection of these behaviours, as well as bringing children with ID together to boost their voice and their confidence in practically addressing these issues.

Parents and caregivers who are isolated often also internalize stigma and blame themselves for their child’s social rejection. They too need to claim dignity and respect, as well as their place at the forefront of the struggle to demand the rights of their children, as enabled in legislation and policy. The project includes awareness building, rights education and participation of parents in groups / joint collectives to make their voices heard in the community and in institutions around them.

Those who perpetuate stigma and abuse either subtly or blatantly need to be engaged.

Children and their caregivers, as reflected above, are tasked to devise plans to this end and be at the forefront of this process. This is important as others in communities need exposure to those with ID and to learn to put away their fear of engaging with them.

Those perpetrating bullying and abuse also view these behaviours ‘as normal’ and do not understand the effects of bullying on others. Children copy adults whom they see bullying others and this is endemic in many local cultures.

The project makes use of visuals and diagrams in the vernacular as part of the engagement process, which will also be a key aspect of the associated advocacy campaigns.