Are School Feeding Programs Prepared to Be Inclusive of Children with Disabilities?

According to the World Health Organization and the World Bank “approximately 93 million children in the world – 1 in 20 children aged 14 or younger – have a moderate or severe disability of some kind. The majority of them live in the undeveloped world, are not enrolled in school, and have very poor access to the most basic health and nutrition opportunities. In lowand middle-income countries, children with disabilities are more likely to be out of school than any other group of children” (1). Girls with disabilities are particularly disadvantaged and most likely to be excluded from education (2). Due to poor data and a lack of knowledge about their needs, school health and nutrition programmers are challenged to respond effectively. However, lack of visibility is not the only barrier to children with disabilities receiving school health and nutrition. Structural challenges do exist for children and adults with disabilities to access health and education services, most noticeably, inadequate infrastructure (2). The ratification of the International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has had significant impact in most countries. It has brought up a number of new challenges for public policies to be inclusive of children with disabilities in existing and new programs. Such a challenge can be summarized in one insight: it is now clear that the development and sustainability goals of the world cannot be achieved without the full and effective inclusion of the most vulnerable children, many of whom are children with disabilities.