Children and Disability in Transition in CEE/CIS and Baltic States

This Innocenti Insight looks at how children with disabilities and their families fare in the rapidly changing environment of this wide region, since transition in the early 1980’s. It builds upon the significant body of research and policy reflections accrued at the UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre (IRC) with the support of national statistical offices in the 27 countries of the region. UNICEF IRC has tracked and explored the impact on children and their families of economic and social changes in the region since transition began. This report draws upon three new pieces of research that include data, a qualitative survey and first-person interviews. The results highlight the legacies of the past, the momentum for change and areas where action is further needed. Institutionalisation, segregation and discrimination are still prominent features of the environment in which children with disabilities live across the region.