Children with disabilities are three to four times more likely to experience violence than children without disabilities. An estimated 40-70% of girls with disabilities experience sexual abuse before the age of 18. Children with disabilities are also more likely to live in poverty and isolation. They are often excluded from systems that provide safety and protection, such as schools.
Effective child protection requires strong systems at national, regional and community levels. However, violence against children with disabilities often goes unidentified or unsupported. Many child protection services are not disability-inclusive and lack the expertise and resources to respond appropriately, limiting access to protection and care.
Liliane Fonds, MIVA and partners work to ensure a safe environment for children and young people through a strong child safeguarding policy. Partners are supported to build links with (community-based) protection services, recognising that many service providers, including police, lack expertise and need greater capacity to work with children and young people with disabilities.
Liliane Fonds supports partners in their work to strengthen disability-inclusive child protection systems through training, community engagement and collaboration.
Where we work
- 2024 – 2025: Child safeguarding and disability-inclusive protection projects in Burkina Faso and Togo
- 2025-2026: Strengthening safeguarding and community child protection for children with disabilities in Uganda
- 2026-2028: Projects addressing Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) in Kenya, Zimbabwe, Cameroon, Congo, Burkina Faso and Uganda
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Our commitment
Liliane Fonds and MIVA integrates child safeguarding interventions into all funded programmes and supports partners in preventing and responding to abuse, exploitation, neglect and violence. We provide both financial and technical support to disability-inclusive child protection initiatives.
Let us know
In our funded programmes children and young persons with a disability learn about their rights, including the right to be protected from harm. In case children and young persons experience harm in LF/MIVA funded programmes or in contact with staff, volunteers or intern of LF/MIVA or of our partners, we encourage them to speak up. The video below is made available to all our partners to be used in their communication and activities towards the children, young persons, parents and caregivers.
