The National Council of People with Disabilities (NCPD) has said that over 3,000 children with disabilities currently under the care of different children centres, need to be reintegrated in families.

This, officials said, is part of the national effort to give every child a chance of being brought up in a family set up, which is a catalyst for better welfare.

The figure is according to officials, is just preliminary, with a conclusive one expected at the end of an ongoing survey to assess the status of children with disabilities in the country.

According to officials, some of these children live full time in the centres while others spend a portion of the time in the centres where they are supported and then return to their families, which are mostly vulnerable.

Emmanuel Ndayisaba, the Executive Secretary of NCPD told The New Times that the need for reintegration is being guided by the survey, which found up to 73 per cent of these children having both families.

Eight per cent have at least one parent, implying that at least 81 per cent of these children have parents in general.

"This is the information people did not have,” he said, adding that it shows that reintegrating these children in families is actually possible.

"We analyzed their current living conditions, the services and support they get as well as what should be improved in terms of their life. This aims to see how these children can be relocated from these centres and be reintegrated into families,” he said.

He said that the government in partnership with stakeholders is already running a pilot project in two centres with children with disabilities in Gatsibo district and Gahanga sector in Kicukiro district to reintegrate disabled children into families.

"The pilot phase will help us in planning and determine the budget it requires to reintegrate all children. When children with disabilities are raised in families, get care and love, it improves their life, their thinking, their mental health and intellectual capacity. It heals their trauma.

We will only have centres that provide special support such as education where some children can pursue classes while in boarding but can go home during holidays. Children living near the centres can learn from there and return home after classes.”

Those with health issues can remain in the centres while being treated but rejoin families once they recover, he added.

Financial support to families

Ndayisaba said that parents and foster families will also be financially and morally supported to be able to receive and raise the children in better conditions.

"We are working with local government to ensure all children with disabilities benefit from social protection programmes. This will ensure that even when external supporting projects are not available, they can still survive. The support includes access to education, healthcare and general welfare.”

He added that rather than keep children in centres, it is better to empower their families so that they are able to take care of their special needs children.

He said that after the pilot phase, the next phase is to assess case by case of these children, identify their immediate families or next of kin and prepare them to receive the children.

Why reintegration?

Innocent Habimfura, the Country Director of Hope and Homes for Children-Rwanda, said that reintegrating the children with disabilities into families is aimed at ensuring their right to be raised in family according to international treaties, the Rwandan constitution and other legislations.

"When children are raised in centres, they grow up as orphans and vulnerable. They have no identity or sense of belonging and at the centres, there is not enough support system for them as they would get in families. They need families or foster families,” he said.

He said that the challenges remain in the reintegration process itself which requires participation of different stakeholders and investment.

He reiterated that in order to promote rights of disabled children, an SMS-based platform has been developed to report issues related to children with disabilities so that they get a quick intervention from concerned institutions.

"The cost of raising a child with disability is not the same as that of a normal child. They need advocacy. Families and the community should fight stigma against the children with disabilities,” he said.

James Nduwayo, the senior programme manager at National Child Development Agency, said that the ongoing survey will help generate the whole picture of children with disabilities in the country.

"Some children with disabilities live in centres that are close to communities where they come from. It means they take the opportunity to live in the centres because they live in the same place yet they have parents,” he said.

He said that while there has been a success in reintegrating children who had been in orphanages, it should be the same move for children with disabilities.

In 2012, there were 3,323 children in 33 orphanages and so, far only 447 children remain in four orphanages, he said.