The Early Years, Life-Long Impact: The Transformative Power of Family-Centered Early Intervention for Children with Disabilities (COSP19 Side Event)

Thank you very much, colleagues, for joining us for this very important side event on the early years, lifelong impact, the transforming power of family-centered early intervention for children with disabilities. I would like to thank the Permanent Mission of Canada, of Italy, of Spain, Portugal, Moldova, and obviously Turkey, as well as UNICEF, to co-sponsor and organize this event for the 19th Conference of State Parties. We all know that the first years of life are of utmost importance and will decide the trajectory of life of all of us, and this is particularly acute and important for children with disabilities. We have a very strong panel today, and we will have the opportunity to hear about different countries' efforts in promoting early childhood intervention that are compatible and compliant with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and that exemplify the paradigm shift between a medical model to early intervention to an inclusion and family-centered model. To introduce the session, we have a set of great keynote speakers that will give opening remarks, and I would like to first invite Juan Santander, with Deputy Global Director for Partnership in UNICEF to give us some opening remarks. Juan, the floor is yours.

Thank you. Distinguished colleagues, excellencies, partners, friends, it's an honor to speak to you today on behalf of UNICEF, and thanks to all of you for Joining us today for what is one of the most important investments and work that we can all do for the children of our countries. Early intervention that is family-centered is at the heart of a lifelong investment that changes children's lives today. I am myself a I'm a father of 4 young children, and I can tell you, and all of you who are parents will know, that a parent understands instinctively how important care, protection, education, health is for every child from the very first days of life. And like Alex said before, this is even more important to address any developmental delays or disabilities that a child may have during the first, first days and years of life. The first 1,000 days of life are the most critical for brain development and all forms of development. And those, those 3 years are the most important time in our lives. So much of our lifelong outcomes are determined in those 3 years. And I think everybody around this room knows that the next most important year in our lives is the immediate one, is the 4th year. And the next most important one is the 5th year. And by the time a child reaches 5 years of age, the vast majority of our cognitive development has been locked in. And so much of our physical development, so much of our social development of our health, lifelong health outcomes, has been locked into the future of our lives. And science has demonstrated this. We also see that from an economic point of view, investment in early years, in early childhood development, including early intervention, particularly all interventions that are family-centered, multiplies in GDP growth for the economies that these children are living in. We know that on average between 1 in 10 children will face in their lives some form of developmental delay or disability that would benefit from early intervention. However, even though we know all of this, hundreds of millions of children around the world are still not receiving the care that they could, the care that is available to us should we invest wisely and ethically in the early intervention that is catered around the family. And this is really important, I'm coming back to it because from UNICEF's perspective, we have— we see 3 key priorities or 3 key pillars to success. The first one is strengthening national systems, and by that we mean the best policies that we can have, sustainable investment on the operationalization of those policies, and that has to be done in close coordination across the key sectors that affect early childhood, so health, early education, child and social protection. That's the first key pillar. Second key pillar is invest on the professional development and establishment of a workforce, of the professional workforce that works hand in hand with the third pillar, which is families, parents, caregivers. That is the primary center of protection, of education, of learning, of health of children. So if we are able to work with these three pillars jointly, we can change children's lives for the better. We can support them to reach their full potential, but to be successful, that investment needs to happen today. And I heard once this poet from— so I'm from Argentina, so it's a poet from Latin America, so I hope you'll let me share that with you. So I need to translate it to English, obviously. The original was in Spanish. But to English, it translates something like this. It's just one line, and it's, "The future of a child is always today." And I think this captures this idea that we can't wait, we can't delay. To be successful, we have to act today.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you very much, Juan, for those very clear set of messages. I would like now to invite Hola Abu Algaib, Dr. Hola Abu Algaib, who is the Director of the Global Disability Fund, who have been supporting many different programs in the field.

Hola?

Thank you, Alex, and thanks colleagues for the invite to share some reflections from the countries where the UN Global Disability Fund has supported this very essential area of work. The new strategy that the Fund has committed to last year for the coming 5 years have recognized, based on deep consultations with countries and partners, that early childhood is an essential service that the Fund will continue to promote and support at country level, whether it's in development context or humanitarian crisis, where we know that the needs are far more needed in such situations. What I would like to just to share with the audience today is some reflections of the learnings where we saw the failure of the system to respond to those priorities for children and their families equally. The Fund promotes our support around 4 main areas. One is the practice, the partnership, the policy and finance, and the capability and learning. On the practice side, We have seen that still in many countries there is a lack of understanding on the solutions that are needed. So understanding how to interconnect the whole system together, whether the Ministries of Health, Ministries of Social Affairs, Ministries of Finance coming together in terms of responding to those, whether it comes in terms of identification, referral pathways, connecting to essential services for those children. The other key element that we looked at as areas of improvement, which is who is addressing the issue at community level. Localization came out as a central area where things happen. Decentralization is very important. This is where families are present. This is where services are present. And there is an assumption that services are responsive and inclusive for children with disabilities and are available for their families. Another key area is the engagement of parents' organizations and organizations of persons with disabilities and the recognition of the importance of this area of work to promote the rights of persons with disabilities more broadly. And that is really essential because it does have implications of what's being asked by the government to prioritize in terms of policies and systems. For persons with disabilities. The other issue which is very central, it's about the financing mechanisms. We can have the best design of policies and systems without having the well-established sustainable finance architecture, without understanding the cost of those interventions and services, the government will remain doubtful of adopting them. We have some emerging evidence from a few countries where we have operated, and we're very, you know, honored to have UNICEF as one of the key lead agencies who are actually promoting these practices on the ground. We can see that there is emerging evidence that some countries can build on, but there is a need of furthermore. Another element in terms of the financing, which is the affordability of those services. We know in many contexts, many countries, access to many essential services, including health, is not free of charge. There is an out-of-pocket implication, and that's why the interlinkage between poverty and access to those essential services is usually not considered, and that's why many families tend not to be keen to send their children or connect them to the health system because they are concerned about the cost. Last implication that I wanted also to highlight, which is the learning. There are many emerging practices around the world. The Fund really promotes cross-country learning. We need to capitalize on what works rather than reinventing the wheel, and that's why for GDF we have the promotion of this connecting learnings across countries, and we believe that is very essential. Before closing, I want to also emphasize the role of families. Families also need the capability, the understanding of their children's rights, the empowerment and the spaces for them to engage in those policy processes. That is equally important to make sure that realization is really achieved for their children. The Fund, as I said, is pleased to announce that the new strategy is having the emphasis of the first 1,000 actually 500 days of children as one key area of work for us, and this is going to be continued as key component of support across the countries, and we would be pleased in the coming years to share more learnings about that. Thank you.

Thank you, Ola, and in those times it's great to hear that this is a priority for the Global Disability Fund. I would like now to invite Jarrod Klein, who is the Deputy Executive Director of the International Disability Alliance. To give some opening remarks.

Gerald.

Thank you so much. Alex, remind me how many minutes shall I speak for?

3.

3? Okay, great. Thank you so much. So at the technical level, of course, the International Disability Alliance calls on states to invest in OPD-led, community-based, family-centered systems of early support. Naturally enough, this is based on the CIPD principles, respect for non-difference, acceptance of persons with disabilities as part of human diversity and humanity, respect for dignity, autonomy, freedom, choice, and independence. And also for children, it means respect for their evolving capacities and their right to preserve their identities. But at its core, what we're really talking about are the systems around children with disabilities and what it means for their families. Do the systems say that, yes, your child belongs here, yes, your child has a future, Yes, you as a family are not alone, you will be supported. No, you will not be faced with the heartbreaking choice of institutionalizing your child so that they can have the services that they need. But we know that that is a choice that families every day are forced to make in almost all countries around the world. So we really welcome the side event, the reflection on what needs to be done to strengthen early intervention services, what needs to be done to strengthen family support services, because At other events here at COSPA, I was at one yesterday and the question was, why are institutions of people with disabilities so prevalent? Well, I mean, the answer is that states don't have the political will, states don't have the systems, states don't have the resource allocation, and families feel that they have no choice. So in a way, early intervention for children with disabilities and support to families can be framed simply as a matter of choice. We can cite the articles of the CRPD, Article 23 on support and Article 19 on independent living, but really we're probably 20 years in, gone beyond the technical, and we're really about political will and resource mobilisation, and really welcome this event and the chance to reflect on those so that we can fulfil the first social promise of belonging to children with disabilities and their families. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you very much, Jarod, and thank you to all the speakers so far to stick to the time. That makes my work much easier, and it's not always the case. So, so thank you very much. I think this, this first segment clearly articulates first what we need, and we need intervention and identification as early as possible, not only focus on child functioning but really encompassing family support and work on around the environment. And the cross-sectoral approach— it's not just health, it's not just education, and it's not just social protection, and it's not even each of them side by side, it's all of them together, so that the burden of coordination doesn't fall on the family but is taken up by the system. I think Ola gave very clear elements on some of the challenges that we face in terms of workforce in terms of system building, in terms of sustainable financing. And finally, I think, Jarod, you're recalling the normative framework, but highlighting the urgency of transforming those commitments to reality so that families do not have the bad choice, the only bad choice that many face today. So the purpose of this side event is basically demonstrating What can be done? How do we materialize this shift? How do we operationalize this shift? And we will hear from Turkey, we will hear from Moldova, we will hear from Portugal and Spain. And I would like to first give the floor to Taha Kursat-Şesen. I really apologize for the pronunciation. I asked you before, and I'm not very good with foreign language. Many of you may know that. Who is the General Director of the Ministry of Family and Social Services of the Republic of Turkey. Taha, the floor is yours.

Thank you again. Distinguished participants, dear guests, first and foremost, on behalf of Türkiye, I would like to express our great pleasure in being here today to address this important issue. It is a privilege to join distinguished participants in discussing the transformative power of family and health Early Intervention for Children with Disabilities. As we all know, early childhood is one of the most critical stages of life. It is during these formative years that the foundation of lifelong learning, independence, and participation in society are established. For children who need development support, early intervention can make a profound difference. Support provided at the right time helps address immediate needs while also shaping future opportunities and outcomes. Türkiye veers early intervention as far more than a set of services. We see it as an investment in children's potential, a means of empowering families, and an important contribution to building more inclusive societies. With the strong commitment and leadership of Minister Mahir Özdemir Göktaş, the Minister of Family and Social Services launched Turkey's first national family-centered early intervention system in 2025. During the design phase, we reviewed good practice from different countries and benefited from international experience. Building on these insights, we developed a model tailored to, to the needs and priorities of our country. The system is implemented under the coordination of the Presidency of Strategy and Budget, in cooperation with the Minister of National Education and the Minister of Health, with technical support from UNICEF. Our objective is clear: to identify children who need developed developmental support as early as possible and to respond to their needs through a systematic, holistic, and inclusive approach. To achieve this goal, Early Childhood Development Units have been established in 6 pilot provinces in Turkey. ECDe Units operate free of charge within daycare service centers affiliated with our ministry. One of the strongest features of the system is its multidisciplinary structure. Child development specialist, speech and language therapist, psychotherapist, psychologist, nurses, and social workers work together as a single team. The team also includes professionals from the Ministry of National Education. At the same time, We are aware that bringing different professionals together is not enough. Effective cooperation requires a shared methodology, a common assessment framework, and common language. For this reason, all professionals working in ECD units have completed comprehensive training programs. The Guide for Monitoring Child Development Service is the core tool of these training programs. It is a validated, internationally recognized tool used for monitoring development milestones in children from birth. I am pleased to note that this guide was developed by Turkish academicians. Today, it is being used in more than 30 countries around the world. This guide enables professionals to work with families to monitor children's development progress, identify their strengths, and determine their support needs. This reflects a core principle of our system: families are not observers of the process but engaged partners. Families can directly apply to ECD units for their children aged 0 to 8. In addition, children receiving other public services can also be referred to ECD system. For instance, a child benefiting from special education services may also be referred to receive support from the ECD unit simultaneously. Following the assessment process, ECD teams develop individualized monitoring plans for each child and family. These plans are formulated in collaborations with families,, and child, children's development progress is monitored on a regular basis. This process also enables families and professionals to jointly review strengths, challenges, and progress together and to decide collectively on the next step. Throughout this process, close communication and cooperation with families are maintained by ECD teams to respond to diverse needs of children and families. The system offers flexible models of service delivery depending on individual circumstances. Children and families may receive supported ECD unit through home visits conducted by our teams, or when appropriate, appropriate through phone consultation and follow-up services. Follow-up: When needed, children and families are referred to additional health, education, or social services. Furthermore, the teams hold regular weekly case meetings to assess each child and family from multiple perspectives, ensuring that support is delivered in a timely and appropriate manner. Distinguished participants, As of today, 231 children are receiving ongoing support and monitoring from ECD teams. Our long-term goal is to expand this ECD model across the country and reach every child and every family in need of support. We remain firmly committed to strengthening the support system that helps make this possible. I would like to sincerely thank UNICEF and all distinguished panelists and participants for their contributions to today's event. Before concluding, I would like to invite you to watch a short video introducing Turkey's National Family Center Early Intervention System. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you very much, Taha, for sharing the experience of Turkey and for this wonderful video that holds a promise to parents. And I think we heard this morning in a side event our colleague Fatma Wangare saying, one of the first questions that parents have is, what will happen after me? And I think from the start, if the government shows with partners and stakeholders that, yes, we are here for you, we are here with you, there is a promise that helps a lot. So we heard about Turkey. Now we will do a little bit of a tour to see how different countries are actually handling these issues and developing such systems. So I would like to do a first stop in Moldova and invite the Permanent Representative of Moldova, Gheorghe Leuca, to give us some elements about the work in Moldova.

Thank you.

Excellencies, distinguished participants, it is a pleasure on behalf of the mission of the Republic of Moldova to take the floor and to join this side event dedicated to early childhood intervention, a key area where my country has built a strong and longstanding partnership with UNICEF and many other international partners. Early childhood is one of the most critical stages of life. It is during this early age when the foundation for lifelong development are established. Timely identification of developmental delays, combined with appropriate and family-centered support, is essential to ensuring that child— children with disabilities or those at risk can develop to their full potential and participate meaningfully in society. There is a broad international consensus supported by UNICEF global evidence that early childhood intervention is a is both a child rights imperative and one of the most cost-effective investments in human capital. It contributes to improved education and health outcomes, helps reduce long-term inequalities, and provides essential support to families during a decisive stage of a child's development. In this context, the Republic of Moldova has been steadily developing and consolidating a national early childhood intervention system as part of its broader child rights and social protection agenda. Our approach is based on a clear principle that children develop best in a family environment, and services must therefore be designed around the child and the family, not the system. Our nationwide early childhood intervention service ensures early detection of developmental risk and provides multidisciplinary individualized support. And this includes speech and language therapy, physiotherapy, physiological counseling, and psychopedagogical assistance delivered through coordinated teams working closely with parents and caregivers. Since 2017, early childhood intervention services have been integrated into a national health insurance system, improving sustainability and expanding access through both public and contracted service providers. Today, 17 early childhood intervention centers operate across the country, and in 2025 alone, more than 5,000 children and their families benefited from these services, including children with autism spectrum disorders and other developmental conditions. A key milestone in this process has been the implementation of a National Development Plan for Early Childhood Intervention Services for the years 2023-2027. The plan significantly expands access to services for children up to 5 years of age and further consolidates the national early ACI framework. Alongside services expansion, the Republic of Moldova has placed, placed strong emphasis on strengthening professional capacities and ensuring the quality of interventions. A range of specialized training, study visits, and continuous professional development programs have been implemented to exchange the competencies of specialists and to promote family-centered and transdisciplinary approaches across the health, education and social protection sectors. An important milestone in this process was the International Conference on Early Childhood Intervention, held in Chișinău, the capital city of Moldova, in November 2023, which brought together national and international experts, practitioners, authorities at central and local levels, civil society representatives, and families. The conference highlighted the importance of family-centered services delivery and provided an important platform for exchange of international best practices. In the same month, a strategic partnership was formalized between the State University of Medicine and Pharma— Pharmacy in Chișinău, the Hamburg Medical School, UNICEF Moldova, and National Institute for Early Childhood Intervention. This memorandum of cooperation has supported the development and qualification frameworks and professional standards, the promotion of knowledge exchange, and the strengthening of academic and research capacities in the field. Building on this cooperation, the master's program in early childhood intervention developed and accredited by the State University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Moldova was launched in September 2024, contributing to the professionalization of specialists and the long-term sustainability of the system. Excellencies, the Republic of Moldova values the role of international cooperation and knowledge exchange. Study visits and technical exchanges supported by UNICEF have allowed Moldovan professionals and institutions to learn from international best practices and further strengthen family-centered services delivery models. During 2024-25, the Republic of Moldova has developed and formally approached both professional qualification education standards and quality assurance standards in the field of early childhood intervention, further enforcing the coherence, quality, and sustainability of a national system. The experience of Moldova demonstrates that effective early childhood intervention system requires sustained investment, strong intersectional coordination, and above all, close partnership between governments, families, professionals and development partners such as UNICEF. Most importantly, it shows that when services are family-centered, accessible and integrated, they can transform life trajectories and ensure that no child is left behind. Distinguished delegates, as we look ahead, the Republic of Moldova remains committed to further expanding and strengthening the early childhood intervention services improving equity of access and ensuring that every child could grow, develop, and thrive in a supportive family environment. We also see today's discussion as an opportunity to reinforce our shared commitment under the Convention on the Rights of the Person with Disabilities, particularly Articles 7, 23, 24, and 25, and to continue building inclusive systems that start from the earliest years of life. We'd like to express our appreciation to Turkey and UNICEF for organizing this timely and important exchange, as well as for their continued partnership and recognition of the Republic of Moldova's efforts in advancing this agenda. I thank you.

Thank you very much. And indeed, I think most people that have worked in Europe and Central Asia have heard about Moldova as the champion of deinstitutionalization, which is also now a country where we go for study visits, um, and I think to, to learn about this great experience and this sustained effort. So moving from Moldova, we will go to another country that received a lot of study visits. We will go to Portugal. Where I heard a lot about the Portugal model. Did you hear about the Portugal model? The Portugal model. So I'm very happy that we have with us our excellent Clara Marques Mendes, who is Vice Minister for Social Action and for Inclusion, to tell us more about the Portugal model.

Thank you.

Muito obrigado.

Thank you very much, Excellencies, distinguished participants. I would like to thank on behalf of Portugal UNICEF and Türkiye on organizing this event, and we are pleased to be co-sponsors, so to share Portugal's experience and plans in this area, and especially the work we have been doing on this area. The Portuguese experience clearly demonstrates that early years of life are crucial for the development, independence, and inclusion of children with disabilities. It is during this period that public investment has the greatest impact, not only on the child but also on the family and society as a whole. Portugal has been consolidating a family-centered approach based on the National Early Childhood Intervention System for children aged 0 to 6, which promotes integrated responses in the areas of health, education, and social protection. This model is based on on a logic of proximity, of intervention within the child's natural environments, and of empowering families, the primary agents of development. Allow me to share Portugal's experience in 3 key areas. First, the need for integrated and coordinated systems. Early intervention requires close coordination between the health, education, and social protection sectors. The National Intervention Model is based on multidisciplinary teams and a territorial approach, enabling early identification of needs and a continuous response that is close to children and families. Second, The importance of a family-centered approach. Portugal places particular emphasis on the role of parents and caregivers. Experience shows that interventions are most effective when families are actively involved, families are empowered, and families are recognized as key partners in the child's development. This approach contributes to better outcomes but also to strengthening autonomy and participation, which are central principles of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Third, the need to invest in sustainability and system capacity. That's why early intervention is one of the areas with the highest return on investment, but It's essential to ensure qualified and multidisciplinary teams, effective coordination mechanisms, and robust monitoring and evaluation systems. Portugal recognizes the importance of continuing to invest in expanding coverage and improving the quality of responses. Support in the early years must be linked to subsequent pathways. Which is the case of inclusive education, training, and employment, so that we can ensure continuity and coherence in public policies. This early work will allow us to have better inclusive education and training and employment. In this context, Portugal is committed to taking a new qualitative step forward which is strengthening territorial coverage and quality of early intervention services, promoting continuous professional development for teachers, ensuring data and monitoring to evaluate results and therefore adjust policies, and guaranteeing the active participation of families and persons with disabilities themselves in shaping these responses. That's why Portugal is committed to this vision of starting earlier, better involving family, work together families, support families, so that in the early stages we can be better prepared for the entire life cycle. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Obrigado. And we will not travel very far. And we heard a lot, I think, since the beginning of the week on different events related to care and support about the efforts and this vast reform of the government in Spain to enhance care and support system for persons with disability across the life cycle. So it's a pleasure to have with us Veronica Balmaceda, who is the Head of International Affairs Unit for the Directorate General for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, to tell us more about Spain's experience.

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for giving me the floor. At the outset, allow me to express my appreciation to the organizers for convening us for this timely and important discussion. This issue goes to the very heart of children's rights. Ensuring that children with disabilities, as well as children at risk of development delay, can grow up within their families and communities with the support they require. For Spain, early intervention is not merely a matter of service provision. It is fundamentally a matter of rights and equal opportunities, the prevention of institutionalization and the support for families. It is also an essential way to put into practice the commitments we have made under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Convention on the Rights of Children. As the recent report of the Special Rapporteur clearly underscores, in the absence of adequate support, children with disabilities face a significantly high risk of family separation and institutionalization. Moreover, when public systems fail to respond effectively, the burden falls disproportionately on mothers and the other caregivers. In response to this challenge, Spain is working towards an universal, public, free of charge, inclusive, and family-centered model of early intervention delivered in the child's natural environments. In 2023, Spain adopted a roadmap for improving early intervention, which recognizes early intervention as a right of all children. This marked the first common national framework developed jointly by regional governments, ministries, professionals, and organizations representing persons with disabilities and representing children. We are now building on that achievement through a national consensus framework that establishes common quality standards and indicators. Let me briefly share 5 lessons from this experience. First, early intervention can only be truly effective when health, education, and social services operate in a coordinated and integrated manner. Second, families must be placed at the center. They are not passive recipients or beneficiaries of support, but essential partners in the development and well-being of their children. Third, early identification and timely intervention are critical. They improve outcomes, reduce inequalities, and help prevent exclusion later in life. Fourth, strong systems depend on well-trained and stable professionals, teams capable, capable of working with families through interdisciplinary bio-psychosocial and community-based approaches. And fifth, sustainability and quality are indispensable. Early intervention must be underpinned by adequate funding, continuous evaluation, and common standards. Allow me to conclude with one simple idea: when we support children from the earliest years of their lives, and when we strengthen their families, we contribute to building societies that are more inclusive, more equal, and more cohesive. For this reason, early intervention must be guaranteed as a right for every child. Thank you very much.

Thank you, thank you very much for this— sharing this experience. I am in a very strange situation as a moderator. Every speaker stick to the time that was agreed to, and we have Enough time for a discussion, which usually doesn't happen. So thank you very much to all the speakers for sharing and being concise. I would like, as we move into the discussion segment, I would like to invite Vepa Agyu, who is the permanent representative of Turkmenistan, to share with us some remarks.

Thank you very much. First of all, let me express my gratitude to distinguished panelists for the excellent presentations and welcome our high-level panelists to this important event. I think all of your interventions and insights that was today raised in this event meaningful and will be useful for our further work on that direction. Dear colleagues, thank you for organizing this important side event and for the— once again for your informative presentations on family-centered early intervention for children with disabilities. With regard to Central Asia and particular Turkmenistan, we would like to add that support for children with disabilities and families in vulnerable situations remains an important part of our national social policy. In cooperation with UNICEF, Turkmenistan is working on early identification and support for children with developmental delays, as well as on strengthening inclusive education and accessible learning environments. In this context, we would also like to highlight the humanitarian work of the Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov Charitable Foundation for assistance to children in need of care. The foundation provides support to children requiring medical treatment, social care, and special assistance. At the International Conference on the Role of Women in Modern Society held in Awaza in December last year. The Vice President of the Foundation proposed the initiative to establish an international network of support centers for women and children, Humanity Hubs. This initiative envisaged centers that could provide medical and psychological assistance, safe learning spaces, social and legal support, food assistance, and mobile medical services for women and children. An important element of the initiative is a unified coordination platform bringing together UNICEF, WHO, UNDP, UNFPA, UN Women, charitable foundations, and civil society organizations. We believe that I think that such an approach is fully in line with the spirit of today's discussion. Early, coordinated, and family-centered support can change the life trajectory of children and help ensure their inclusion from the very beginning. Thank you very much, and thank you for your excellent moderating, sir.

Thank you.

Thank you very much. I would like now to open the floor for any comments. Questions that the audience may have. So, yep, sir, if you can introduce yourself as you start. Thank you.

Sorry, my name is Maurice Quinlan. I'm a member of the Irish Parliament and I chair our committee on disability matters, and I'm joined here by some of my colleagues on that committee. There's 4 of us at the conference all week. I just wanted to make a comment on somebody said there about adult, older adults who look after older children, you know, or which are basically adults. We have an organisation in Ireland who presented to our committee recently called Before We Die campaign, and that was made up of older parents who look after their older adult children. We found that in Ireland 2,000 people were living with parents minding them who were 70 years of age or older. 500 of them live with families who were 80 years or older, and we found one lady who was 97 years of age still caring for her adult child. So we urgently need in Ireland, we need respite, a plan around care, what we're going to do with— and I want to just emphasize all the good work that has been done over the years, but we still are struggling with that. So we need an urgent plan of what to do when older adults die who have been cared by older people, and if the older people die before them. And unfortunately, some of them said to us when they presented to our committee and we met them that they would rather die— or they would rather a child died before they died themselves because they have no idea what's going to happen to them afterwards. 2% of those had a plan of what to do with their adult child, what would happen to their adult child after they passed away. And unfortunately, at least 98% or whatever of those with having no plan. So that's just an issue I wanted to raise, and I just want to thank everyone for their contributions. It was very, very valuable what I heard today. So, go ahead, Margot.

Thank you very much.

Yep.

Wait, wait. I have one first, second, third, and fourth. Okay, please.

Thank you. My name is Karen Agengo, Principal Secretary State Department for Children's Services in the Ministry of Gender, Culture, and Children's Services from Kenya. I just want to highlight what Kenya is doing, having identified gaps which are affecting many children with disabilities. We have identified that many children with disability are identified much later due to deep-rooted stigma, issues of poverty, and fragmented services. What Kenya is doing is Kenya is advancing comprehensive care reforms which are anchored in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Kenya has come up with a legal framework, one of them being the Persons with Disabilities Act 2025, which we are now using to scale up the positive parenting program. And I want to also highlight that the ministry has come up with a specialized caregiving training manual in the year 2024, which provides for practical guidance on early identification, developmental stimulation, and mental health. As a country, Kenya is already training and we plan to train at least 15,000 caregivers and frontline workers across all the 47 countries by the year 2028. And we believe that true inclusion is not only found in policies, but it is in whether a family experience support instead of stigma. And today I want to challenge all the state parties here represented to make at least one new commitment that will ensure we have early intervention so that families are empowered and children thrive. Thank you.

Thank you very much for sharing the experience of Kenya. Like you?

Oh, lovely.

My name is Felicity Chapman. I'm a New York disability advocate focused on education equity. Early intervention is, you know, we were all brought here because we know that that's important.

And my question is to anyone who would like to answer, how do we, how are you, or how do you think the solution of bridging the connect between early intervention and long—

and within long-term classrooms, because early interventions are hypothetically just as good as how long we can have those students in classrooms. So how do you see a solution of bridging that gap between early interventions and long-term classroom success?

Thank you very much. I will— deal with the question afterwards.

Yeah.

Jacqueline. Oh, my name is Jacqueline Tomlin. I am here on the behalf of New York State Office of People with Developmental Disabilities. I appreciate all the information that was shared about your early intervention programs. I noticed that like the age difference in many different spaces, some people's programs go up to 6 years old, some people go up to 8. If you all can speak on the bonding aspect of your program, because I know like here in New York City, we are preparing for a 2K program where our 2-year-olds may be in school from 8:00 PM all the way to 6:00 PM. So if you can speak on your perspective on like what is bonding, like speaking on that so that, you know, something for us to think about long-term goals,, right? Like if our children are in school for those long hours, like what are some ways we can shore up the gap when it comes to bonding?

Just keep the mic. Can you clarify what you mean by bonding? Because I'm not sure everybody understands.

Spending time and building the relationship between the parent and child, because if the child is in daycare from maybe 9 to 6, that's almost 9 to 8 hours away from a 2-year-old So I was just thinking if our programs are— by 2, they're going to be transitioning into a full-time classroom. Do you all have any feedback regarding how you all are dealing with building that relationship with parent and child in the interim of the child being in a full-time program so young?

Thank you. Thank you very much. Any other questions? Yes, I made a mistake. Please go.

Yeah, I think so. Hello, my name is Carolina Ekström and I'm here as a Swedish delegate with the Swedish mission and the civil representative, and then I'm also vice president of the National Swedish Deaf Association. We have seen different challenges throughout the years with deaf children that firsthand they are providing technical aids instead of language to these children. And that has a big impact in deaf children's lives. They have difficulty following what is dead and have delayed language development. That means also it influences their chance to get an education and follow in education. And I'm a bit wondering how your country is doing about this early intervention If you have a deaf child, how do you support them with the language and support the family with language? I'm a bit curious how you do that, especially deaf children, because it's a quite unique situation to have a deaf child. So thank you.

Thank you very much. I would like to— I'm just checking.

Yep.

One last, and then we will go back to the panelists.

Swedish interpreters. And I would like to connect with Carolina's question. Deaf individuals, deaf people here in in the United States. Okay, so we're talking about deaf individuals, deaf children with other diagnosis as well. How do you support them? At first, the first question is how do you support the parents if they have a child who, that is both deaf and has another diagnosis as well, and how do you support the child? Before, it's been the only focus about one of the parties, not both, or just one of the disability, not both, just the deaf disability, the deafness or the diagnosis but now they have to focus on both. They give the child the opportunity to go to a deaf school, or they will give the child hearing aids or cochlear implants. And they— if they get a cochlear implant, that is a hearing device, they don't get sign language, and this was just a compliment to— or a compliment to what Carolina said, it wasn't really a question. But Carolina says here that now we see all these different sign languages, and I don't know all countries' sign languages, Just so you know, every country has their own sign language, so we tried to do this interpretation with the best we could. Thank you.

Thank you very much for coming in. Much appreciated. Much appreciated. So I would like to open the floor for some of the colleagues. We have different questions, and I think I like the fact that we had two questions that are actually mirroring each other. The first question was about how do we ensure that there is a bridge between early intervention and inclusive education, and the fact that all the effort that we make in those early years is not stopped and once the kids start education. So that's the first, but in the other end, We have the question of— a big discussion this week is about unpaid care and the whole issue of parents, especially parents and mothers of children with disabilities, struggling to combine care and work. And of course, if you have a K2, if you have a program that provides daycare, for instance, Many hours will be spent for the kids there, while we know that there is also this important bonding relationship between the parents and the child. So how do we balance those, those different elements and tension? I wanted to ask from the panelists if anybody wants to answer those questions. Yes, Clara.

Obrigada.

Thank you. I think I wanted to say that effectively in Portugal there has been a pathway on the response to persons with disabilities in Portugal, we are focused in providing continuous responses starting from the beginning of life until the end in all contexts. And that's why in early interventions from 0 to 6, as I mentioned, but we also have targets and inclusive education so that school— we can go from a vision that persons have to adapt to school to a vision that school has to adapt to students. This is why we have been strengthening and we are now reevaluating the school diploma on inclusive education to provide to have more human resources, more qualified human resources to accompany children and young people in schools. A big bet we are having is to have more qualified human responses to provide diversified responses to youth. Because there are different needs of deaf students. We have specialized school for deaf children, but the goal, the goal is not to have segregated schools. We have inclusive schools where there are human resources more qualified for specific disabilities, and we are continuing to work towards that goal. There is also a set of responses for persons with disabilities. We have the informal caregivers. We have two types. We have the informal caregiver, non-principal, who has the specificity to be flexible in the workforce so that he can work and also support child, his children. And second, we also have the informal caregiver that doesn't work, so he can care 100% so that we also provide state allowances to them. So this is one of the work we have been doing to provide this life cycle approach so that we do not have gaps in the coverage.

I just wanted to see if Spain—

yeah, Veronica, I wonder if there's a Spanish translation because I was told that there was not, but now I see that they are having Portuguese. Okay. Well, one of the main points of our roadmap to improve the early attention is that the competencies on early attention, early attention, lies on the regional regions, in the regions. So there's a great disparity, and there has been a great disparity between one region and another. It depends on the postal code. And this is the main problem we face in Spain. This is on one hand, and on the other hand, it's the inclusive education. There's a great difference between one region and the others and their budgets. So we are still facing this difficulty. The point is to tailor-make the program for children and to adapt their education and the social services to their necessities. But this is on our roadmap. We have not achieved this result. We wish, but it's not the case. Um, in principle, it is, um, early, early attention. It is expected to be from 3 to 6, but with these tailor-made programs, we intend to extend the age to those cases where the development has not been achieved.

Of the child.

But as I said, these are our, um, quality standards. We are moving to that place, but it is not the case right now. And regarding to what our colleague from Ireland told us, we do also have a lot of mothers with 19, 18 years, and they are the victims of no early attention of children in the '80s and '90s in the 20th century. And it is also a big problem because there is a strong dependency on the mothers and their children, all children. They don't want to separate from them, and they are very afraid of what is going to happen to them. And they don't trust anybody else in the world, not even their sisters or brothers or family. And what they never want them is to go to an institution. This is their worst nightmare, and they have really strong nightmares with about this. And we do have a very strong problem with this also, because mothers, they don't want to, to be cared. They are old, but they don't want to realize that they are getting old, and they They say that we are aging them, and it is not the case. The thing is that they need to be cared also, but they don't want to recognize this problem. So we are trying to solve it, but it's not the case. I wish, like, in 20 more years of the convention, we have achieved it. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much.

Georgi from—

here at the mission, of course, we cannot go deep to answer the questions, but if need be, we can answer through UNICEF. But just in addition to what we said before related to the questions, I would like to add that in Moldova, after appropriate training, Ken became Parents can become personal assistants and receive salary as personal assistants. And regarding this second question, we focus now on deinstitutionalization and integration in schools. So children with more severe disabilities have personal assistants with them during classes. So if some additional questions, we can— Thank you.

Thank you so much for this and for offering international cooperation. Much appreciated. Maybe some, some few last comments from our host Turkey with Burcu Ayınan, who is the head of Department of Research and International Relations for the Ministry of Family and Social Services.

Thank you, Alex. I just I just wanted to add a few things because I'm a part of the ECI team in Türkiye, and all of these questions actually reflect our concerns when we first started to study this establishing early intervention system. Actually, more than 7 years we have been looking at different good examples from other countries, but we realize that there is not only one good implementation around the world because every Every culture, every country has their own features and even different regions are different from each other. So we decided to examine all of the good practices but to adapt it to our own country's needs and features. So from that side, all of these concerns were— we had all of these in our pocket. And now we have been piloting the system for about a year, and there is a lot of things to do regarding that. For instance, integrated and continuum of service early intervention systems are one thing, very important, and multidisciplinary perspective is very critical even for differing needs, for differing developmental risks or disabilities. Including language and speech therapists. And now we need to put ergotherapist specialists in Turkey, for instance. That's what we saw during the pilot implementation. And also in the literature, there is a 0 to 6 or 0 to 8, but we prioritized from 0 to 42 months, first 42 months. Because it is 0 to 8, since some of the kids or families Many families do not realize the developmental risks, so when they go to the primary school, their teachers are the ones who realize something needs to be done, they need some special support or other needs. So, in Türkiye, we decided to implement it from 0 to 8, actually. And another thing is also special— education and early intervention. Actually, this is like 3 pillars from social services side, education and health, but it is not enough because you need community-based care as well on the other side or other public services. You need to support the system with the other mechanisms in the country. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Thank you very much. We are coming to a close for this event and I really would like to find the Permanent Mission and the government of Turkey for convening this event, and all the panelists. Just a few messages. I think you said every country is different. Yes, it's true. And every model needs to be adapted. But there are a few elements. I think you all described a very strong commitment to the CRPD vision. It's about inclusion. It's about rights from the very first years. Strong roadmap and planning— you all mentioned that. At some point, decisions were made, plans were made with proper goals, milestones, indicators. Cross-sectoral coordination— I wish we would have 3 hours more to discuss about how easy or difficult it is to organize coordination between sectors. We know it's a challenge, so congratulations for all the progress you've made in that direction. Another key element: the family at the center. It's not the doctor, it's not the pediatrician, it's the family. And I think you, you all made this point very clearly. Acting as early as possible. And one element also which I think we need to emphasize: workforce, workforce, workforce. I think we, we all know that with fiscal crisis, with things that are happening, there is temptation at different level of governments to reduce or constrain public workforce. And we see that we really need workforce and we need a diverse workforce. And this diverse workforce, I think, coming back to our deaf colleagues that were making the point, is also critical to respond to the diversity of needs and experience and trajectories that different children, being deaf, blind— we didn't talk, for instance, of children with deafblindness also, so children with very high and complex needs. And ultimately, to conclude, I would like just to come back to this issue of the promise. What will happen when I die? And I really like what you said, so I would like to finish with that, that some of the issues we face today is because we didn't have early identification and intervention in the '80s and in the '90s, in the 20th century. In the next 20 years, I hope we will be able to meet. Some of us will be retired, the young generation will be there and telling us, "We made it different." Thank you very much, colleagues, and I wish you a very good rest of the COSP. Thank you very much.