Upholding the rights of every child, including children with disabilities (Moldova)
“I want every child, including children with disabilities, to be happy and active members of our society, with all of their rights respected, protected and fulfilled. I also want to know that every parent that has a child with a disability is supported, has accepted the disability of their child as soon as possible and does not encounter discrimination.”
Ludmila Adamciuc is the mother of a four-year-old girl with Down syndrome, and a vlogger and advocate for children with disabilities. She is the founder of an NGO, Prietenamea, that raises awareness and promotes the acceptance of persons with disabilities. She has built an impressive community of followers on social media (57,500 on Instagram, 5,000 friends on her personal Facebook page and 13,000 friends on the Prietenamea page).
Ludmila began advocating for the acceptance of children with disabilities in 2018, when her daughter was born. She was initially depressed and found limited information about the development of children with Down syndrome, supporting her child and accessing available services. Through research and with the support of her family, she accepted her daughter’s disability and was inspired to offer similar support to other parents of children with disabilities. She dedicated herself to raising awareness and advocating for the social acceptance of children with disabilities and their families.
Ludmila began by posting pictures and videos on Facebook and Instagram that promoted acceptance and diversity. She then created a blog (https://prietenamea.com/) where she shared stories and lessons learned. She also led a campaign that invited people to wear blue and yellow clothes and socks of different colours as symbols of acceptance of Down syndrome.
In June 2019, UN Human Rights invited Ludmila to join the Network of Parents of Children and Youth with Disabilities. Through the Network, Ludmila and 14 other parents are benefiting from UN Human Rights’ support, which includes access to a psychological empowerment and training programme on human rights, which promotes a human rights-based approach to disability and advocacy.
Encouraged by these activities and UN Human Rights’ mentoring, Ludmila decided to apply her knowledge and advocacy skills and formally registered “Prietenamea” in early 2021.
UN Human Rights immediately partnered with Ludmila’s NGO in the context of World Down Syndrome Day to organize a campaign, #WeAreAllDifferent, that ran from 21 March to 21 April. The campaign promoted the equality of rights and acceptance of children and persons with Down syndrome and other disabilities. Videos and articles on equality and non-discrimination of persons with Down syndrome were featured and awareness-raising activities were delivered to all levels of educational institutions. Furthermore, from October to December, OHCHR offered guidance to Ludmila and Prietenamea to implement a “Friendship and acceptance month” campaign, which included awareness-raising stories for children and information sessions on equality and non-discrimination, access to education and psychological empowerment for parents. Both campaigns had a wide reach that included the participation of 528 children and youth from 20 educational institutions and resulted in more than 513,076 visualizations of videos, 1,904 shares, 19,770 likes, 15,000 read articles and the attendance of 3,100 participants in online sessions.
“I’m very thankful to UN Human Rights for the support provided since 2019. I feel empowered and I believe this will enable me to empower other parents.”
