The right to play: a powerful promise made also to children with disability

The international community has long recognised the importance of play for every child. The Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted in 1989, expressly affirms this principle in Arti- cle 31: «the States Parties recognize the right of the child to rest and leisure, to engage in play». The rights set forth in Article 31 apply universally to all the different communities of the world, respecting all cultural traditions. Monitoring of the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child is carried out by a devoted Committee, who noted with concern that these rights were very little recognised. The Committee is particularly concerned about the difficulties faced by certain categories of children in exercising these rights, such as girls, poor children, children with disabilities, indig- enous children and children belonging to minorities. Multiple barriers prevent children with disabilities: if for all children the right to play exists, disability is likely to deny this right. In this regard, the Committee endorses the Article 30 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which emphasizes the obligation of States parties to ensure that children with disabilities can participate in play, recreation and sport, on an equal footing with other children, including in the school system.