Collaborative on Global Children's Issues

Childhood unfolds within the structural conditions of displacement in Za’atari Refugee Camp. In this context, children face multiple, overlapping risks, including exposure to stress, disruptions to education, and weakened social support systems. For children with disabilities, these risks are further intensified by barriers that limit access to essential services, inclusive education, and specialized care.

Za’atari Refugee Camp, located in northern Jordan near the Syrian border, was established in July 2012 in response to the Syrian conflict. Originally built as a temporary shelter, it has since evolved into a semi-permanent settlement and is now home to approximately 65,000 displaced Syrians, half of whom are children. Although the camp has served as a critical site of protection, it remains structured around principles of efficiency and rapid service delivery, often at the expense of accessibility and inclusive design.

For children with disabilities, this approach translates into restricted mobility, unequal access to education and healthcare, and limited participation in social and protection systems. In Za’atari, disability inclusion remains limited in practice rather than embedded as a core priority, leaving children with disabilities disproportionately excluded despite existing initiatives.

Children with Disabilities in Displaced Contexts

Children make up approximately 40% of the 117 million people displaced globally, and estimates suggest that around 17.6 million of those displaced may be living with a disability. However, data specifically on refugee children with disabilities remains limited. These gaps stem from inconsistent definitions of disability and migrant status, as well as data collection methods that often fail to capture disability accurately. In some cases, individuals and families may be hesitant to disclose disability because they fear stigma, discrimination, or losing access to services. As a result, children with disabilities represent an underaccounted-for subgroup of displaced populations. Research consistently demonstrates that their rights and protection are frequently overlooked within humanitarian responses.

As regional expert Rasha Istaiteyeh, professor of economics at The Hashemite University and affiliate researcher at Georgetown University, explained, access to services in Za’atari is largely shaped by how vulnerability is identified and prioritized within the camp’s service structure. UNHCR and partners use tools such as Jordan’s Vulnerability Assessment Framework (VAF) to assess need and allocate assistance. While these systems are designed to target those most in need, they rely on standardized indicators and household data that may not fully capture disability. As a result, children with disabilities may be under-identified and less consistently prioritized in service delivery, reinforcing existing gaps in access and inclusion.

International frameworks, including the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, affirm that every child has the right to non-discrimination, inclusive education, healthcare, protection, and participation in decisions affecting them. The World Health Organization defines persons with disabilities as individuals with long-term physical, mental, intellectual, or sensory impairments that, in interaction with various barriers, may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others. In humanitarian contexts, however, disability identification often relies on visible markers, creating service gaps for children with cognitive, psychosocial, or non-apparent disabilities.

At the national level, the Jordanian government has taken notable steps to advance the rights of children with disabilities. Jordan ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2008 and later adopted Article 20 in 2017, which affirms the right to inclusive education and accessibility. Organizations such as the Jasmine Society for Children with Down Syndrome were among the first to provide specialized services, and, in the past decade, additional organizations have emerged to support children with a range of disabilities. Together, these developments reflect growing state-level recognition of the importance of disability inclusion—an approach that stands in contrast to the more fragmented efforts observed in Za’atari.

Disability does not exist in isolation. Gender norms, stigma, and displacement intersect in ways that make girls with disabilities especially invisible. As a result, the under-recognition of refugee children with disabilities becomes a significant structural barrier, limiting access to essential services and undermining development during critical stages of childhood. These broader patterns of exclusion are reflected in camps like Za’atari Refugee Camp, where under-identification and limited inclusive planning directly shape the daily lives of children with disabilities. In Za’atari, approximately 3.3% of all children are formally identified as disabled. However, this figure likely underrepresents the actual percentage due to persistent gaps in disability-inclusive data collection and identification methods.

Disability in Za’atari Refugee Camp

Daily life in Za’atari Refugee Camp increasingly resembles that of a small city. Originally designed as a temporary protection site for Syrian refugees, its protracted status has transformed it into a semi-permanent, urban-like settlement. In 2016, significant infrastructure upgrades were introduced to improve shelter conditions and service delivery. Tents were replaced with rows of 3 x 5.7-meter caravans, organized into clustered districts, and roads were paved to facilitate access to water networks and waste management systems. These changes reflected a shift toward more formalized and urbanized spatial planning. However, disability-inclusive design remained limited, and accessibility gaps in the camp’s infrastructure persist today.

According to the Site Planning and Shelter Project Report, physical disability was considered in aspects of the camp’s restructuring. However, the focus on physical accessibility alone limited the scope of inclusive planning. By centering mobility impairments without accounting for cognitive, sensory, or psychosocial disabilities, reconstruction efforts risked reinforcing exclusion for a sizable percentage of the child population.

Education

Temporary educational disruption is common for school-aged children in contexts of conflict and displacement. However, for children with disabilities, interruption often becomes permanent, particularly in protracted refugee settings. Effective special education is generally grounded in individualized and adaptive instruction; in several high-income education systems, this approach is guided by an Individualized Education Program (IEP) and the principle of placement in the least restrictive environment, an approach not often incorporated in displaced settings. Services may range from in-class accommodations and resource support to self-contained instruction, depending on a child’s needs. Students who are deaf or hard of hearing, have speech impairments, cognitive disabilities, or psychosocial conditions may require assistive devices, therapeutic services, or trained specialists.

In humanitarian settings such as Za’atari, funding constraints and limited availability of specialized personnel significantly restrict the provision of these services. In discussion with another regional expert who preferred to remain anonymous, schools in Za’atari were described as among the least prioritized within border state funding and allocation. A high student-teacher ratio makes quality education in the classroom difficult and significantly limits the meaningful inclusion of children with disabilities. As a result, affected children are disproportionately excluded from formal education. The same regional expert noted that children with disabilities are more likely to rely on family for social behavior learning when access to formal schooling is limited. Physical barriers further compound this exclusion: long walking distances, unpaved or uneven roads, inadequate lighting, and inaccessible school facilities can make daily attendance unsafe or impractical. Together, these structural and resource limitations transform what should be a temporary educational disruption into long-term educational exclusion.

Healthcare and Specialized Care

Access to healthcare is a critical part of protection in protracted displacement settings like Za’atari. While primary healthcare services are available through humanitarian partnerships, access to specialized and rehabilitative care remains limited. Children with disabilities often rely on ongoing support for their physical, cognitive, and emotional development. This can include services such as physical, occupational, and speech therapy, as well as mental health support and assistive devices, like hearing aids, mobility aids, visual supports, and communication tools.

Early childhood development is particularly sensitive to timely intervention. For many children born with disabilities, developmental progress depends on early identification and consistent therapeutic support beginning in infancy. Yet these services require sustained funding, trained professionals, and effective referral systems, resources often constrained in humanitarian settings. As a result, children in Za’atari face delayed diagnosis, interrupted care, or exclusion from specialized services. Persistent under-identification compounds these gaps by preventing timely referral and intervention, increasing the risk of secondary complications and long-term developmental setbacks. In protracted displacement, these missed early interventions can have lasting consequences, perpetuating long-term vulnerability.

In addition to therapeutic interventions, many children with disabilities have complex health needs that require specialized medical care, including access to pediatric cardiology, oncology, hematology, endocrinology, and orthopedic care. While this care is essential—and oftentimes life-saving—protracted settings tend to prioritize acute and emergency healthcare needs over long-term health conditions. As a result, children with disabilities are often placed on long waitlists for specialized care.

These challenges are further compounded by broader system constraints. In 2025, approximately 30% of health facilities serving the camp population were reported to have closed, limiting access to continuous care. Some services are also located outside campgrounds, making access difficult without ambulances and funding for transportation. Access to medication can also be inconsistent. Although Za’atari’s partnership with NGOs like King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center and the Syrian American Medical Society provides medication for refugees in the camp, most medication available for children is treatment for infections, diarrhea, skin conditions, and allergies, leaving gaps in the treatments and medication available for children with underlying health conditions.

Social stigma constitutes a significant barrier between children with disabilities and their access to essential services such as education, therapeutic support, and healthcare. Families may restrict children’s participation in public life out of fear of discrimination or community labeling, limiting their visibility within social and institutional spaces. This social exclusion, combined with the financial strain associated with meeting their needs in displacement settings, creates substantial gaps in service access and continuity of care. As a result, many children remain under-identified, under-supported, and excluded from interventions critical to their long-term developmental outcomes.    

Disability-Inclusive Initiatives in Za’atari

Humanitarian actors in Za’atari Refugee Camp have launched several disability-inclusive initiatives to improve access to essential services for children with disabilities, particularly for identification, mobility access, inclusive education, and healthcare. International agencies like UNHCR and UNICEF, in partnership with Mercy Corps and Save the Children, are primarily responsible for providing these services.

Identifying disability in a displacement context is key to providing essential services that can improve the overall quality of life for the child. Implementation of the Washington Group on Disability Statistics by Humanity & Inclusion and the International Disability Alliance in camps across Jordan and Lebanon introduced a standardized set of questions to assist in identifying persons with disabilities. Since implementing this approach, Humanity & Inclusion found, from a survey conducted from 2017 to 2018, that one in every five Syrian refugees in Lebanon and Jordan had a disability, including children. Although this represents a significant advancement for children who are identified early, the methodology underlying the Washington Group (WG) approach remains limited and may leave gaps in the identification of children with certain types of disabilities. Additionally, it remains unclear if any subsequent action was taken following the administration of this study.

According to the regional expert, efforts in collecting data on disability identification in Za’atari have increased awareness of disability among refugees and have pushed for more inclusive planning in the physical structure of the camp, particularly for individuals with mobility limitations. Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) facilities have been moved to individual households, making hygiene accessible for individuals with limited mobility. UNHCR has also conducted an accessibility assessment, resulting in efforts to add ramps and paved walkways. For children with disabilities, UNICEF and Mercy Corps’ addition of inclusive playgrounds has marked a milestone in their participation. The inclusive playgrounds incorporate specialized equipment designed to be accessible for children with limited mobility and sensory sensitivities, including features intended to support children with autism. Although the playground does not fully accommodate all types of disabilities, it represents a meaningful step toward inclusive recreational spaces within the camp and promotes the overall participation of children with disabilities in public spaces.

Recreational initiatives provide valuable opportunities for social participation, but they cannot substitute for comprehensive educational access. Recognizing this gap, UNICEF has implemented programs to improve the inclusion of children with disabilities in formal schooling. UNICEF supports schooling for 700 children with disabilities, providing resource rooms, support teachers, individualized academic support to students, customized equipment in schools and classrooms, and assistive devices. As of 2019, UNICEF maintained its emphasis on an inclusive education framework, which integrates children with disabilities into mainstream classrooms, rather than adopting fully individualized education models tailored to specific learning needs. While this reflects important progress in safeguarding educational opportunities for children with disabilities in Za’atari, systemic barriers continue to limit access and full participation, underscoring the need for ongoing intervention.

Disability-inclusive healthcare planning has been slow to improve, with limited funding resulting in limited progress. In 2015, Fundación Promoción Social launched a year-long program aimed at improving healthcare for children with disabilities in Za’atari by distributing assistive devices and providing specialized physiotherapy services. Since the program concluded in 2016, there has been limited reporting on the progress of disability-inclusive healthcare in the camp. Exceptions include the International Medical Corps, which, since 2018, has offered services targeting children with developmental delays and disabilities, highlighting the ongoing need for sustained and coordinated healthcare interventions.

Conclusion

Za’atari Refugee Camp demonstrates that disability inclusion for children in humanitarian settings cannot remain a reactive measure; it must become a structural principle. Although important steps have been taken, from improved data collection methods to inclusive play spaces and educational initiatives, these efforts remain fragmented, constrained by limited funding and a system still framed around emergency response. For children with disabilities, these gaps are not abstract—they shape daily life and determine access to essential services, programs, and rights guaranteed under international law.

As displacement becomes increasingly protracted, camps like Za’atari function less as temporary shelters and more as long-term, city-like communities. Planning for permanence requires moving beyond minimum standards and mainstreaming disability inclusion into every stage of humanitarian response, from initial site planning and infrastructure design to education systems, healthcare delivery, and protection frameworks. This approach includes investing in disability-disaggregated data collection, training educators and healthcare providers in inclusive practices, expanding access to specialized and rehabilitative services, and ensuring that children with disabilities and their families are meaningfully consulted in decision-making processes.

Sustainable inclusion also demands predictable, multi-year funding that reflects the protracted reality of displacement rather than short-term emergency cycles. Children with disabilities are not a marginal subgroup, but an integral part of the social fabric of refugee communities. Their full participation must be planned for, resourced, and protected as a matter of rights, not treated as an optional add-on to humanitarian response.

Lía Butanda (G’27) is pursuing her master’s degree in international migration and refugees at Georgetown University's Walsh School of Foreign Service.