BEIJING - China has made substantial progress in improving accessibility for children with disabilities, said Amakobe Sande, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) representative to China.

Sande made the remarks ahead of International Children's Day, noting that China's law on building a barrier-free living environment marks an important step forward in promoting accessibility.

"It establishes clear standards and accountability, and lays the groundwork for more inclusive systems," she said.

China has also stepped up efforts to provide greater support to families of children with disabilities through child welfare reform, Sande said. The country's inclusive education policy has also helped ensure that children with disabilities can attend mainstream schools alongside their peers, she added, while noting that more remains to be done.

"We need to remove barriers in our schools, communities and, most importantly, in our attitudes and perceptions, to build a disability-inclusive future for every child," Sande said.

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UNICEF China and its partners on Friday launched a national campaign ahead of International Children's Day to promote the rights and inclusion of children with disabilities.

The campaign, titled "Childhood, Without Barriers," was launched in partnership with the China Commission for Promotion of Publicity for the Undertakings of Chinese Disabled Persons, under the leadership of the China Disabled Persons' Federation.

Zhang Wei, president of the commission, said it will continue to deepen cooperation with UNICEF and other international partners to scale up successful models of disability prevention and early intervention.

UNICEF has been working with China's education authorities since the end of 2022 to launch a disability-inclusive education program. As of 2025, the program had covered about 1.1 million children in 1,682 schools and kindergartens across seven provincial-level regions in China.

During the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), more than 30,000 students with disabilities entered universities each year.