The voices of children with disability in the Pacific are largely missing in the development agenda. This absence is reflected in the lack of robust evidence to support disability inclusive development work (Llewellyn et al, 2010). The 'Voices of Pacific children with disability: Identifying the human rights needs and priorities of children with disability in Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea (PNG)' research project aims to contribute to the evidenced understanding of the situation of children with disability in these two Pacific nations.

The project aimed to: develop a method of data collection / communication with children with diverse disabilities to enable them to ‘speak’ for themselves; identify the human rights priorities of children with disability in Vanuatu and PNG; and analyse these in relation to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) (United Nations, 2006). The research was undertaken between 2013 and 2015 by Deakin University in partnership with Save the Children, the Vanuatu Disability Promotion and Advocacy Association (DPA) and the PNG Assembly of Disabled Persons (PNG ADP). The research has been funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade through the Australian Development Research Awards Scheme.

A preliminary element of the research focused on identifying existing evidence about the lives of children with disability in these two countries. This paper summarises this evidence. Overall, there is minimal literature to date covering the Pacific regarding disability, development and human rights (Bogner, 2012, Llewellyn et al, 2010). What evidence there is consists mainly of reports by governments, and by international agencies, including the United Nations, the World Bank and the World Health Organisation, local groups such as the Pacific Disability Forum (the umbrella body for Pacific Disabled Peoples Organisations established in 2002), and situational reports by international nongovernmental organisations.