A partially sighted East Kilbride teenager took part in a global online meeting to launch a new United Nations manifesto for children and adolescents with disabilities.
Kerry Burke is a 17-year-old school pupil who has albinism, with nystagmus and photophobia affecting her vision.
As a member of the youth forum run by sight loss charity RNIB Scotland, she was invited to share her own experiences in a short video, to be shown at a session organised by Professor Maria Soledad Cisternas Reyes, UN Special Envoy on Disability and Access.
Kerry told Lanarkshire Live : “Children and young people with disabilities have additional barriers that they’ll have to contend with throughout their lives. This manifesto will help aid our fight against these barriers.
"I'd like school teachers to have a better understanding of disability, including sight loss, as part of their initial training and ongoing professional development.
"Extra-curricular activities for instance, like sports and arts, can be an important part of school-life but these aren't always accessible, due to a lack of awareness of how to involve those with a visual impairment.
"The manifesto might place more emphasis on the need to ensure these activities are inclusive."
The manifesto will include calls for worldwide recognition of the right to access the same educational opportunities as those without disabilities, and for more awareness of the needs of pupils with physical or sensory impairments.
The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) approached RNIB Scotland about inviting a young Scot with a disability to comment for the virtual UN meeting held this week.
COSLA president, Councillor Alison Evison, said: “I am pleased to be representing COSLA at the launch of the of the Declaration of Children and Youth with Disabilities in the World, and delighted to be sharing that platform with Kerry Burke, representing RNIB Scotland, and providing her perspective as a young person in Scotland.
"The voices of children and young people are vital in important discussions such as these, and I looked forward to this event.”
Kerry, who was last month elected as a Member of the Scottish Youth Parliament, is an active participant in RNIB Scotland's award-winning Haggeye youth forum, set up to give a campaigning voice to young people who are blind or partially sighted.
The event also celebrated 15 years since the adoption of the UN's Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
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