December 3, 2009
London, UK
On this International Day of Persons with Disabilities, Inclusion International is calling on governments, organizations, educators and families to address the current exclusion of children with disabilities from school.
A Global Report on Inclusive Education – “Better Education for All: When We’re Included Too”, which was released at a conference on inclusive education in Salamanca, Spain, October 21-23, 2009, identified significant barriers preventing children with disabilities from attending school. Of the 77 million children who are not in school at least 1/3 of them have a disability (UNESCO, 2006). Reasons for this include negative attitudes towards children with disabilities and a lack of information on inclusive education.
The Report outlines how the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) requires governments and international agencies to include children with disabilities in education plans for the future. Quality inclusive education is a human right as stated in Article 24 of the CRPD. International cooperation as outlined in Article 32 of the CRPD is critical to ensuring that this happens.
To call attention to the need for MDG2 and the EFA goals to be inclusive, participants at the Salamanca conference adopted a resolution and launched INITIATIVE24 to address the challenges identified in the Report. INITIATIVE24 is a Global Campaign to promote the inclusion of children with disabilities in Education for All.
INITIATIVE24 has four elements; Networks, Legal Resource, Policy Engagement/Advocacy, Public Education and Awareness. Partners in INITIATIVE24 to date are: Inclusion International, VSA arts, the Global Partnership on Disability and Development, the International Disability and Development Consortium and the African Decade for Persons with Disabilities. Other organizations are welcome and encouraged to join.
This International Day of Persons with Disabilities represents one of many efforts focused on the inclusion of all persons, including those with disabilities, to receive a quality education. Quality inclusive education is a human right, as proclaimed in Article 24 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and international cooperation is necessary to make this a reality.
A global campaign is now underway, coordinated by the Global Campaign for Education and backed by many within the disability movement, promoting a clear message: to provide education for the 75 million children out of school, as well as achieving the other EFA goals. With the partnership of FIFA, 1GOAL will use the platform of the World Cup 2010 in South Africa to promote mass public awareness and political will on EFA.
To sign on to the 1Goal Campaign contact initiative24@vsarts.org .
For more information about INITIATIVE24 contact:
conniel@cacl.ca
To download a copy of the report, go to
www.inclusion-international.org and check the link on the home page.
For more information, please contact:
Connie Laurin-Bowie
Executive Director
Inclusion International
Email:
conniel@cacl.ca
Phone: +1 416-661-9611 x203
Call for action. Dec-3 International Day of Persons with Disabilities