Inclusive Education Initiative Newsletter #17 Global Disability Summit

Dear Members,

We hope your year is off to a great start. This year will be critical for disability-inclusive development, especially for education of children with disabilities. The second Global Disability Summit (GDS) is just around the corner (15-17 February) and we are looking forward to the commitments that are made towards disability-inclusive education. A lot of progress has been made since the first Global Disability Summit in 2018 and we look forward to learning about what has gone on across the world and what’s next!
 
This issue lays out all you need to know about the GDS, including the many side events focused on disability-inclusive education. We are excited to host one of these side events on Thursday, February 17th, from 6:30 am to 7:45 am (EST). We will share with you updates on the IEI, including the many activities supported by this trust fund.
 
Please reach out to us if you have a blog post or anything else you would like featured on the IEI website—we are happy to feature your work on disability-inclusive education. You can email us at iei@worldbank.org or join our LinkedIn Group and post questions directly there.

With best wishes for a successful Global Disability Summit,
The Inclusive Education Initiative Team

Global Disability Youth Summit
IDA, UNICEF, and the Atlas Alliance, represented by Youth Mental Health Norway, will co-host a Youth Summit on 14 February 2022 to ensure the inclusion of youth in the Global Disability Summit.

Civil Society Forum
The GDS Civil Society Forum will take place on 15 February 2022 and is an opportunity to amplify the voice and participation of persons with disabilities, through their individual participation and that of representative organizations (OPDs).

Side Events on Disability-Inclusive Education
Wednesday, 16 February 2022

*Please note that all times listed are in Central European Time (CET).

9.30 AM - 10.30 AM CET
Investing in Inclusive Education to Lessen Social Inequalities
Organized by: Disability Inclusive Development Programs and Services (DIDEPAS)
The conference on the theme: "Investing in Inclusive Education to Reduce Social Inequalities," organized on the margins of the second edition of the Global Disability Summit, scheduled for February 16, 2022, aims to emphasize the importance of inclusive education for people with disabilities; encourage all actors to renew and operationalize their commitments for inclusive education; and intends to collaborate and make sure that the learning of persons with disabilities is fully included in all national and international development efforts.
Contact: Jeannette Kah Le Gui, jnetkah@kahleguil.org
 
Leading Change through Inclusive Sport – A Collaborative Approach to Engaging Persons with Disabilities
Organized by: Sport Development Consortium for Inclusion (Sport in Action, EduSport Foundation and Response Network)
This side event will consist of a participatory panel discussion aimed at demonstrating the use of sport in increasing inclusive opportunities for children and youth living with disabilities in Zambia, to become actively engaged within their community. The main objectives include to: i) illustrate meaningful engagement of a multi-shakeholder coordinated effort to strengthen organizations of persons with disabilities (OPDs) in advancing the rights of children and youth living with disabilities to inclusive education, health, social protection, and improved livelihoods; ii) demonstrate how sport contributes to a positive transformation of attitudes in communities in addressing opportunities for children and youth with disabilities.
Contact: Fredrik Ødegaard, fredrik.odegaard@idrettsforbundet.no
 
10.00 AM -11.15 AM CET
Why OPD Leadership in Inclusive Education matters: Lessons from the Together for Inclusion Partnership Model
Organized by: ADRA Norway, Norwegian Association of Disabled (NAD), Save the Children Norway, and Strømme Foundation
What is the impact of OPD engagement and leadership on Inclusive Education? Through looking at lessons from the Together for Inclusion Consortium, this event will bring out key results of OPD leadership and true partnership between OPDs and (I)NGOs.
Contact: Frida Reierson, frida.reierson@adranorge.no
 
12.30 PM - 1.45 PM CET
Collaborative Workshop to Develop a Global Toolkit for Addressing Ableism, Stigma & Discrimination Towards Children With Disabilities And Their Families
Organized by: UNICEF, Think Place, and Light for the World
We will frame the conversation by sharing our progress on the development of the global toolkit:
• Validate the modules and key components
• Seek partners for engagement, validation and testing
• Facilitate pathways of engagement to enable SBC practitioners, disability inclusion practitioners, advocates, people with disabilities, children with disabilities and their families are able to give input into the requirements for the toolkit.

12.45 PM - 2.00 PM CET
Status of the Impact of Covid-19 on Inclusive Education: South-East Asian Perspective
Organized by: National Centre for Promotion of Employment of Disabled People (NCPEDP)
The Covid-19 pandemic, one of the biggest humanitarian crisis has brought the entire world and its education systems to a standstill. Schools have had to reinvent themselves. Therefore, through this side event, we aim to understand the impact of Covid-19 pandemic on inclusive education of children with disabilities.
Contact: Niharika Das, niharika_das@ncpedp.org
 
1.00 PM - 2.00 PM CET
Strengthening Inclusive Education Systems through Partnerships, Planning and Capacity Building
Organized by: UNICEF & UNESCO-IIEP
This side event, co-hosted by UNICEF, UNESCO-IIEP and GPE (TBC) will provide an update on the ongoing partnership to advance inclusive education through systems strengthening and capacity development. This will include updates on capacity building efforts in carrying out disability-inclusive education sector analysis and planning by spotlighting the recently launched chapter on Inclusive Education for Children with Disabilities in the Methodological Guidelines for Education Sector Analysis, Volume 3, and the delivery of the training course on the Foundations of Disability-Inclusive Education Sector Planning for technical staff within Ministries of Education.
Contact: Asma Maladwala, amaladwala@unicef.org
 
1.00 PM - 2.00 PM CET
Sex-Ed for Children and Youth with Intellectual Disabilities
Organized by: KMOP- Social Action & Innovation Centre
This session is about the organization of a Facebook live event on the topic of sex-ed for students with intellectual disabilities. The event is anticipated to have a larger impact and wider audience by being organized as a Facebook Live. Moreover, this way it will remain online and available for anyone interested and continue to reach out to people after its end. The aim of the event is to raise awareness about the current exclusion of young people with intellectual disabilities from sexual education, despite the fact that there is a great need for them to receive this education. 
Contact: Savvoula Oikonomou, oikonomou.s@kmop.org
 
5.00 PM CET
Inclusive Education Case Studies and the INEE Minimum Standards
Organized by: The Inter-agency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE)
The objective of this side event is to present and share good practices on: the ongoing work being done by the INEE to review the INEE Minimum Standards with a gender and inclusion lens; using the INEE Minimum Standards to implement inclusive education programming in emergency contexts; share INEE IETT and members’ suggestions for how to make the INEE Minimum Standards more applicable for inclusive education programs in emergency contexts in the future.  
Contact: Myriam Jaafar, myriam.jaafar@inee.org
 
5.00 PM - 6.15 PM CET
Inclusive Education: Making It Happen
Organized by: GLAD Inclusive Education Working Group (IEWG)
This event will launch the new infographic prepared by the GLAD IEWG which provides guidance on how to move from principles to action in making the inclusion of learners with disabilities in fully inclusive systems a reality. A panel of representatives of donor agencies, multi-lateral organizations, governments, and organizations of persons with disabilities and their families will discuss the implications of the infographic for their contexts.
Contact: Federica Settimi, federicasettimi@inclusion-international.org
 
6.00 PM - 7.00 PM CET
Inclusive Education: Learnings from the GEM Reports and COVID-19
Organized by: Global Campaign for Education (GCE), GCE-Norway, GCE-US, the Inclusive Education & Early Childhood Community of Practice, and UNESCO Global Education Monitoring Report
In this side event, Global Campaign for Education (GCE) and the Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report aim to shed light on challenges facing learning with disabilities. In addition, promising practices on disability inclusion, based on the findings of the Global Disability Summit Inclusive Education Thematic Workshop and the 2021/2 GEM Report on non-state actors in education and the 2020 GEM Report on inclusion and education, will be addressed.
Contact: Mathias Slettholm, mathias.slettholm@reddbarna.no
 
 
6.00 PM - 7.15 PM CET
The Perspective of Youth with Diverse Abilities in Education
Organized by: Rick Hansen Foundation
This moderated Q&A panel discussion aims to bring together Canadian youth with diverse abilities to discuss the current status of the public and private education system in Canada with regard to accessibility and inclusion. The discussion will include obstacles and shortcomings facing those with special physical, emotional, learning, social and other needs in the classroom. Personal examples of successes and challenges will be presented to focus on the importance of lived experience in facilitating change.
Contact: Teri Thorson, tthorson@rickhansen.com
 
6.00 PM - 7.30 PM CET
Cripping Sustainability at Tertiary Institutes  
Organized by: The Otago Disabled Student's Association
Key themes: Inclusion, sustainability, education, health, youth, gender, indigenous peoples, intersectionality, diversity, social-relational disability, tertiary institutes, UN SDG, UNCRDP, building back stronger.
Contact: Sean Prenter, soprenter@gmail.com
 
 
Thursday, 17 February 2022
 
10.00 AM CET
Behavioral Barriers to Education Faced by Syrian and Jordanian Parents of Children with Disabilities in Refugee Camp and Host Community Settings in Jordan
Organized by: No Lost Generation
A technical panel organized in the framework of the Global Disability Forum will present the findings of the behavioral barrier analysis research conducted as part of the No Lost Generation’s regional efforts to ensure quality education for children (refugees and from host communities) impacted by the ongoing war in Syria. The event panelists will unlock the behavioral barriers children, parents and caregivers face to address the needed programmatic, policy, and raising awareness gaps, for every child to have access to education and improve the school attendance of children with disabilities post COVID-19 pandemic.
Contact: Evita M. Jourdi, evita_jourdi@consultant.wvi.org
 
12.00 PM CET
Advancing Inclusive Education in Post Covid-19 Context
Organized by: Action on Disability Rights And Development (ADRAD-Nepal)
The Covid-19 has massively impacted the education of learners with disabilities in the world, particularly in the Global South. There are several transformative endeavors done by OPDs and stakeholders that help advance educational opportunities for learners with disabilities in the post-Covid context. This side event is to discuss such exemplary initiatives. ADRAD-Nepal has carried out a Participatory Action Research that has identified several innovative ideas to promote access to inclusive education, the organizers intend to transfer to the stakeholders in Global South thus the side event is planned. 
Contact: Dr. Birendra Raj Pokharel, birendra@adrad.org.np
 
1.00 PM CET
Exploring Recent Education Data for Children with Disabilities and Next Steps for Strengthening Data for Education Policy and Planning
Organized by: UNICEF
Starting with the current situation on children with disabilities participating in education, UNICEF will present new findings on education children with disabilities from data analysed from 42 countries and territories, followed by updates on ongoing efforts to strengthen the availability of data to inform education policy and planning. This will include country experiences in collecting and utilizing education data to inform policy and strengthen inclusive education systems for children with disabilities.
Contact: Asma Maladwala, amaladwala@unicef.org  
 
1.00 PM CET
Building an Education for All: Learnings from Disability-Inclusive Experiences
Organized by: Global Campaign for Education (GCE), Latin American Campaign for the Right to Education (CLADE) and Regional Network for Inclusive Education (RREI Latin America)
The event's main objective is to present some disability-inclusive experiences to generate a constructive dialogue that allows to recover and put in value certain elements capable of illuminating and guiding the processes of change needed at the national level and also to think of ways to address the challenges that are being faced. In addition to this, the dissemination of these experiences serves to break down barriers and misconceptions that usually work as obstacles for advancing inclusive education, mainly, the myth that inclusive education is a utopia or that it is only achievable in high-income countries.
Contact: Vernor Munoz, vernor@campaignforeducation.org
 
5.30 PM - 6.45 PM CET
Strengthening Inclusive Education Systems: Experiences in Ghana and Ethiopia
Organized by: Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, World Bank
The event will discuss experiences of strengthening inclusive education as a
systemic approach to ensure equity and inclusion, highlighting successes and
lessons learned in Ghana and Ethiopia. The session will also introduce the key elements of the World Bank’s guidance for disability inclusion in education and its role within the broader education policy approach and disability inclusion.
Contact: Mina Mojtahedi, mina.mojtahedi@formin.fi
 
5.30 PM - 6.45 PM CET
Shedding Lights on Disability Rights in the UNESCO’s Global Anti-discrimination Agenda
Organized by: UNESCO
In 2020, UNESCO Member States launched a “Global Call against Racism” and UNESCO is developing a Global Roadmap to fight against racism and discrimination across its fields of competence, which include Inclusive Education, Sciences for development and mutual understanding, Culture, and Communication, and Universal access to information. This panel will seek to discuss why and how it is essential to integrate disability rights in the Global Roadmap on Anti-Racism and Non-Discrimination that UNESCO is elaborating. More specifically, how can Education, Sciences, Arts, Culture, and Communication advance disability inclusion in the Roadmap?
Contact: Phinith Chanthalangsy, p.chanthalangsy@unesco.org
 
7.00 PM CET
Adapted Physical Education post-COVID from a Global Perspective
Organized by: International Federation of Adapted Physical Activity
The International Federation of Adapted Physical Activity (IFAPA) is pleased to host a side event focusing on global challenges and opportunities related to adapted physical education and the COVID pandemic. Speakers from every region of the globe will reflect on their practical and research experiences to provide effective adapted physical education experiences with recommendations for future programs. This session will address APE from a multi-disability perspective.
Contact: David Legg, dlegg@mtroyal.ca
 
7.00 PM – 8.00 PM CET
Presentation of Main Findings from UNICEF's Global Report on Children with Disabilities
Organized by: UNICEF
Using the latest available data, UNICEF published a Global Report on Children with Disabilities, titled Seen, Counted and Included: Using data to shed light on the well-being of children with disabilities. The publication covers more than 60 indicators of child well-being – from nutrition and health, to access to water and sanitation, protection from violence and exploitation, and education. The report also includes the first-ever global and regional estimates of children with disabilities.
Contact: Claudia Cappa, ccappa@unicef.org