Inclusive Education Initiative Newsletter #22

Dear IEI Members,

Happy New Year! We hope you are doing well and looking forward to great things to come in 2023. This issue highlights all the many reports, news, and information about upcoming events that have been shared with us.
 
As a community of practice, we have over 3,600 members now and excited that you are a part of this group. Please keep sharing resources and engaging in discussions as this community wouldn't exist without you. We are so grateful for our continued collaboration in achieving the goal of ensuring all children have access to quality inclusive education.
 
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.

All the best,
The Inclusive Education Initiative Team

Over the past year, the Centre of Excellence on Data for Children with Disabilities has been working to help meet the growing need for coordination, quality oversight and technical expertise in the field of data on children with disabilities. Commemorating the first anniversary of the Centre’s launch, we are hosting our first open house. During this online event, we will present the research project of Ariela Braverman-Bronstein, whose work focuses on children with signs of anxiety or depression and country-level factors. We will also share updates, get feedback on priorities, and support the building of partnerships with various organizations.

Established in 1956, CIES is the largest and oldest comparative and international education society in the world. It attracts a diverse audience in working towards its mission "to contribute to an understanding of education through encouragement and promotion of comparative education and related areas of inquiry and activity.” Its more than 3,300 individual members — researchers, analysts, practitioners, and students — represent over 1,000 universities, research institutes, government departments, non-governmental organizations, and multilateral agencies across the globe.

USAID
Feeding and Disability Resource Bank

The Feeding and Disability Resource Bank is a repository of materials that help nutrition and disability program managers, government leaders, and donor agency staff design and implement effective nutrition programs for children with disabilities. According to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), children with disabilities include those with, “long-term physical, mental, intellectual, or sensory impairments, and who may experience barriers that may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others."

USAID
Approaches to Increasing Employment and Quality of Employment Among Youth with Disabilities- Evidence and Good Practices Paper

This evidence and good practice paper provides an understanding of the context, barriers, and practices related to approaches that increase employment and quality of employment among youth with disabilities, primarily in lower- and middle-income countries. The paper draws on existing literature, activity reports, and consultations with practitioners and individuals with disabilities. The definition of youth varies depending on the country, context, and bilateral or multilateral agencies involved. USAID defines youth as people ages 10 to 29 (“Youth in Development Policy: 2022 Update,” 2022). However, given the focus on employment, this report discusses youth ages 15–29. This report presents examples of policy measures and model cases to show what approaches are currently being applied in various contexts.

World Vision
Inclusive Education for All Palestinian Children- Factsheet

British Council
Teaching English: English language teachers with disabilities: an exploratory study across four countries 

In 2019, a report published by the Education Commission; Transforming the Education Workforce: Learning Teams for a Learning Generation noted that an increasingly diverse student population needs a deeper engagement with a diversified teacher workforce. The report highlighted the need for new approaches to ensure routes into teaching are accessible for underrepresented groups, including those with disabilities. However, discussions on teacher diversity in countries around the world tend to focus on race, gender and ethnicity with very little attention being paid to other factors such as disability. Since the 1990s, while considerable attention has been placed on developing inclusive schools, very little attention has been given to the inclusion of persons with disabilities in the education workforce. The overall objective of this exploratory project was to provide a snapshot of the experiences of English language teachers with disabilities in four purposively selected ODA countries where the British Council currently operates. This was done to better inform the British Councils’ inclusion of teachers with disabilities within their work on English for Education Systems. The countries included in this small-scale exploration are Nepal, India, Rwanda, and South Africa.

The Action Foundation
White Paper on Expanding Opportunities for Girls with Disabilities Through Mentorship in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics

Transforming Education Summit: our call for world leaders
Takyiwa Danso, Sightsavers
September 2022
 
Transforming education: How we’re doing our homework too
Liesbeth Roolvink, Sightsavers
October 2022
 
New report captures ACR GCD awardees’ contribution to 2023 GEM Report on Technology and Education
Michelle Oetman, World Vision
4 October, 2022
 
Children with learning differences are being excluded
Suzanne Grant Lewis, Education.org
27 October, 2022
 
Think Inclusive Podcast: Inclusive Education in India
Kanwal Singh
27 October, 2022
 
Our work on inclusive early childhood development and education in Kenya
Inclusive Futures
November, 2022
 
Deaf children and mental health: The Challenges and how we’re tackling them
Joanna Clark, Deaf Child Worldwide
1 November, 2022
 
Transforming Learning for Children with Disabilities in Sierra Leone’s Most Remote Communities
Esther Elliot Nyuma, Plan International
Kalako Mondiwa, GPE NGO Consortium, Save the Children - Sierra Leone
3 November, 2022
 
Not all Disabilities are Visible
Edward Winter, World Vision
7 November, 2022
 
Syria: A promising Future for Ameer
Rasha Alsabbagh, UNICEF
17 November, 2022
 
Nothing about us without us: Building capacity and sustainability in blind and deaf communities worldwide
Carmen Andres, ACR GCD
30 November, 2022
 
Education for children with disabilities: Read how 3 partner countries are making school more inclusive
GPE Secretariat
2 December, 2022
 
UNICEF urges a humanitarian response that includes all children with disabilities
UNICEF
2 December, 2022
 
Leveraging Innovation to Improve Inclusive Education in Low-Resource Contexts
Deborah Majekodunmi
3 December, 2022
 
Understanding the costs of accessible EdTech solutions for learners with disabilities
Hanna Alasuutari, Maria Barron, Cristobal Cobo, Sophia D’Angelo, Changa Lee, & Yilin Pan, World Bank
6 December, 2022
The blog is also available in Spanish and Mongolian.
 
Calling on Congress to Approve the International Children with Disabilities Protection Act
Leonardo Hosh, World Vision
12 December, 2022