Newsletter
Dear IEI Members,
We hope you are doing well!
We are truly grateful for your continuous participation and contributions, and for your passion for achieving the goal of ensuring all children have access to quality, inclusive education. This community would not exist without you!
In this summer 2026 edition, we are sharing all the latest resources and news on inclusive education to support your journey towards creating inclusive spaces for all students.
Please keep reaching out to us to share publications, blog posts, 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.
Best Wishes
The Inclusive Education Initiative Team
Upcoming Events
World Congress on Special Needs Education (WCSNE) 2026
Date: November 23-25, 2026 Location: St.Anne’s College, Oxford, United Kingdom
Theme: Inclusive Education and Artificial Intelligence
The 13th World Congress on Special Needs Education (WCSNE-2026) is dedicated to the advancement of theory and practices in special needs education.
The Call for Speakers is open now until July 16th and registration is open as well.
International Journal of Inclusive Education Conference 2026
Date: November 27-29, 2026
Location: Southern Sun Cape Sun Hotel, Cape Town, SA Theme: Rethinking Inclusive Education for Challenging Times
Marking 35 years since the first publication of the International Journal of Inclusive Education, the University of the Western Cape South Africa is hosting a conference to reconsider the foundations and practices of inclusive education in the face of global instability. Registration is open until August 31.
Past Events
Conference of State Parties (COSP) to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) - 19th Session (Events)
June 9-11, 2026
Celebrating the 20th anniversary of the CRPD’s ratification, the 19th session of COSP convened in New York City to celebrate achievements and shape the future of disability inclusion. Two side-sessions were hosted that focused specifically on inclusive education.
This side event proposed a shift in approach, with the core premise being that the challenge is no longer to prepare persons with disabilities to adapt to existing systems, but rather to redesign systems to accommodate diverse human capabilities. In line with the COSP sub-theme of Resilient Societies, the discussion looked at how smart technologies, including artificial intelligence, can offer practical opportunities to reshape transition pathways from education to employment.
Advancing Disability-Inclusive Education: From Commitment to Transformation (COSP19 Side Event)
The discussion, co-organized by Kenya, Rehabilitation International, and UNESCO in cooperation with the Global Partnership for Education and the Group of Friends for Education, explored how education systems can be strengthened to deliver inclusive learning for all, particularly in the context of global challenges such as digital transformation, climate change, and protracted crises. Policymakers, practitioners, researchers, and representatives of OPDs were brought together to reflect on key lessons and identify actionable priorities for advancing disability-inclusive education.
Inclusive Africa Conference 2026 (Events)
June 2-4, 2026
Over three days in Nairobi, more than 300 delegates and 3,000+ virtual participants from across Africa and beyond came together to shape a more accessible and inclusive digital future for the continent. Under the theme of "Accelerating Digital Accessibility and AI Solutions for Africa's Future,” the conference featured two events focused on inclusive education. Recordings will be soon available on the Inclusive Africa webpage.
Beyond Policy: AI and Innovation for Accessible Education in Africa
This roundtable brought together educators, policymakers, innovators, and civil society actors to discuss digital accessibility and how assistive technologies and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are enabling new approaches that make learning more accessible for students with disabilities.
This session spotlighted the lived experiences of neurodivergent youth from across Africa, with speakers reflecting on their personal journeys engaging with disability support systems and exploring the role of technology and assistive tools in supporting neurodiversity. By highlighting African collaboration and locally driven solutions, the session focused on how technology can accelerate progress toward accessible and equitable education across the continent.
Knowledge Hub
World Bank
Feature Story
Burkina Faso Improving Education of Children with Disabilities
With over 72% of children with disabilities out of school, Burkina Faso faces significant challenges in ensuring inclusive education. Barriers such as inadequate infrastructure, lack of teacher training, and societal stigma prevent many children from accessing quality learning opportunities. Recognizing these challenges, the World Bank launched the Burkina Faso Improving Education of Children with Disabilities project.
Results Brief
Breaking Barriers, Building Futures: Disability Inclusion in Education
The World Bank is supporting disability-inclusive education in Rwanda, Burkina Faso, and Cambodia by training teachers, upgrading school infrastructure, and embedding disability support in school improvement plans. These efforts have enabled tens of thousands of children with disabilities to access quality education, fostering greater inclusion and expanding future opportunities.
Global Partnership for Education
Blogs
Syria: Stories of how inclusive education is reaching children left out of school
June 10, 2026
From isolation and loss to hope and ambition, children across Syria are reclaiming their right to learn. Through flexible, inclusive education, stories like Mohamed’s and Salsabeel’s show how support can turn exclusion into opportunity—and spark new dreams for the future.
Maldives: Using innovative financing to expand equitable, quality education
June 17, 2026
Read how Maldives works with GPE to mobilize partnerships and investment to build a stronger and more resilient education system.
Training teachers for inclusion in Tanzania: Emmanuella’s story
June 25, 2026
While the government has committed to inclusive education, many teachers are not fully equipped with inclusive teaching practices that enable all children to participate effectively in the learning process. Scholarships are enabling pre- and in-service teachers to learn how to support students with intellectual impairment, hearing and visual impairments, deaf-blindness and albinism.
Partners
Wilton Park
Disability inclusive education (Report)
The Wilton Park dialogue on ‘Disability Inclusive Education’ gathered
together over 50 leading academics, governments, research institutes,
representative organisations of persons with disabilities (OPDs), and
industry representatives to explore how to effectively include learners
with disabilities in fully inclusive education systems. The Dialogue was held
in the midst of a global crisis in education with reduced funding, poor
learning outcomes, and increasing numbers out of school. The meeting
was designed to build on commitments to Inclusive Education at the 2025
Global Disability Summit (GDS) and develop a roadmap leading to the
2028 GDS to translate evidence into policy changes. This report is a
summary of important points raised during the dialogue.
UNICEF
Learning is For Everyone: Paving the pathway for inclusive education for children with disabilities (Report)
Drawing on evidence from Cambodia, Djibouti, Kyrgyzstan, Mozambique, Nepal, and Paraguay, this report synthesizes the findings of the Learning is for Everyone (LiFE) research initiative, a multi-country study examining how education systems can better respond to the needs of children with disabilities and learning differences. The findings show through sustained commitment to recognizing learners' needs, reforming education systems, and resourcing inclusion, countries can create learning environments where all children are able to participate, learn and thrive.
UNICEF, in partnership with the Cameroon Baptist Convention Health Services and the Presbyterian Community Rehabilitation Services, is working across affected communities to restore access to education through inclusive approaches. Over 3,000 children have been screened in schools and Temporary Learning Spaces to identify disabilities and determine the specific support each child needs to learn. UNICEF has trained more than 82 teachers and facilitators working in schools and Temporary Learning Spaces on inclusive education practices, including Universal Design for Learning, basic Braille and sign language, and psychosocial support for children affected by conflict and trauma.
Accessible Digital Textbooks for All (Brief)
UNICEF's Accessible Digital Textbooks For All (ADT) initiative was designed to make learning accessible, affordable, available and personalized for every child. The initiative has been implemented in 14 countries, with a goal of scaling to 30 countries by 2030. The ADT Initiative demonstrates that when learning materials are accessible by design, students with and without disabilities can engage with the same content in the same classroom at the same time, fostering peer collaboration and true inclusion.
Other Resources
Individuals with intellectual disabilities (IDs) consistently demonstrate lower levels of objectively measured physical activity (PA) compared to the general population, yet limited evidence exists regarding how activity accumulated during physical education (PE) contributes to overall daily movement within structured school contexts. The findings highlight the limited contribution of PE to overall PA and underscore the importance of promoting greater movement opportunities within adapted PE lessons.
Call for Special Issue, IJSIE 2, August 2026 (Upcoming)
The International Journal of Studies in Inclusive Education recently collected submissions for a forthcoming special issue focused on Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a Transformative Force in Fostering Inclusive Digital Pedagogy. The full report will be published in August of 2026.
In the News
UKFIET
Disability inclusive education is a right, not a funding choice
March 19, 2026
In early 2025, the Inclusive Futures programme published three learning reports drawing on inclusive education projects across Bangladesh, Kenya, Tanzania, Nepal and Nigeria. They documented practical approaches to finding and enrolling children with disabilities in school, and preparing schools to welcome them. A new article in the IDS Bulletin synthesizes the learning from all three.
DevPolicy Blog
The disability-poverty loop: school exclusion traps disabled workers
April 14, 2026
What happens when a child is shut out of school, not for lack of ability, but because the system wasn’t built for them? Across South Asia, millions of children with disabilities are left behind, setting off a chain reaction that limits jobs, incomes, and opportunities for generations. This piece unpacks how exclusion from education fuels a powerful “disability–poverty loop” and why breaking it will require more than promises on paper.
UNICEF
“My School for Everyone” Exhibition
June 2, 2026
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in partnership with the Ministry of Preschool and School Education and the National Agency for Social Protection/International Inclusive Hub, showcases emerging, promising, and good practices on inclusive education from across Uzbekistan, as they launch a national exhibition titled “My School for Everyone.”
February 26, 2026
In the past five years, early childhood intervention services for children with developmental difficulties and disabilities expanded to 80 per cent of districts across Serbia and thirteen resource centres were established to support inclusive education. Now, UNICEF in Serbia is launching its new Country Programme of Cooperation for 2026 to 2030, supporting the further strengthening of national systems so that existing services reach all children and respond effectively to their specific needs.
Pakistan: Inclusive education for the next generation
March 13, 2026
With support from the Global Partnership for Education, community voices like Mariam Bibi’s and UNICEF’s Local Education Group are changing the education landscape in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
UNICEF China
May 29, 2026
UNICEF China has launched a new national campaign, Childhood, Without Barriers, to promote the rights, inclusion and visibility of children with disabilities, in partnership with the China Commission of Promotion of Publicity for the Undertakings of Chinese Disabled Persons, under the leadership of the China Disabled Persons' Federation.
Childhood Education International
April 9, 2026
In Sri Lanka, the journey toward rights-based inclusive education has taken a significant step forward with the establishment of the Ayati National Centre for Children with Disabilities. Situated within the University of Kelaniya Faculty of Medicine in Ragama, Ayati is the country’s first national centre dedicated to children with disabilities, bringing together clinical care, education, research, and advocacy under one roof and supporting the delivery of services in the community.
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