Dear Members,
We hope you are doing well and finishing out 2020 strong. Without a doubt, this year has thrown challenges our way that we were not planning on but has given us the opportunity to get innovative and envision ways of building back more inclusively.
The IEI has continued to work hard to address the educational, social needs, barriers and issues for children with disabilities during COVID-19. Based on our IEI Issues Paper, “
Pivoting to Inclusion: Leveraging Lessons from the COVID-19 Crisis for Learners with Disabilities” we have been able to hold country-level discussions with two of our three grantee countries, Ethiopia and Nepal, over the last month. The stakeholder engagement there was strong and we were able to learn from ministry officials, Organizations of Persons with Disabilities, and donor partners, amongst others, what their countries are doing in response to COVID-19. We can learn from these discussions and consider how we can apply the recommendations from our paper to ensure we build back stronger and are more inclusive of learners with disabilities.
As we close out 2020, we want to thank all of you for your participation in the IEI Community of Practice. We have some great things planned in the near future that we will make sure to let you know about as soon as they are ready. In the meantime, feel free to let us know about anything disability-inclusive education- related so that we can continue to grow our knowledge base.
You can either email us at iei@worldbank.org or join our LinkedIn Group and post questions directly there
With best wishes,
The Inclusive Education Initiative Team