United NationsEducational, Scientific and

Cultural Organization

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International Day of Persons with Disabilities

UNESCO, 3 December 2013UNESCO, 7 place de Fontenoy, Paris 7e

Metro : Ségur, Cambronne, Ecole militaire

Inclusive Education :Building the bridge between research, policy and practice

To join this event, please confirm to : inclusion@unesco.org and audrey.martinenq@aide-et-action.org or +33 1 45 68 08 65. Seating within the limit of number of places available.Entrance : UNESCO, 7 place de Fontenoy, Paris 7e (identity card required upon entrance).

Worldwide more than one billion people, almost 15% of the world’s

population, live with some form of physical or mental disability. Estimates for the number of children living with disabilities range between 93 and 150 million1. Children, youth and adults with disabilities are often deprived of equal opportunities to fully exercise their rights, including their right to education.

Education is a fundamental human right and essential for the attainment of all other human rights. It should thus be made available to all persons with no discrimination. However, vulnerable and marginalized populations, including persons with disabilities, are often excluded from equal opportunities to quality education. The educational resources required to promote and sustain an inclusive education environment are either insufficient, inaccessible, ill-designed or not adapted to ensure diverse learning needs. Inclusive education can remediate the impact of exclusion, enable an inclusive educational environment and build foundations for more equitable societies.

Inclusive education is defined as the process of strengthening the capacity of the education system to reach out to all learners2. As an overall principle, inclusive education should guide all education policies and practices, starting from the fact that education is a basic human right and the foundation of a more just and equal society.  An inclusive education

1 World Report on Disability : http://whqlibdoc.who.int/ publications/2011/9789240685215_eng.pdf2 Extract from UNESCO’s Policy Guidelines on Inclusion in Education, 2009 : http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/ 0017/001778/177849e.pdf

system should be able to provide equal opportunities in education for all learners, by respecting diverse needs, abilities and characteristics of learners and by eliminating all forms of discrimination in the learning environment.

This panel discussion on Inclusive Education entitled ‘Building the bridge between research, policy and practice’ is organized on the occasion of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities (3 December), established in 1981 on the International Year for Disabled Persons. The Day, which is observed annually, aims at promoting the full and effective participation of persons with disabilities in society. The focus of the panel discussion is in alignment with the annual theme of the Day: ‘Break barriers, open doors: for an inclusive society for all’. UNESCO and Aide et Action International are co-convening this panel whose purpose is to deliberate on inclusive education practices within diverse contexts and to share innovative ways of bridging the disconnect between research, policy and practice on inclusive education for persons with disabilities, among researchers, policy makers, practitioners and representatives of disabled people’s organizations.

Panelists, with distinct backgrounds and experience, will share ideas on how to better align research findings with pressing policy questions and programme implementation in the field of inclusive education for persons with disabilities. The discussion will be preceded by a short presentation by the Director of the film ‘Sur le chemin de l’école’, co-sponsored by UNESCO and Aide et Action International.

9:30 - 10:00 WElCOmE COffEE (Salle des Pas Perdus)

10:00 - 12:30 PaNEl DISCUSSION (Room IV) On Inclusive Education : ‘Building the bridge between research, policy and practice’

10:00 - 10:10 Address by representative from UNESCO and Aide et Action International

10:10 - 10:20 Testimony by Pascal Plisson Director of film ‘Journeys to school /Sur le chemin de l’école’ and presentation of film extract

10:20 - 12:00 Panel

Moderator :aïcha Bah DialloChair of Forum of African Women Educationalists (FAWE)and of Network for Education for All in Africa (REPTA),Treasurer of Aide et Action International

Panelists :Samphors VornCambodia Country Coordinator - Aide et Action InternationalJean luc Simon Chair of Disabled People’s International (DPI) in Europeand of the French National Assembly of DPIErnestine antoinette Ngo melhaResearcher/Expert on inclusive education in Sub-Saharan AfricaSuad mubarak al foriDeputy Director of Education Studies - Ministry of Education,the Sultanate of Oman

12:00 - 12:30 Discussion

12:30 - 13:15 CUlTUral PErfOrmaNCE (Room Miró 3) By the Earthsavers-Dream Ensemble, UNESCO Artists for peace, Philippines

Welcoming remarks by H. E. Mrs Cristina G. Ortega, Ambassador, Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Philippines to FranceIntroduction of the Artists by Ms Cecile Guidote-Alvarez, Director of UNESCO Dream Center

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Created in 1981 and supported by more than 60.000 sponsors, Aide et Action International – an international development organisation free from political or religious affiliation – act in 25 countries in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Europe. Through more than 100 programmes and with the help of its partners, Aide et Action International improves access to quality education for more than 3.5 million children and adults. Aide et Action International supports local communities to implement their projects on various development-related issues : health, environment, livelihoods, social cohesion, inclusion. More than 900 employees and 4.000 volunteers in the world work together to meet these objectives.

www.aide-et-action-int.orgwww.facebook.com/AideEtActionInternational

United NationsEducational, Scientific and

Cultural Organization

Since its creation in 1945, UNESCO’s mission has been to promote full and equal opportunities in education for all, in line with international human rights treaties that uphold the right to education for all persons1. UNESCO is strongly committed to a holistic and humanistic vision of inclusive quality education worldwide, the realization of everyone’s right to education, and the belief that education plays a fundamental role in human, social and economic development. To this end, UNESCO helps countries to develop inclusive education systems, from early childhood to the adult years.

http://www.unesco.org/new/en/inclusive-education/https://www.facebook.com/#!/unesco?fref=ts

1 Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1946), the Convention against Discrimination in Education (1960), the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (1979), the Convention on the Rights of the Child  (1989), and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006).