Call to Action for disability-inclusive education

CBM is one of a community of 40 NGOs launching a ‘Call to Action on investing in disability-inclusive education’ this week. As part of the International Disability and Development Consortium (IDDC) Inclusive Education Task Group, we are seeking to galvanise world-wide support to invest in inclusive education for girls and boys with disabilities.

Watch this short film to see why so many children with disabilities are missing out on education:

InDepth EDUCATION, Disability and Poverty transcript (open link in new tab)

Over 32 million children with disabilities in low and middle income countries are out of school. Those who are in school are generally educated in segregated settings that do not promote inclusion in their communities and attainment of learning outcomes that would secure them a decent livelihood. The exclusion of these children has a devastating impact on whole societies and economies.

In a joint statement launched on Thursday 27th April, the IDDC (which includes membership of the world’s leading NGOs working in disability and education in low and middle income countries) calls on governments and donors to significantly step up action and show their commitment to deliver on the promise of the Sustainable Development Goals to ensure quality education for all children by investing in inclusive education for boys and girls with disabilities.

“Inclusive education is essential for equity in educational opportunities for all learners from an early age as set out in SDG 4 and UN CRPD Article 24. This approach needs new processes through which the various systems of society such as health services and education are delivered; it means in addition to other requirements, dedicated budgets to support inclusive education. In turn this will ensure the right for learners with disabilities to remain in their communities and to receive the schooling and social supports they need within the mainstream structures available in their communities. To achieve this strong advocacy is needed. Parents, girls, boys, men and women with disabilities and other stakeholders need to be empowered, be involved in programme development; implementation, monitoring and evaluation with communities mobilised and professionals trained in new ways of working,” said David Bainbridge, International Director, CBM.

CBM and other international NGO leaders have endorsed a joint ‘Call to Action to invest in disability-inclusive education’ (open link in new tab) in which they have agreed to commit to making education for children with disabilities in developing countries a top priority and to advocate for better donor financing for inclusive education.

The Call to Action is being launch during Global Action Week on Education, which is aptly themed: Stand up for Education – Time to deliver. It is open to all organisations to sign up.

Read more:
CBM and inclusive education (open link in new tab) 
IDDC Costing Equity report (open link in new tab)
DDC Call to action (open link in new tab)