A Statement of Action on Inclusive Education, drafted at a workshop hosted by the Impact Initiative at the REAL Centre, University of Cambridge, has been signed by 31 donor agencies, international NGOs, research organisations and global education networks.

Endorsed by organisations such as DFID, UNICEF, and the Global Campaign for Education, Sightsavers, Light for the World, Leonard Cheshire Disability, Camfed and others, the statement promotes a shared vision for a world where persons with disabilities have ‘equal access to quality inclusive education, which is differentiated to support their learning needs and learning outcomes across each stage of the learning cycle and enables them to lead a fulfilling and independent life’.

The Statement reflects a global commitment to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Sustainable Development Goals, which have placed a spotlight on the importance of improving access to inclusive, quality education for individuals with disabilities. This is crucial given that a large proportion of those out of primary school are children with disabilities.

On July 23rd and 24th 2018 DFID, alongside the Government of Kenya and the International Disability Alliance (IDA) hosted the first Global Disability Summit in London. With Government Ministers, high level Private Sector and UN Officials, as well as a range of Disabled People’s Organisations (DPOs) and disability rights activists in attendance, it is hoped the Summit will raise global attention on disability inclusion and mobilise new global and national commitments, ensuring the rights, freedoms, dignity and inclusion for all persons with disabilities.

Important progress has been made in the decade since the adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. But more needs to be done if the Sustainable Development Goals are to be realised – including advancing inclusive quality education for people with disabilities.

The Statement of Action was created with key input from ESRC-DFID funded researchers whose projects provide evidence on what governments must consider in order to ensure that children with disabilities benefit from quality education without discrimination or exclusion. The research projects have been undertaken in collaboration with Southern-based research organisations, Disability People’s Organisations and Civil Society partners. Key messages are reflected in the Research for Policy and Practice: Disability and Education.

The statement outlines five interlinked actions that can help achieve transformational education for children with disabilities. These are:

1. Generate and use robust data and evidence for inclusive planning, programming and for ensuring accountability.
2. Develop, train and support a professional education work force that responds to inclusive education and encourages teachers with disabilities into the profession.
3. Achieve targeted financing and ensure national systems promote the implementation of inclusive education.
4. Reduce barriers to inclusion by adopting a cross-sectoral and life course approach.
5. Involve people with disabilities, their families and Disabled People’s Organisations in partnership with development actors to further the inclusive education agenda.