Education for All and
Children with Disabilities: International Policy
and Practice
by Phyllis Magrab, PhD, Director, Georgetown University
Center for Child and Human Development
Published in Educating Children for Democracy, Issue
Number 6, Winter/Spring 2004
Continued from previous page. Mapping International Commitment to the
Dakar Goals:
EFA Donor and International Organization Assistance
In order to support a comprehensive strategy for
Education for All (EFA), it is important
to know how multilateral, bilateral, and non-governmental
organizations and agencies are supporting
the implementation of EFA action plans in nations requiring assistance.
In order to support the work of The
Flagship on Education for All and the
Rights of Persons with Disabilities:
Towards Inclusion with countries,
it is particularly important to understand
the international
commitment to the area of disability.
A plan to gather this information
was initiated in January 2002. Using
The Dakar Framework
for Action,
a matrix was developed to highlight
efforts directed at specific EFA goals including
disability. A preliminary
group of 24 agencies/organizations
were contacted by e-mail, fax, mail, and telephone
to complete
the matrix. To date, 23 agencies/organizations
have provided
information. The matrix is considered
to be a living document. Additional donors
and international
organizations
will be added over time and the matrix
will be updated regularly.
The resulting matrix, EFA Donor and International
Organization Assistance by Thematic
Areas (Magrab, 2002), is a preliminary attempt
to document
the international assistance effort.
It displays the array of donor
and international organization activity
in each of the member nations of
the United Nations. This matrix
serves as a basic directory of international
support for EFA from multilateral
donors, bilateral donors,
and non-governmental organizations.
While
the matrix is far too lengthy to summarize in this brief, the following
represents a
summary of the donor and international
agency assistance
to the disability area. It is noted
that
many countries do not receive any
assistance in
this area and a
number of donor and international
organizations do not target funding
towards this
area. Additionally, one of the
limitations of the survey, lack
of information
on level and duration of funding,
may even further minimize the funding
effort
regarding
the area of
disability. Given that 98% of children
with disabilities do not attend
schools in developing
countries, this
matrix points to the need to mobilize
resources to create effective educational
opportunities
for children
with disabilities that foster inclusive
communities and social justice.
Translating the universal
right to education into individual
realities
will require
the coordinated commitment of the
entire international community.
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