Press Release
GENEVA, Nov. 28 – "For me [this UNESCO Conference on
Inclusive Education] is about building the next generation of citizens, citizens that are not only responsible to themselves but also to their state; in order for them to feel responsible for their state, they must feel that their state is responsible for them." - remarked Victor Pineda at the 48th session of the International Conference for Education held by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in Geneva
The UNESCO conference titled: "Inclusive Education. The way to future" included ministers and representatives from 153 countries and aimed at encouraging dialogue on educational policies and practices that focus on ways of providing education to the hundreds of millions of people around the world with little or no access to education. Among those excluded from education are 75 million out-of-school children, more than half of these children are girls and one third are disabled. Participants at the conference expressed particular concern over the potential impact of the global financial crisis on these populations, which, they warned, "will have a disproportionate impact on the poor – those who carry the least responsibility for these events".
Victor participated and contributed to the UNESCO conference through workshops and roundtables by proposing several concrete steps that governments could take to improve their education systems and overcome the major obstacles to inclusion, such as the way schools are organized, the lack of articulation between education policies and social policies and attitudes and beliefs. 11/28/2008 - Ambassador Warren Tichenor hosted a reception in honor of visiting American disabilities expert Victor Pineda (More)
