Inclusive education for persons with disabilities - are we making progress? Background paper prepared for the International Forum on Inclusion and Equity in Education – Every Learner Matters, Cali, Colombia, 11–13 September 2019

This paper will explore the global progress towards inclusive education, the successes achieved and learnings observed specifically in countries of the global South. In these countries the concerns of universal access to and retention in education is still a concern for many governments, but large-scale exclusion of children with disabilities remains the order of the day and is not always high on government agendas. Attention will be given to the reasons for continued exclusion and inequitable educational provision experienced by children with disabilities. The paper will further explore how this could be more effectively addressed by governments in education systems that fully embrace the commitments of Article 24 of the CRPD, as reinforced in General Comment 4 of 2016, and are actively working towards the achievement of SDG 4, to ‘ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.’