Statement by UNICEF Regional Director Steven Allen at the Inclusive Education Conference in Moscow, 27 September 2011

1. Statement by
Steven Allen
Regional Director, UNICEF, Regional Office for CEECIS
at the
Conference on Inclusive Education for Children with Disabilities
Moscow, Russian Federation
27-29 September 2011
The Right of Children with Disabilities to Education: a Rights-Based
Approach to Inclusive Education
Mr Adviser to the President, Deputy-Ministers, Vice-Mayor,
Distinguished participants, Colleagues from Partner Organisations,
Colleagues from the UN, Friends,
It is a great pleasure and an honour to be with you in Moscow today.
This Conference on Inclusive Education for Children with Disabilities
constitutes an excellent forum to take stock of progress made so far in
the region at policy level and in the field, as well as a platform for
discussing major stumbling blocks and ways to address them.
This conference is also an excellent opportunity to share experiences,
learn from each other and improve understanding, coordination,
collaboration and synergies between regional actors and stakeholders
involved in inclusive education.

2. 2
As we all know, children with disabilities represent a significant
proportion of the out-of-school population in the region, a population
that has particular educational needs. Indeed, children with disabilities
are subject to severe discrimination, segregation, and exclusion from all
social aspects of life.
The most recent officially recognized figure of children with disabilities
in this region stands at 1.5 million. However, when compared to
international benchmarks that place the global percentage of children
with disabilities at 2.5 per cent, this figure suggests that over a million
children with disabilities are not included in the data, and are left
invisible. They are unaccounted for, and are likely to be out-of-school.
For children with disabilities in Central Eastern Europe and the
Commonwealth of Independent States (CEECIS), institutionalization
remains the overwhelming policy approach, in large part due to a long
tradition of ‘defectology’. This continues to be the academic discipline
governing the care and treatment of children with disabilities. The
number of children in institutional care in the region is the highest in the
world. It is estimated that more than 626,000 children live in institutions
and as many as 60% of them are registered as children with disabilities.
The continued consideration of children with disabilities as ‘defective’
from the norm as well as the high number of children with disabilities
being institutionalized or out of school stands in direct contrast to the
global moral imperative of a rights-based approach to education.

3. 3
UNICEF’s work is rooted in the Convention on the Rights of the Child
which calls for equal rights and opportunities for every child regardless
of his or her ability. And because of our organizational focus on equity,
we support the policies and strategies leading to inclusive education.
Moreover, Article 24 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disability, which has been signed by most countries in the region but
ratified by only seven of them, specifically calls on the governments to
ensure that education systems are inclusive of children with disabilities.
Besides inclusive education being a child’s right, there are three
compelling arguments from research that support the inclusion of
children with disabilities in the mainstream educational environments:
academic performance, economic benefits and social cohesion.
Inclusive education benefits all learners. Research shows that inclusive
education can lead to better learning outcomes for all children, not just
children with disabilities. Inclusive education promotes tolerance and
enables social cohesion as it fosters a cohesive social culture and
promotes equal participation in society. Inclusive education is more cost
effective than separated schooling. And finally, it provides for inclusive
labor markets, which are instrumental for a more efficient social
economy.
Inclusive education needs to be understood as integral to the whole of
the education system – not just an add-on. Inclusive education is not

4. 4
only about addressing issues of input, such as access, and those related
to processes such as teacher training, but it involves a shift in underlying
values and beliefs held across the system. It requires that all children,
including children with disabilities, not only have access to schooling
within their own community, but that they are provided with
appropriate learning opportunities to achieve their full potential. This
approach is underpinned by an understanding that all children should
have equivalent and systematic learning opportunities in a wide range of
school and additional educational settings, despite the differences that
might exist.
One important constraint for inclusion is the social stigma. Research
found that the most effective way to influence deeply rooted prejudice
about disability is personal contact with people with special needs, and
pointed to the importance of starting inclusive initiatives as early in
childhood as possible.
In this context it is essential to recognize the unique role that parents of
children with disabilities can play in bringing about the change in the
societal attitudes towards their children. However, the parents cannot
do this alone. The support has to come from the neighborhood, from the
local community and the local services, from inclusive policies and close
monitoring of their implementation, and especially from decisive
sanction of any form of discrimination.
I know that every government, organization, and individual gathered
here in this room is committed to building a socially inclusive society.

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But this cannot be achieved unless every single child is included. An
inclusive education system creates crucial spaces for bringing about
social change. All children, without exception, gain from learning from
each other, and break down stereotypes. Inclusive Education for
Children with Disabilities puts us one step further towards a socially
inclusive society.
UNICEF is committed to work with partners and governments in the
region to take forward the agenda for action that emerges from this
Conference. The right of every child to develop to his or her full potential
is at the heart of our mandate. Every child has to be given a chance – at
the earliest opportunity.
I realise that this is not going to be easy. I am equally convinced that we
can do it. The denial of the rights of children with disabilities to
education has been going on for too long. The signature and ratification
of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability provide us the
momentum needed. We can do it, together.
Thank you