Global Action Week

Global Action Week (GAW) on Education for All (EFA) is an annual awareness-raising campaign, organized by the Global Campaign for Education (GCE). UNESCO supports GAW every year by disseminating information and resources through its network and by organizing activities together with NGOs, GCE members and other EFA partners. In 2014 the Global Action Week will take place from the 4th to 10th of May, and this year’s theme is “Education and Disability.” The campaign will focus on the theme under the slogan “Equal Right, Equal Opportunity”. This event will highlight the profound challenges faced by persons with disabilities in realizing their right to education. An estimated 1 billion people live with disability – comprising approximately 15% of the global population. It is estimated that 93 million of these are children, living with a moderate or severe disability. In most low and middle-income countries, children with disabilities are more likely to be out of school than any other group of children; even if they do attend school, children living with disabilities are often more likely to drop out and leave school early. In some countries, having a disability can more than double the chance of a child not being in school, compared to their non-disabled peers. It is, therefore, unsurprising that in many countries, children with disabilities make up the vast majority of those out of school. For those children with disabilities who actually manage to enter classrooms, the quality and form of schooling received – often in segregated schools – can act to powerfully compound exclusion from the mainstream and confirm pre-existing societal notions about disability. The Global Campaign for Education is stepping up the pressure on States to make significant efforts to realize these goals for the millions of adults and children who are denied their right to education. We’re a month away from celebrating the Global Action week for education. Currently many schools, training centers etc. whom we are working with utilize our education materials. Many organizations are working to make this week a success since the streets are filled with citizens’ demands for inclusive education. Let us also come together to celebrate this week and help the disabled become educated!!