1. an educational initiative, aimed at raising awareness in children and youth on disability and inclusion;
2. a global art project, aimed at collecting drawings from children and youth worldwide;
3. an advocacy campaign, aimed at empowering children and youth to become active global citizens.
On December 3, 2014, schools from all over the planet were encouraged to get involved in #DrawDisability. Teachers were invited to use the #DrawDisability Guidelines to promote critical reflections and awareness on disability within their classrooms, and children with and without disabilities were encouraged to#DrawDisability. Drawings could portray their understanding and feelings towards disability and related issues, such as accessibility, inclusion and discrimination. A selection of the best drawings were showcased at theWorld Education Forum in May 2015 in Incheon, South Korea, and theConference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (COSP-CRPD)in June 2015 in New York, USA.
After the campaign deadline on June 30th, a jury of experts selected250 drawingsout of almost3000 submissions from50 countriesworldwide. From those 250 drawings,the100 most voted (50 from each age group)were featured in the #DrawDisability exhibition at the United Nations Headquarters in New York (USA) in December 2015, to celebrate the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
See the top 100 artworks of the #DrawDisability contest: enter the gallery!
The #DrawDisability Book!
Almost 3000 drawings from 50 countries were submitted to the #DrawDisability campaign by children and youth with and without disabilities. We asked the public to vote online for their favourite artworks and the #DrawDisability Bookis the outcome of this process. The 100 drawings displayed in the #DrawDisability Book represent the great variety of contexts and perspectives conveyed by children and youth on the themes of disability and inclusion. All these messages are important: next to highlighting the need for our increased efforts to overcome stereotypes and discrimination, they also teach us that where we may see obstacles and suffering, children often see beauty, strength, resilience and hope. Flip trough the pages or download the #DrawDisability Book in accessible formats!
On December 3, 2015, on the occasion of theInternational Day of Persons with Disabilities, GEFI, GLOBI and YAG hosted a Round Table Discussion at the United Nations Headquartes in New York (USA)titled “Leave No One Behind: Continuing Conversations on Inclusive Education”.
Opening remarks by Min Jeong Kim, Secretariat of the UN Global Education First Initiative
Moderator:
Sumaya Saluya, GEFI-YAG Co-chair
Panelists:
Andrea Pregel, President Global Observatory for Inclusion (GLOBI)
Rolando Jr Villamero, Fellow Jeanne Sauve Public Leadership Programme, GEFI YAG
Lieve Sabbe, UNICEF Programme Specialist – Children with Disabilities
Dr. Christopher Lee, Department Head of Accessibility Solutions and Research Center at Georgia Institute of Technology
Dr. Danielle Peers, Banting Post-Doctoral Fellow (SSHRC) with the Critical Disability Working Group, Concordia University
Watch the video of the conference:
On 29 November, 2015, GLOBI’s Co-founder and President Andrea Pregel delivered a talk on #DrawDisability at TEDxCrocetta in Turin (Italy). You can watch the video here:
In this video, inclusive education experts share their views on the #DrawDisability campaign, and some of the thousands of children who took part talk about their artworks:
The #DrawDisability campaign had its first international exhibition at the World Education Forum 2015 on May 18-21, 2015 in Incheon (Republic of Korea). This was part of #DrawDisability’s thrust of raising the awareness of the global community about disability and inclusive education.
The #DrawDisability campaign had its second international exhibition at the UNICEF Headquarters in New York (USA) during theConference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (COSP-CRPD)on June 9-11.
On November 10, 2015, A World at School hosted a Google+ Hangout session: “#DrawDisability: Reflections on Successes and Impacts“. The panel was composed by Rolando Jr Villamero, GEFI/GLOBI/YAG representative, Debra Ruh, a mother of a child with Down Syndrome and an internationally recognised advocate and leader in disability, inclusion, and accessibility, Diane Richler, former President of Inclusion International and a Senior Fellow to Joseph P. Kennedy Fellowship Program on International Policy, and Cheryl Perera, Canadian Member of the UN Global Education First Initiative Youth Advocacy Group (GEFI-YAG) and moderator of the discussion. Watch the video!
On March 19, 2015,A World at Schoolhosted a new Google+ Hangout session to discuss the role of “Art as Tool for Inclusion”. The panel was composed by Dr. Tom Shakespeare (UK), senior lecturer, researcher, disability advocate, writer and artist; Maria Omare (Kenya), advocate for the rights of persons with disability working in Kibera, the largest urban slum in Africa; Ry Sedrick Bolodo (Philippines), visual artist who has experience working with children with and without disabilities in the grassroots communities; and Rolando Jr Villamero (Philippines), GEFI/GLOBI/YAG representative. Watch the video!
