Inclusive Education Vital for All, Including Persons with Disabilities

I want to draw your attention to today’s News Release from the United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner regarding the importance of inclusive education for all people, including persons with disabilities. Sometimes I think we forget that our shared work to develop more inclusive schools is, in fact, the foundation of peace in our communities and in our world. Thank you for your peacebuilding work; we have so much more to do.

As you enter the new school year, I hope you will find many opportunities to reflect on Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which the U.S. ratified after World War II. The UDHR serves as the foundational document for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and for all of the other human rights conventions. The CRPD contains no new rights, but helps to explain how modern nations have agreed to interpret the rights of persons with disabilities.

Article 1 of the UDHR reads:

“All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act toward one another in a spirit of brotherhood.”

I have a UDHR app on my smart phone so that I may try to learn more. I hope you will look it up, too. It is amazing how applicable it is in daily life.

Please share the U.N. News Release.


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