Over the seven weeks from February 1 - March 25 the e-forum discussed issues relating to the theme mainstreaming disability in development.

The e-forum supported the the 2nd Roundtable in India 24 - 26 February 2005 and was moderated by Pramod Gupta of the Blind Person’s Association, Ahmedabad. There was a great response to questions posed on the theme of ‘Mainstreaming disability in development’, with over 100 people registered on the e-forum.

Discussions included:

• Defining mainstreaming
• What an inclusive society meant
• Aspects of why mainstreaming disability was vital in development strategies
• The challenges involved in achieving an inclusive society.

The group also looked at the different levels of mainstreaming, for example at a government level, implications for agencies, and how DPOs could work with government organisations.

After the roundtable finished the group were encouraged to share examples of good practice and to develop further networks.

Two summaries of the discussions leading up to, and following on from the roundtable event have been produced by Pramod Gupta. The reports are available to download as a Word doc below.

Report 1, presented by Pramod Gupta at the roundtable in India 24 February 2005 (Word doc 9 pages 63 KB)

Report 2, a summary of all the discussions on mainstreaming disability (Word doc 32 170 KB)

The e-forum website, which contains details of all the discussions can be accessed at the following address:

www.dgroups.org/groups/disabilityKaR