Over the seven weeks from April 5 - June 1 the e-forum discussed issues relating to the theme mainstreaming disability in development.

The third e-forum discussion was used to support the roundtable held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia (4-6 May) and was moderated by Tom Russell, The Disability Action Trust, Cambodia. There was a great response to questions posed on the theme of ‘Inclusive Education, with over 150 people registered on the e-forum and a good proportion of people taking part in the discussions.

Discussions included;

• Defining Inclusive Education,
• when and where Inclusive Education was appropriate
• The barriers to inclusion,
• Good practice
• The role of disabled people’s organisations
• Policy and legislation

After the roundtable had finished the group were encouraged to share examples of good practice and to develop further networks. At the close of the discussion (four weeks after the roundtable ended) the group was keen to keep the e-forum open to discuss disability issues and Pramod Gupta of the Blind People’s Association, India has volunteered to moderate the group for the next two months. Healthlink Worldwide will continue to support the group and are currently working on questions and themes for discussion, including sustainability in disability projects, and HIV and AIDS and disability.

The e-forum website, which contains details of all the discussions can be accessed at the following address:
www.dgroups.org/groups/
disabilityKaR

A summary of the discussions leading up to the roundtable event has been produced by Tom Russell. The report is available to download as a Powerpoint presentation below.

Report 1, presented by Tom Russell at the roundtable in Cambodia 4 May 2005 (Powerpoint 201 KB)