Latin America and the Caribbean

The purpose of this booklet is to assist UNICEF staff and our partners to understand basic concepts of financing inclusive education, with an emphasis on children with disabilities, and recommendations on what financing models and strategies support a rights-based approach to inclusive education. Why funding is important to inclusive education.…

The purpose of this booklet is to assist UNICEF staff and our partners to understand the basic concepts of inclusive preschool programs, with an emphasis on children with disabilities. Why inclusive pre-schools are important. How early identification and intervention can impact children’s readiness for school. Key characteristics of high-quality…

A new approach to education for all, UNESCO defines inclusive education as the “process of addressing and responding to the diversity of needs of all children, youth and adults through increasing participation in learning, cultures and communities, and reducing and eliminating exclusion within and from education. It involves changes and modifications in content, approaches,…, Commit to changing mindsets, Growing up with a hearing disability, Thobias 13-year-old 6th grader (with the ball) is no stranger to different forms of discrimination as a child. His parents initially enrolled him in a “special” school for deaf students. However, he found the environment to be challenging. The use of sign language was banned in the school and Thobias and his…, "Changing the education system to adapt to students, instead of trying to change students to adapt to the system.", Advantages of the inclusive education, 1st grade students learning sign-language through an Accessible Digital Textbook (ADT) in a inclusive classroom of the school Escuela Básica Medalla Milagrosa, located in Limpio, Paraguay during the 1st pilot of ADT in the country. When teachers are trained to include children and adolescents with disabilities or with special educational needs,…, Integration of various components, Integration of various components, Explore our resources

All children and adolescents have the same human rights and must enjoy the same opportunities to have an education and reach their full potential. However, children and adolescents with disabilities, as well as those with learning difficulties or those who experience various ways of acquiring knowledge and skills, have historically been the most…, Children and adolescents with disabilities are significantly less likely to be enrolled in school than their peers without disabilities., Together with our partners around the world, we are promoting innovative solutions that can be integrated into the educational systems of the region. Our goal is that children and adolescents with disabilities, as well as those who have learning difficulties or experiencing various ways of acquiring knowledge and skills, can have the same…, Discover what we are working on, Strategies to support countries in moving towards inclusive education, Partnerships, Promoting the adoption of Accessible Digital Textbooks (ADT) production standards and recommendations among stakeholders in the publishing ecosystem throughout their production chains. Working closely and collaboratively with Organizations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs) to reflect their requirements throughout the implementation of the ADT…, Innovation, Providing technical assistance to government partners to develop ADT standards and recommendations based on Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and their validation by stakeholders involved in the book chain. Promoting the use of state-of-the-art software that applies UDL to increase and stimulate ADT supply and demand., Advocacy, Influencing policy design and funding to guarantee progressive transition of the educational system towards the use of ADT in the national curriculum and the availability of technological tools that enable teachers to evaluate the learning outcomes of students with or without disabilities or learning difficulties. Advocating with OPDs for the…, Evidence generation, Facilitating knowledge management among stakeholders involved in the book chain to foster confidence and motivation, guide decision-making and appropriate actions to implement the initiative in countries. Documenting and systematizing each stage of the process, including developing and validating standards and collecting reliable, sufficient and…, Capacity development, Supporting the development of a training process to improve the capacities of all stakeholders of the education system and the book chain. This will help create local capacities at the country level for ADT production and use, based on UDL principles., Explore our resources

Sign language, voice-overs, music and interactive activities are the features that will be available in the digital versions of the Accessible Digital Textbooks (ADT) of Jamaica, thanks to the project that we have been promoting since 2021. As UNICEF, we work alongside the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, the Jamaica Library Service,…, ADT will allow students with diverse abilities to interact and learn equally. These books fit their different learning styles!, The goal that guides our efforts is that between 2021-2023, Jamaica will have adapted a core set of 12 picture books that the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information uses in grades 1º, 2º and 3º of primary education. These books are part of the national curriculum and aim to be accessible for every child and adolescent by ensuring narration,…, “We want educational materials to be equally available to all students and the Universal Design for Learning approach allows us to think critically about ways to creatively engage children with and without disabilities.”,    , “Universal design principles allow us to really make the material come alive for all students so that they can relate more with what they are learning.”, Rebecca Tortello, UNICEF Education Specialist A girl smiles, pencil in hand, in a classroom at Drew Avenue Primary School in Kingston, the capital. UNICEF provides the school with textbooks and other supplies. UNICEF/UNI42231/Noorani Here are the plans for the pilot in Jamaica: Pilot 2021 2022 2023 Results 6 ADTs for grades 1, 2 and 3 6 ADTs for…, Jamaica is the first English speaking country in the region to begin incorporating universal design into its publishing ecosystem but based on the excitement of the experience so far, it certainly will not be the last!, Workshop participant Sesión participativa de trabajo para el proyecto de libros de texto digitales en Jamaica UNICEF As UNICEF, we have a long working history with Jamaica seeking to expand access for ALL Jamaican students to quality education and active citizenship. This has motivated us to: Complete the revision of the national special education…, Watch this mini parenting masterclass on caring for children with disabilities, Besides ADT project, we have worked with Special Olympics Jamaica to increase its volunteer network, extend its healthy athlete screenings, and train coaches in safeguarding through sports methodology. We have also placed specific emphasis on the national early screening, identification and referral pathway that begins with the UNICEF-funded…

This Training Manual and the accompanying Working with adolescent girl GBV survivors on the move Guide are designed for service providers in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) who work with adolescent girls in migration contexts who experience or are at risk of gender-based violence (GBV), with a particular focus on Venezuelan migration…

With this Guide and its Working with adolescent girl GBV survivors on the move Training Manual , the UNICEF regional office wants to support service providers in Latin America and the Caribbean to provide specialized care to adolescent survivors of gender-based violence (GBV) in the context of migration. While the objective is to assist every…

Under article 21 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Committee is mandated to develop general recommendations with the aim of clarifying the obligations of States parties to combat discrimination against women and girls in the current context. This document contains the most relevant contributions…

PANAMA CITY/SANTIAGO/WASHINGTON D.C., 2 June 2022 – The significant loss of learning during COVID-19 school closures in Latin America and the Caribbean is now putting millions of children at risk of dropping out of school, the World Bank, the Inter-American Dialogue, UNESCO and UNICEF warned today during an event streamed live worldwide.  The…

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This paper is a reflection on the various situations and impacts faced by unaccompanied or separated adolescent girls and LGBTIQ+ adolescents on the move, many of whom felt they had no choice but to leave Venezuela. Their stories show us the weaknesses in both their identification and in transit and destination country protection system responses…

Parenting programmes are considered a key global and evidence-based strategy for violence prevention against children, as well as being a recognised cost-effective tool for improving parental mental health and child behavioural well-being. However, most of the evidence focuses on the early years and/or young children and is limited to high income…