The UNESCO Health and Education Symposium was held online Thursday November 26th. Professor James O’ Higgins Norman, UNESCO Chair on Tackling Bullying in Schools and Cyberspace and Director of the Anti-Bullying Centre (ABC) at Dublin City University and Dr Susana Fonesca , Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL) Lisbon, participated in the 3rd Session of the Virtual Symposium. They shared details of the Disabuse project. It was a remarkable, rich, interesting, and interactive session with powerful testimonies, an excellent and comprehensive presentation, and lively discussions. ABC inputs were insightful and tangible. The event was very well attended, with more than 130 participants. Organisers received a lot of positive feedback from the participants. It was labelled by some ‘as of the best session of the symposium’.

Parviz Abduvahobov, Programme Specialist, in UNESCO Section of Health and Education said that when planning an event such as this, it is imperative to gain the participation of experts and stakeholders. ABC’s willingness to share time and expertise in the area of moving towards inclusive and safe learning environments, including by addressing violence and bullying affecting learners with disabilities, was critical to the success of this event. There was a wide range of speakers, panelists, and those who shared their testimonies in the field representing various institutions and regions.

This symposium is not meant to be a single event but a starting point for the work that must be done to prevent and address violence and bullying involving learners with disabilities. Our collective efforts and thoughts on best practice will bring us closer to resolving this important issue. Be sure to visit https://en.unesco.org/news/ensuring-right-quality-inclusive-education-persons-disabilities-commitment-action to receive additional and follow-up information on the symposium. Graphics here to illustrate the session were prepared by Julia Hayes from Cambridge University.