Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Yes. I will be really succinct. I know we're tight for time. I'll add that I completely agree with what Peter said, but I also think it's about meeting the countries where they are, and meeting the ministry of education. If they have something in place, work with it. Don't try to bring in something new and add it because you've done it in another country.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I'll just add briefly that in the education-specific sphere we are embracing the use of ed tech, or education technology, specifically to support children who might have communication difficulties with alternative and augmentative communication, sometimes known as AAC. For example, in Rwanda, we're working with children who are struggling to communicate, and we're using free apps you can get on your tablet or your phone to enable them to communicate through voice icons, which means they can communicate in the classroom.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Shall I continue? I am happy to continue. I'll also refer you to the global education monitoring report for 2023, which is very informative about the best types of ed tech or technology and innovation that can be suitable for children with disabilities—or for all children—and how to enhance education through technology.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I can't answer on Cameroon. I was going to add that, on the positive side, in west Africa there is quite a strong coalition, ANCEFA, and also FAWE, which are focused on education for all. It's an “education for all” movement, which includes children with disabilities. That is actually quite a strong movement.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Did you want me to answer?

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  About the notion of intersectionality in general, I think that's a really important point. I think that sometimes things are in silos. For example—

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Okay. The point is this: Don't just focus on girls. Don't just focus on refugees. Don't just focus on children with disability. We need to think about all of the layers, the multiple layers and how that affects a child. A child is a child who's also a refugee, who's also a girl, who also has a disability.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I can answer. That's fine. Maybe you want direct figures, but essentially, retrofitting is always more expensive than starting out by being inclusive and accessible right from the get-go, so that's an example of how it might be expensive now to make schools inclusive and accessible.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Thank you very much for the question. To add to what others have said, it's important to get the message out there about what the overall effects of this are doing to children in Gaza, and the ongoing effects for children with previous disabilities, but also now for children with new injuries and disabilities.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  It's a good question, and sometimes early years education is different in different contexts, of course. There's a mix, a good hybrid mix, between ECD, or early years learning, and formal education marrying up with pre-primary and primary education. These days, in many countries in Africa and Asia, pre-primary education is often in the same school as primary education, so we're talking about sometimes starting four-year-olds or five-year-olds within the same formal setting as the primary.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I think that, first and foremost, it's quite likely that whatever you do for children with disabilities is going to benefit all children, so don't see it as a separate thing. Oftentimes they will invite us to come and work with them but then have it as a siloed thing as part of their overall education program.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Thanks for inviting us to this panel. I think you're right to start with that question because, typically, they are the most disadvantaged, the most likely to not be enrolled in schools, not accessing schools and, even if they are in schools, they might not be able to access a quality education even when there, which is something else that I think we should highlight.