UNESCO, in cooperation with Global Initiative for Inclusive Information and Communication Technologies (G3ict), organized the consultative meeting “Mainstreaming ICTs for Persons with Disabilities To access Information and Knowledge” on 22-23 February 2010 (Room XIV) at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France. The major aim of the meeting was to discuss how UNESCO could assist its Member States in facilitating social inclusion of persons with disabilities through Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs).

Seventy six countries have ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities committing them to ensuring that persons with disabilities enjoy all human rights on an equal basis with others. A number of the general principles included in the UN Convention are directly linked to UNESCO’s mandate.

In order to facilitate the implementation process of the UN Convention, UNESCO, in cooperation with Global Initiative for Inclusive Information and Communication Technologies (G3ict), organized a consultative meeting on 22-23 February 2010 at UNESCO Headquarters (Room XIV) in Paris, France.

The major aim of the meeting was to discuss how UNESCO could assist its Member States to meet this international commitment in facilitating social inclusion of persons with disabilities through Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). The meeting was attended by the representatives of the disabled community, IT&T industry, international and national research and educational institutions, non-governmental organizations working in the subject area.