A/HRC/4/29 page 4 Introduction 1. By its resolution 1998/33, the Commission on Human Rights established the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the right to education. In 2004, the Commission renewed the mandate for a period of three years, by its resolution 2004/25. The present report is submitted in accordance with paragraph 12 of Commission resolution 2005/21 as well as decision 1/102 of the Human Rights Council in which the Council decided to extend exceptionally for one year, subject to the review to be undertaken by the Council in conformity with General Assembly resolution 60/251, the mandates and the mandate-holders of all the special procedures of the Commission on Human Rights. 2. In the past year, the Special Rapporteur carried out a broad and intensive programme of work that included frequent trips undertaken at the invitation of Governments, universities and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) for the purpose of conducting activities related to his mandate. He also carried out a mission to Germany in January and another to Morocco in November and December. The Special Rapporteur sent letters of allegation to the Governments of Burundi, Chile, China, Poland, Romania, the Russian Federation and Slovenia, but received replies only from the Governments of Chile, China and Romania. 3. The Special Rapporteur decided to devote his third annual report to the question of the right to education of persons with disabilities, given that his work principally involves addressing the needs of persons subjected to discrimination, among whom persons with disabilities are one of the groups most affected by exclusion from education. Moreover, the General Assembly’s adoption on 13 December 2006 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, article 24 of which recognizes the right to education of such persons, is a development of particular concern to the Special Rapporteur. Consequently, this report seeks to strengthen the impact and promote the ratification and implementation of that Convention and to encourage efforts to implement, among other relevant instruments, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the Convention against Discrimination in Education, which was adopted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). 4. In the efforts to promote the right to education, organizations of persons with disabilities and their families have proved to be a bastion for the advancement of the rights of persons with disabilities. This report recognizes and pays tribute to their achievements. The Special Rapporteur wishes to express his thanks for the contributions from the Latin American Forum for Educational Policies (FLAPE), the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and Inclusion International (International League of Associations for Persons with Mental Disabilities), which greatly facilitated his work. 5. In cooperation with the Special Rapporteur, OHCHR organized a seminar, involving a multidisciplinary panel of experts, on “The right to education of persons with disabilities”. The seminar was held on 23 and 24 November 2006 and had two principal aims: to assist the Special Rapporteur in his exploration of the various opportunities and numerous challenges regarding the right to education of persons with disabilities; and to promote active and effective monitoring of its fulfilment. From that seminar it became clear that there is a common and multidisciplinary agreement that the fulfilment of the right to education depends on “inclusive education”, a concept which forms the focus of this report.