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The meeting took place within the framework of the RIINEE Project "Advancing Regional Cooperation to Promote the Right to Education for People with Disabilities" carried out by the Regional Bureau for Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (OREALC/UNESCO Santiago), funded by the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training of Spain (MEFP), in its role as Executive Secretariat of the RIINEE network, and with the support of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) through its Intercoonecta program.

Various representatives from the Organization of Ibero-American States (OEI), the ONCE Foundation in Latin America (FOAL), and the Latin American Campaign for the Right to Education (CLADE) also participated in the event.

The objectives of this gathering were to enhance dialogue and cooperation among RIINEE member countries regarding teacher training in inclusive education, as well as to determine priorities for the Network's future activities.

Such discussions, held annually with representatives responsible for these themes in the respective countries, are fundamental for enabling a paradigm shift towards teacher training that acknowledges human diversity as a strength for learning. Claudia Uribe, the Director of the Regional Bureau for Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (OREALC/UNESCO Santiago), emphasized in her opening remarks: "We recognize the necessity of ensuring high-quality, timely, and relevant teacher training for truly inclusive education. This is critical to reduce the learning gap between students of diverse contexts and abilities - a gap that the pandemic has only widened."

In turn, Purificación Llaquet, Deputy Director General of Territorial Cooperation and Educational Innovation at the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training of Spain, noted at the event that "it is essential to insist on the role of the teacher as a key actor in the transformation of reality for students with disabilities. In addition to the necessary legislative reforms that accompany this process, it is fundamental to empower the teacher and provide them with the necessary tools to move forward in this direction. It is not only about making commitments with them, but also making them aware of the need to rethink certain beliefs and drive them towards an education in diversity that promotes human rights and the 2030 Agenda."

For his part, José Ignacio Ayala, director of the Spanish Cooperation Training Center in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, stated that "we clearly share the objectives of the program: to foster that dialogue and cooperation among the members of the RIINEE. And of course, the more specific objectives that [...] you will develop in these sessions: the identification of existing South-South Cooperation mechanisms that allow us to establish an exchange of challenges and good practices to foster inclusive education policies, mainly with boys and girls with disabilities."

Álvaro Saiz, head of the Service of the Deputy Directorate General for Territorial Cooperation and Educational Innovation of the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training of Spain and Carolina Belalcázar, head of the Unit for Quality and Lifelong Learning of the Regional Bureau for Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (OREALC/UNESCO Santiago), presented to the audience the objectives of the RIINEE and the progress of the current project "Advancing in regional cooperation to promote the right to education for people with disabilities".

Following the format of previous years, the representatives of the countries dialogued and exchanged experiences in different working groups. As a starting point, the event began with the keynote lecture: "The role of the teacher in inclusive education from a human rights perspective" given by Javier Tamarit, a psychologist from the Autonomous University of Madrid, who since 1977 has developed programs, projects, services and support systems for people with developmental disabilities (Autism Spectrum Disorder and Intellectual Disability -ASD-) as well as for families and organizations.

Javier Tamarit reflected on the internal good of education, which from his perspective "would consist in contributing from dignity and human rights, offering each person with a sense of transcendence in life, or vital transcendence, human knowledge to help that person to build their understanding of the world, their understanding of themselves, and their understanding of the meaning of their life, so that they perceive themselves with power to be protagonists in achieving a good life in community, contributing to fostering a dignified and just community".

The event continued with working groups that dealt with "Advances in initial and continuous teacher training for the inclusion of students with disabilities: approaches and public policies". There, national initiatives that are perceived and valued as advances in initial and continuous teacher training for inclusion were analyzed.

During the second day of work, the representatives of the countries also met in working groups to discuss "Good practices in initial and continuous teacher training for the inclusion of students with disabilities", where they shared their experiences of good practices in topics of initial and/or continuous training that have positively impacted the educational inclusion of students with disabilities.

The event concluded with group discussions on "South-South Cooperation: Contextualizing Experiences for the Improvement of Initial and Continuous Teacher Training for the Inclusion of Students with Disabilities" and the discussion of ideas and proposals for future work of the RIINEE. The attendees indicated their interest in topics of teacher training in inclusive education and disability, with Universal Design for Learning (UDL) being one of the most highlighted.