Institute of Development Studies (IDS)
Bio
Author Biography
Stephen Thompson is a social scientist who has worked across the disciplines of geography and international development since 2007. He is a Research Fellow in the Participation, Inclusion and Social Change research cluster at IDS. His research mainly focuses on the themes of disability inclusion and social justice. He is particularly interested in participatory methods. His doctoral thesis focused on the social and economic impact of avoidable blindness and visual impairment in Mozambique.
Institute of Development Studies (IDS)
Bio
Author Biography
Brigitte Rohwerder is a Researcher in the Participation, Inclusion and Social Change research cluster at IDS. Her current work mainly focuses on themes of social justice and inclusion, particularly disability inclusion in low-income contexts, using participatory methods. Her research interests include disability stigma, forced displacement, and marginalised groups’ experiences of conflict, crises, and humanitarian response.
Sightsavers
Bio
Author Biography
Claire Walsh is currently the Deputy Programme Director of the Disability Inclusive Development (DID) programme at Sightsavers. Previous roles focused on monitoring, evaluation, and learning and organisational change. She has close to 20 years of experience working in the international development sector across West and East Africa and India, Bangladesh, and Nepal on disability inclusion, education, health, and livelihoods programmes. She holds a master’s degree in Public Policy from Simon Fraser University, Canada.
nternational Disability Alliance (IDA)
Bio
Author Biography
Gayatri Sekar is Senior Officer, Learning and Community Engagement at the International Disability Alliance (IDA) and works on learning products built through community engagement. Coming from southern India with lived experience of psychosocial disability, Gayatri applies a decolonial approach to inclusive research and learning, the production and dissemination of knowledge, and community engagement in the global South.
Volume 57
Number 1
Published: March 19, 2026
Whilst significant progress has been made in recent years with regard to ensuring that development interventions are more inclusive, people with disabilities still remain underrepresented in development programmes and research. The landmark adoption of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in 2006 changed how disability is considered within society, as well as within the development sector. But there is still so much to do before all interventions are meaningfully inclusive of people with disabilities.
This issue of the IDS Bulletin presents a collection of articles written by researchers and practitioners involved in the UK aid-funded Disability Inclusive Development (DID) programme. In particular, the articles include a focus on three broad themes: strengthening the evidence base; cross-cutting issues relevant to disability-inclusive development; and the central role of Organisations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs).
Drawing together key insights and lessons across the DID programme, the articles explore a range of topics relating to disability and development such as health, education, safeguarding, transport, stigma, the most marginalised groups, the imperative role of OPDs, and disability-inclusive approaches to research and evaluations.
This is the first IDS Bulletin issue in its long history to have an explicit focus on disability.
The editorial team are very proud of this thematic focus, believing that disability must be mainstreamed within development discourse, programming, and research if no one is to be left behind. We are also pleased to say, this IDS Bulletin is produced in an accessible format that goes beyond the expectations linked to current publishing legislation.
