IDS Bulletin

Building Disability-Inclusive Futures

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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.

Introduction: Building Disability-Inclusive Futures

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An estimated 1.3 billion people worldwide experience disability and are a part of human diversity. People with disabilities remain underrepresented in development programmes and research. People with disabilities must be included in development initiatives to ensure that no one is left behind. This issue presents a collection of articles written by researchers and practitioners involved in the UK aid-funded Disability Inclusive Development (DID) programme. The articles explore a range of topics relating to disability and development such as health, education, safeguarding, transport, stigma, including the most marginalised groups, the imperative role of Organisations of Persons with Disabilities, and disability-inclusive approaches to research and evaluations. This issue presents robust evidence produced under the DID programme to show what is known, makes practical suggestions for what needs to be done to achieve inclusion going forward, and highlights persisting evidence and funding gaps.

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Making the IDS Bulletin Accessible to all Readers

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The IDS Bulletin has been in continuous publication since 1968 and, during this time, it has been published in several formats, from printed paperback to its current offering of PDF and HTML. Digital publishing has the potential to greatly increase inclusion for people with disabilities. For example, readers can transform the text size and line spacing or listen to the content.

Digital has long been the dominant scholarly journal format; in 2024, it generated over eight times more revenue for UK publishers than print (Publishers Association 2025). But when digital content is not created with accessibility in mind, it can result in significant barriers to accessing knowledge. Much attention has focused on open access in scholarly publishing, i.e. allowing readers to freely access and download information without barriers. In recent years, much more focus has been brought to accessibility, i.e. designing and creating digital content in a way that can be universally accessed by everyone, including people with disabilities. Scholarly publishing has an important role to play in making knowledge available to all on an equitable basis, at the point of publication.

Foreword – Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

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From being one of the first countries to ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) (United Nations 2006) to helping found the Global Action on Disability (GLAD) network, the UK has demonstrated a longstanding and meaningful commitment to disability inclusion. The instigation of the first Global Disability Summit in London in 2018 was a pivotal moment for the global disability movement. As co-hosts with the Government of Kenya and the International Disability Alliance, the UK marked a critical step change in official development assistance (ODA) programmes supporting people with disabilities.

Foreword – Sightsavers and International Disability Alliance

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This is the foreword to IDS Bulletin 56.1 'Building Disability-Inclusive Futures'.

Advancing Disability-Inclusive Participatory Research: Lessons, Challenges, and Future Directions

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Participatory research, which is built on the guiding philosophy of enabling and empowering people to play an active and influential role in research that affects their lives, is an approach which can contribute to realising meaningful inclusion. Drawing on experiences gained through developing and employing participatory research methods under the Disability Inclusive Development Inclusive Futures programme, this article explores the methodological opportunities, challenges, and nuances of such an approach. It offers reflections based on the experience of undertaking research focused on inclusive education in Nigeria and Kenya, inclusive livelihoods in Bangladesh, and exploring the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on people with disabilities across multiple countries. We analyse both successful practices from these participatory research projects and also highlight those that could have been more collaborative and inclusive. Finally, we look forward, offering reflections and recommendations to guide others who are interested in designing and delivering disability-inclusive participatory research.

Disability Stigma Reduction: Learnings from Disability-Inclusive Programming

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Disability stigma is a persistent barrier to the inclusion of people with disabilities, yet its impact is often overlooked in programming aimed at disability inclusion, and there is little evidence about disability stigma reduction interventions. Drawing on research from the Disability Inclusive Development Inclusive Futures programme (2018–2026), this article outlines programme learning about disability stigma through the framework of different stigma types (social, structural, internalised, and stigma by association), as well as the role of intersectionality and stigma. Programme learning about how to reduce disability stigma when working on disability-inclusive programming highlights the importance of having a shared understanding of stigma to better guide interventions. More intentional planning for stigma reduction, as well as targeting the different types of disability stigma is key. It is also important to centre the experiences of people with disabilities. Changing the norms around ingrained forms of stigma requires a long-term sustained approach to stigma reduction.

Lessons on Power and Partnership in Disability-Inclusive Safeguarding

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Safeguarding refers to specific actions that reduce the risk of abuse, neglect, and harm. It is an essential aspect of all development programming and research, but due to existing social structures and entrenched power inequalities, it is particularly important in development programming and research focused on people with disabilities. This article reflects on implementation experience relating to disability-inclusive safeguarding from the UK aid-funded Disability Inclusive Development Inclusive Futures programme. It details efforts taken to design and implement participatory safeguarding approaches and activities through partnering with Organisations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs). The article unpacks practical examples of inclusive safeguarding while also identifying challenges in forming equitable, proportional partnerships between international non‑governmental organisations (INGOs) and OPDs. It concludes by raising questions about how power, partnerships, sustainability, and solidarity impact on safeguarding for global actors working with locally embedded, under-resourced partners.

What Works: Learning from Inclusive Education Projects Across Five Countries

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This article reflects on the learning from five inclusive education projects implemented under the Inclusive Futures programme across Bangladesh, Kenya, Tanzania, Nepal, and Nigeria (2018–2025). It addresses three core themes: finding and enrolling children with disabilities, preparing schools to welcome them, and centring them in teaching. Central to project success was the involvement of Organisations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs) in all stages, from design to delivery and monitoring, ensuring relevance, sustainability, and a rights-based focus. The projects demonstrated that inclusive education interventions are more successful when embedded in national strategies, supported by multisectoral collaboration. Despite persistent barriers, the projects demonstrated that low-cost, scalable strategies can improve educational outcomes for children with disabilities.

Adapting Development Programmes for People with Disabilities with High Support Needs

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All people with disabilities should expect equitable access to services and equal opportunities; the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities explicitly recognises the importance of their full and effective participation and inclusion in society. However, particularly in low-income countries, people with disabilities with high support needs compared to other people with disabilities do not always benefit equally from existing policies, development projects, services, or practices.

This article reflects on learning gathered from across the Disability Inclusive Development programme. It asserts that strengthening inclusion of people with disabilities with high support needs requires not only practical know-how at project level, but also systemic change to funding practices and project design. We identify key areas where collective focus and systemic change would ensure development programmes more commonly include people with disabilities with high support needs, who are often the hardest to reach and the most marginalised and excluded.

What is Required to Support the Implementation of Inclusive Health in Mainstream Programmes?

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Health is a development priority across countries and contexts. Yet many health systems are still not accessible for persons with disabilities. The Inclusive Family Planning project (IFPLAN), part of the UK aid-funded Disability Inclusive Development Inclusive Futures programme, operates in Northern Nigeria to improve access to sexual and reproductive health for persons with disabilities. It partnered with the Lafiya project – a UK aid-funded mainstream health programme – on putting disability inclusion into their practice. In a team consisting of two Inclusive Futures management staff, a disability specialist seconded to the Lafiya project, and a women with disabilities from the Nigerian National Association of the Deaf, we led the process to identify lessons from this collaboration. In this article, we address the central question ‘What is needed to achieve inclusive health in mainstream programmes?’ We offer eight
practical recommendations to enhance equal access for persons with disabilities, adaptable across contexts.

People with Disabilities and Transport Access: Evidence from PENDA and Inclusive Futures

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Transport is a fundamental enabler of participation in society yet people with disabilities frequently experience barriers to accessing it. These barriers are often greater in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Despite its importance, transport remains neglected in disability-inclusive development interventions. This article synthesises evidence from the Disability Inclusive Development Inclusive Futures programme and the Programme for Evidence to Inform Disability Action, which implement and evaluate disability inclusion interventions across multiple LMICs. We draw on their findings to examine the transport barriers experienced by people with disabilities and how these shaped intervention participation and outcomes. Findings highlight inaccessible infrastructure, a lack of accessible public transport options, unavailability of assistive technology, and transport-related stigma and discrimination as barriers. These barriers were shaped by intersectional disadvantage and risk constraining intervention participation and impact. We discuss the implications for disability-inclusive development intervention design and national transport policy, highlighting that transport access is a prerequisite for meaningful inclusion.

Impact Evaluations for Progressing Disability-Inclusive Development

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People with disabilities experience stark inequities across the spectrum of development priorities. Yet they are rarely prioritised by development programmes. The poor evidence base for ‘what works’ for disability-inclusive development is a major challenge to taking action and advancing the meaningful inclusion of people with disabilities. The Programme for Evidence to Inform Disability Action (PENDA) was established to undertake high-quality impact evaluations to assess whether holistic approaches to disability-inclusive development improve the participation of people with disabilities in key areas of society (health, livelihoods, education). Through PENDA, 13 evaluations were implemented across 13 low-and middle-income countries. Impact evaluations are predominantly through the gold standard approach of randomised controlled trials. Each trial has a complementary mixed-methods process evaluation to better understand the findings and their implications. The article reflects on key considerations for undertaking impact evaluations of disability-inclusive development interventions, illustrated from the PENDA trials, and learnings to advance this research agenda.

Afterword: Nothing Without Us

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Glossary

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This is the glossary of IDS Bulletin 57.1 ‘Building Disability-Inclusive Futures'.

Notes on contributors: Building Disability-Inclusive Futures

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This is the glossary of IDS Bulletin 57.1 ‘Building Disability-Inclusive Futures'.

Stephen Thompson, Brigitte Rohwerder, Claire Walsh and Gayatri Sekar

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