People living with disabilities are excluded in many parts of the world. The World Report on Disability estimates that 15 percent of the world’s population, or more than 1 billion people, have some form of disability. Additional estimates show that more than 80 percent of persons with disabilities live in developing countries, and more than half of them are women. A number of countries do not have current reliable statistics on disability, resulting in some nations using the UN world measure that 15 percent of their national populations comprise persons with disabilities.
Although the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) was enacted in 2006, efforts to promote inclusion have tended to take place unevenly across countries, and on an ad hoc basis. In 2019, the United Nations Disability Inclusion Strategy (UNDIS) was launched to provide a foundation for sustainable and transformative progress on disability inclusion through all pillars of the work of the United Nations.
Disability inclusion is central to the aspirations of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as well as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which aims to “leave no one behind”. Disability is referenced throughout the SDGs, specifically in the goals related to education (Goal 4), growth and employment (Goal 8), inequality (Goal 10), accessibility of human settlements (Goal 11), and data collection and monitoring (Goal 17). The multi-layered, interdisciplinary and multi-sectoral nature of disability requires collective responsibility and accountability, to ensure the rights of people with disabilities are protected, integrated and progressed around the world.
Disability inclusion is a core focus of our work , and also a principle we uphold in our own workplace. We are proud that 7 percent of our staff identify themselves as people persons with disabilities. We also have an Advisory Board Member who identifies as a person with disabilities and provides regular technical advice on our disability inclusive operations and impact. In accordance with Article 4 (3) of the UNCRPD, Includovate also ensures that persons with disabilities – and their representative organisations – play an active role in the design, implementation, and monitoring of all our initiatives.
Includovate seeks to strengthen disability inclusion across nations, sectors, and organisations as well as to empower persons with disabilities to advocate for their own development and advancement. Includovate is passionately committed to reversing patterns of exclusion, not least by ensuring that disability research and theoretical frameworks include perspectives from the Global South. Includovate is also taking bold steps towards promoting the development of indigenous disability theory and frameworks that are rooted in contexts from both the Global North and South.
Includovate conducted a systematic literature review to collate best practices from around the world to support the realisation of the rights of people with disabilities, including the rights to education, health and work.
Client: Sightsavers.
Includovate conducted research, wrote a report and provided recommendations for promoting disability inclusion within the global business community.
Client: Global Business Coalition for Education.
Includovate conducted a baseline assessment at the start of a five-year programme (2021-2025) in five countries (Bangladesh, India, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda) aimed at preventing sexual and gender-based violence against women with disabilities and strengthening their leadership and participation in decision-making.
Includovate worked with UNFPA Tanzania on behalf of the United Nations Country Team to support the inception phase of the Joint Programme to Advance the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Tanzania (URT).
Client: UNFPA.
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