CBM Global’s Inclusion Advisory Group (IAG), Australia team, provided direction to a World Vision economic development program in Sri Lanka, about strategies to include people with disabilities.
A recent report by World Vision Australia shows that a twin track approach to disability inclusion resulted in a massive 507% increase in people with disabilities benefitting from the project, with a marginal increase in cost of just 12.6% per participant. For every dollar spent on inclusion, there was a $3.80 return on investment for people with disabilities. This supports IAG’s experience of disability inclusion: that if projects are designed to address disability inclusion from the outset, the benefits to people with disabilities can be significant, for minimal additional cost.
Given that people with disabilities are the largest minority group and one of the most marginalised in communities, this is money well spent. Not only were people with disabilities better off financially, they were also more confident. Ninety one percent of people with disabilities (men- 96% women – 84%) reported being able to make their own decisions about what is important to them, compared to around 47% before the project began.
The iLive approach provides development practitioners with a useful source of good practice examples and lessons to take forward.
This research study and project were funded by the Australian Government through the Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP).