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experience some form of disability, and disability prevalence is higher for developing countries.

Persons with disabilities are more likely to experience adverse socioeconomic outcomes such as less education, poorer health outcomes, lower levels of employment, and higher poverty rates.? Poverty may increase the risk of disability through malnutrition, inadequate access to education and health care, unsafe working conditions, a polluted environment, and lack of access to safe water and sanitation. Disability may also exacerbate the risk of poverty, through lack of education and resulting limited employment opportunities, lower wages, and increased cost of living with a disability.

Barriers to full social and economic inclusion of persons with disabilities include inaccessible physical environments and transportation, the unavailability of assistive devices and technologies, non-adapted means of communication, gaps in service delivery, and discriminatory prejudice and stigma in society.

Households with disabled persons are disproportionately food insecure due to constrained economic resources due to higher poverty and lower employment rates than persons without disabilities. In situations of humanitarian crisis and conflict, persons with disabilities are more likely to face violence, exploitation or abuse and have two to four times higher mortality rates.

Last Updated: Apr 09, 2025

Including persons with disabilities and expanding equitable opportunities are at the core of the World Bank¡¯s work to build sustainable, inclusive communities, aligned with the institution¡¯s goals to end extreme poverty and promote shared prosperity.

ľ¹ÏÓ°Ôº integrates disability into development through its analytical work, data collection, and good-practice policies. The Bank also addresses disability issues in its operations across a wide range of sectors, including promoting access to infrastructure facilities and social services, rehabilitation, skills development, creating economic opportunities, and working with Organizations for Persons with Disabilities, focusing on the most vulnerable among people with disabilities, such as women and children, and influencing policies and institutional development. The?Global Disability Advisor¡¯s team serves as a focal point for ongoing advisory and analytical support to operational teams on disability-inclusive approaches in project design and implementation. ľ¹ÏÓ°Ôº revised its  in 2022, the  of which was launched in June 2018, to offer a roadmap for:?

1. Including disability in the World Bank¡¯s policies, operations, and analytical work; and
2. Building internal capacity for supporting clients in implementing disability-inclusive development programs.?

The framework is relevant to policymakers, government officials, other development organizations, and persons with disabilities.

In July 2018, the World Bank Group made?Ten Commitments?to accelerate global action for disability-inclusive development in key areas such as education, digital development, data collection, gender, post-disaster reconstruction, transport, private sector investments, and social protection.? ľ¹ÏÓ°Ôº group has updated some of these commitments in 2022 as it continues to invest in disability-inclusive development. These are:?

1. Ensuring that all WB-financed education programs and projects are disability-inclusive by 2025.
2. Ensuring that all WB-financed digital development projects are disability sensitive, including through the use of universal design and accessibility standards.?
3. Scaling up disability data collection and use, including by strengthening institutions and building capacity to reduce gaps in the availability of disability-disaggregated core data for evidence-based policy making, guided by global standards and best practices, such as using the?.
4. Analyze data on the socio-economic inclusion of women with disabilities in legal and policy frameworks by??team to build evidence for better protection of the rights of women with disabilities in WBG operations.?
5. Ensuring that all projects financing public facilities in post-disaster reconstruction are disability-inclusive.
6. Ensuring that all WB-financed urban mobility and rail projects that support public transport services are disability-inclusive by 2025.?
7. Enhancing due diligence on private sector projects financed by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) regarding disability inclusion and strengthen IFC¡¯s signaling on the importance of the private sector for disability inclusion by making the following commitments which reflect our ongoing work in this area.
8. Ensuring that 75% of WB-financed social protection projects are disability-inclusive by 2025.?
9. Foster a more Inclusive Environment in the World Bank Group (by implementing the disability inclusion strategy
10. Promoting the updated??among World Bank staff as a way to support the World Bank¡¯s?Environmental and Social Framework?(ESF).?

ľ¹ÏÓ°Ôº¡¯s??(ESF) includes a strong provision designed to make sure that the interests of persons with disabilities are protected and included, requiring the borrower to look specifically at disability as part of any social assessments.

The ESF makes several direct references to safeguarding the interests of persons with disabilities and protecting them from unsafe working conditions. It encourages countries to undertake reasonable accommodation measures to adapt the workplace to include workers with disabilities, as well as to provide information in accessible formats. Furthermore, the ESF also requires client countries to undertake meaningful consultations with stakeholders to learn their views on project risks, impacts, and mitigation measures.?

In addition, the World Bank has issued?, which also addresses the inclusion of persons with disabilities. The Disability Inclusion and Accountability Framework is aligned with the ESF and will offer a thematic blueprint to support disability-inclusive investments.

Last Updated: Apr 09, 2025

Global analysis and good practice

Since the 2011 publication of the joint World Bank-World Health Organization?,?the World Bank has committed to building the evidence base on disability-inclusive development. Within the scope prescribed by the?Ten Commitments on Disability-Inclusive Development, the World Bank produces independent empirical studies and analysis on the intersection of disability inclusion and inclusive education, transport, water, digital development, and others. Here are some of our recent analytics:

• Breaking Barriers - Disability Inclusion in Latin America and the Caribbean

• Disability Inclusion in Latin America and the Caribbean

ľ¹ÏÓ°Ôº has developed a series of good practice guidance notes to ensure that disability inclusion is?embedded across the spectrum of Bank operations. The?World Bank Technical Note on Accessibility?describes various accessibility barriers, recommendations, methodologies, and strategies across sectors. While the note is primarily meant for World Bank Task Teams, Project Implementing Units (PIUs) and Environmental & Social (E&S) specialists it can be widely used by all interested stakeholders. A toolkit on??aims to increase inclusion of women and girls with disabilities across WBG projects.

Additional technical guidance notes on?,?,?,?, and??provide action-oriented direction for government officials and decision makers in the areas.?

ľ¹ÏÓ°Ôº also facilitates learning and knowledge sharing. An e-course,?Collecting Data on Disability Inclusion, provides technical knowledge on disability disaggregated data to support disability-inclusive development. ľ¹ÏÓ°Ôº partnered with UNICEF and WaterAid to launch a self-paced e-course,?Taking action to achieve inclusive WASH,?to support water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) practitioners and decision makers on relevant concepts, tools, and mechanisms to ensure WASH programs, services, and facilities are accessible to persons with disabilities in development and humanitarian contexts.

Operational Examples

• In Pakistan, the is supporting disability inclusion by prioritizing the inclusion of persons with disabilities in project interventions and mainstreaming disability considerations through the adoption of Universal Design. The project design was informed by analysis which identified key barriers faced by persons with disabilities in relation to housing infrastructure and ownership. In response, the project has incorporated Universal Design into the development of the multi hazard resilient housing minimum standards and technical training. In addition, households with persons with disabilities are prioritized for housing reconstruction and home ownership support.

• In Mauritania, persons with disabilities face multiple challenges participating in economic activity and finding employment. The aims to address barriers to participation through targeted outreach to youth with disabilities, to increase their participation in technical and life skills trainings, and micro entrepreneurship support. This will be supported through collaboration with organizations of persons with disabilities and awareness raising amongst project staff. Furthermore, the number of youth with disabilities participating in the project is monitored within the results framework.

• In Haiti, persons with disabilities lack access to basic services including access to water and accessible toilets. The prioritizes the needs of persons with disabilities by ensuring the design and construction of disability inclusive water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities and engaging persons with disabilities through accessible and inclusive consultations. Disability disaggregated data and indicators specific to accessible WASH infrastructure will be used to monitor disability inclusion.

• In?Indonesia, the??is supporting the Ministry of Villages to roll out a pilot called Desa Inklusif or Inclusive Villages. This project aims to develop the space and opportunity for all village residents to participate equally and meaningfully in village development. Community empowerment is at the core of the pilot¡¯s approach and is translated through supporting activities to increase the participation of all village community in realizing social justice. Target groups include women and children, the elderly, people with disabilities, customary law communities, minority residents, and the extreme poor. The pilot will roll out in 80 districts across Indonesia within the next 2 years.

• In?Rwanda, the??has incorporated inclusive design within the national school infrastructure expansion (additional 22,500 classrooms and 31,000 toilets) funded by the project. This includes classroom access using ramps, spacious latrines to accommodate wheelchairs, ramps and access features within school compounds, and accessible blackboards for students and teachers with disabilities. The project is further supporting teacher training to support children with disabilities and accessible learning materials.

• In?Nigeria, the??included extensive stakeholder consultation processes with persons with disabilities, aimed at ascertaining the challenges that persons with different types of disabilities face in applying for and receiving unique identification. Insights and recommendations from these stakeholder consultations shaped differentiated measures in project design including (i) using Organizations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs) to serve as enrollment providers to facilitate outreach to persons with disabilities through trusted intermediaries and (ii) ensuring exceptional data capture and processing requirements for any persons who are unable to provide the required biometrics (e.g. iris scans due to visual disabilities, fingerprints due to physical disabilities).

• In the?Horn of Africa?(Djibouti, Kenya, Ethiopia & Uganda), disability is included in the??(DRDIP). This project supports a critical fragility hot spot in Africa bringing resources to cope with COVID-19 to refugee and displaced people¡¯s communities - a population that is normally at risk of being excluded from government support. In Kenya, the livelihood component of the project has prioritized support to persons with disabilities. For example, 21 economic activity groups of persons with disabilities have been supported in Kenya in recent months and they are receiving business development training through facilitating partners.

• In?India, the??(TNRTP) introduced the COVID-19 Assistance Package (CAP; US$40m) to accelerate investments and leverage community/collective groups to respond directly to the COVID-19 crisis. CAP is supporting nano and micro-enterprises in rural areas that are facing a crisis owing to the reduced economic activities and changed business scenario from the pandemic. TNRTP has put special emphasis on supporting persons with disabilities under the CAP initiative. Out of the six categories of individual assistance under CAP, one category is exclusively dedicated to the livelihoods support to persons with disabilities.

• In?Bangladesh, the World Bank partnered with Leonard Cheshire, a UK-based leading NGO working on global disability inclusion, on the Innovating Pathways to Employment Initiative to support policy dialogue on skills development and jobs creation for persons with disabilities. A policy note on??was developed based on findings of an in-depth literature review policy analysis, and consultations with multiple stakeholders including persons with disabilities. The note offers key action recommendations under the themes of policy, social protection, self-employment, wage employment, education and skills development, gender and intersectionality considerations, accessibility and reasonable accommodations, data, access to justice, and stigma. Insights from this work led to specific recommendations on inclusive employment in Bangladesh¡¯s 8th Five-Year Plan. The team is stepping up operational support for the implementation of these action recommendations through the Bangladesh?, co-led by the EDU and SSI GPs, which includes specific indicators and targets on disability inclusion.

Trust-funded Projects:

The?, a multi-donor trust fund with support from the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) and the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), invested in catalytic technical expertise and knowledge resources that support countries in making education progressively inclusive for children across the spectrum of disabilities. The IEI had three focus countries, Rwanda, Ethiopia, and Nepal and supported projects in a number of other countries: ?

• In?Rwanda, the IEI  conducted a comprehensive mapping and review of resource classrooms and assessment centers, along with strengthen Education Management Information System (EMIS), technical assistance, and targeted capacity building.

• In?Pakistan, with funding from the IEI, the??project conducted a study entitled ¡°Knowledge, Voice, and Action: Scaling up investments in the education of girls with disabilities in Pakistan.¡± This mixed-methods study unpacked and analyzed data on supply- and demand- side barriers to educating children with disabilities in Pakistan, with a focus on girls with disabilities. The findings from this work will be used to inform the policy dialogue around supporting and funding education services for children with disabilities.?

• Bangladesh?was included as a case study in the Inclusive Education Initiative¡¯s Landscape Review of ICT for Disability-Inclusive Education to gather insights from the experiences of multiple stakeholders including teachers, parents/caregivers, government officials, and civil society in delivering accessing digital learning solutions for children across the spectrum of disabilities. The report documented the current status and trends in the use of ICT in improving the educational participation and outcomes of children with disabilities with recommendations for an ecosystem-wide response.

The?Disability-Inclusive Education in Africa Program, with funding from USAID, invested in regional diagnostics and programmatic interventions in Ethiopia, Ghana, Lesotho, Liberia, Senegal, The Gambia, and Zambia. The program built practitioner capacity through?technical learning sessions?and knowledge products.

Last Updated: Apr 09, 2025

Partnerships play a critical role at the strategic level, by developing policy and institutional frameworks, and at the project level, through joint implementation with civil society and organizations of persons with disabilities and community-based organizations to promote disability inclusion. 

• ľ¹ÏÓ°Ôº partners with bilateral donors on disability inclusive education. Specifically, Norad and FCDO supported the . USAID supported the . 

• ľ¹ÏÓ°Ôº partnered with and to deliver a comprehensive on the essential components of the enabling environment and service delivery that can support efforts to create inclusive education systems for all, including students with disabilities, and help reach the Sustainable Development Goal of equitable quality education for all by 2030. 

• ľ¹ÏÓ°Ôº to expand access to and the use of demographics and statistics data on persons with disabilities, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. The goal of this effort is to develop a public facing, online ¡°disability data hub¡± to offer information on persons with disabilities across populations, geographies, and development indicators.   

• ľ¹ÏÓ°Ôº is an active  member of the engaging in dialogue and knowledge sharing with bilateral and multilateral donors and agencies, private sector and foundations to accelerate disability-inclusive development. The Bank co-chaired the GLAD Working Group on Disability and Climate Change.    

• ľ¹ÏÓ°Ôº serves as an observer to the United Nations¡¯ and provided comment on the (UN-DIS). The Bank also actively participated in the in New York. It also co-hosted the Public Forum event on in Sendai, Japan. 

Last Updated: Apr 03, 2023