CBM UK welcomes Parliamentary Committee report on DfID’s work on disability inclusive development

20-year-old Joseph from Tanzania

Today the Parliamentary International Development Committee (IDC) launches its report on DfID’s disability inclusive development work, following the inquiry which addressed a range of activities including the Global Disability Summit (open link in new tab) and the Disability Strategy (open link in new tab).

The Committee welcomes the opportunities provided by the Summit and suggests regular stocktakes of progress on commitments made, with sufficient resources to do so; it also recommends greater accountability on commitments through an independent mechanism. All official development assistance (ODA), beyond the 75% spent by DfID, should be disability inclusive, and people with disabilities must be at the heart of all DfID’s work – throughout the programme cycle. The Committee also calls for greater alignment between DfID’s strategy and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (open link in new tab), the Global Goals (open link in new tab) and the UN’s new Disability Inclusion Strategy (open link in new tab).

CBM gave both written and oral evidence to the Committee, which is drawn upon throughout the report. “We’re delighted to see the impact that CBM’s evidence has had on the Committee’s final report” said CBM CEO, Kirsty Smith. “We drew upon our programmatic experience and technical expertise to offer recommendations on how the Department can strengthen its work, for example beefing up its long term, in-house expertise, but also to offer praise where DfID is leading the way, for example in its work on mental health.”

Amongst other CBM recommendations taken on board are the need to scale up disability-specific interventions; include people with disabilities in the design and implementation of development and disaster risk reduction work; pay more attention to women and girls with disabilities; and introduce safeguarding mechanisms that better meet the needs of people with disabilities, including access to support services and the justice system.

“As we stated in our evidence, DfID has steadily increased its understanding of inclusion and moved further towards a rights-based approach over the past two decades. The Department can learn as much from approaches that don’t work as those that do. We look forward to seeing the more detailed delivery plan later this year, as well as the mental health theory of change. We also hope that the new Secretary of State, Alok Sharma, will continue the momentum DfID has built, and that he will work with other government departments to ensure that throughout its international relations, the UK is truly a world leader on disability inclusion”, concludes Smith.

Read the IDC’s report here (open link in new tab)

Read CBM’s written evidence (open link in new tab) 

Read CBM’s oral evidence from Dr Julian Eaton here (open link in new tab) 



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