USAID Disability Policy 2024

There are more than 1 .3 billion persons with disabilities globally—or approximately 16 percent of the global population—with nearly 80 percent of persons with disabilities living in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and 240 million children with disabilities worldwide . In 1997, USAID became one of the first bilateral development agencies in the world to adopt a policy on disability to guide the Agency’s efforts toward disability inclusion. Now, USAID has convened stakeholders, development practitioners, and community members around the world to inform an updated policy aimed at further advancing disability-inclusive development. This 2024 “Nothing Without Us: USAID Disability Policy” responds to stakeholder feedback, updates promising practices, places the Agency’s work within the current global context, and situates USAID to fulfill its long-standing commitment to nondiscrimination and inclusion of persons with disabilities in society on an equitable basis with others. The policy also positions USAID to partner with persons with disabilities in meeting the myriad challenges and opportunities of the 21st century. The goal of this policy is to advance empowerment and elevate the lives of persons with disabilities in partner countries by supporting USAID and our partners to recognize, respect, value, meaningfully engage, include, and be intentional in supporting persons with disabilities and their representative organizations to benefit equitably from our work as equal partners. Intentional and meaningful inclusion of persons with disabilities across all areas of USAID’s work is key to countries meeting their development goals and potential. Moreover, meaningful and intentional disability inclusion is fundamental to making development and humanitarian assistance effective and cost-effective

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