Additional Context: This quote comes from a report produced by Inclusive Development Partners, or IDP, a research and technical assistance organization. Using a mixed-methods design under IRB approval from the University of Massachusetts Boston, the study triangulated a global survey of staff from 82 projects across 80 implementing organizations with key informant interviews and focus group discussions across eight countries where IDP had existing programs: Bangladesh, El Salvador, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Nepal, Nigeria, and Pakistan. Data collection took place between January and March 2026.

According to IDP, across the contexts assessed, educational gains that children with disabilities had worked hard to achieve quickly began to regress without the consistent support and technical materials that had made progress possible. The authors of the report identify this shift in the lives of persons with disabilities and their caregivers as the "quiet collapse" that followed the closure of USAID programs.

Source: Inclusive Development Partners