Additional Context: This information 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, respondents reported that no other donor has stepped in to fill the gap left by USAID with anything approaching the scale, quality, or disability-specific focus of USAID. While respondents state that some international donors, such as UNICEF and the World Bank, have contributed to activities, there is a perception that their efforts are operating at a fraction of the scale of USAID. Beyond scale, participants interviewed consistently observed that most international donors operate through a broader social inclusion lens in which disability is assumed to be covered without being specifically addressed, resulting in programming that is disability-aware at best but rarely disability-designed.

This figure was even more pronounced in Central America, where approximately 96% of respondents indicated that no one has stepped in to fill the gap on inclusive development.

Source: Inclusive Development Partners