FfD4 side event on disability-inclusive development
Co-Organizers:
- International Disability Alliance
- Global Disability Fund
- ONCE Social Group
- International Disability and Development Consortium
Co-Sponsors:
- Government of Spain
- Government of Jordan
- Government of Germany
Background & Rationale:
Persons with disabilities make up over 16% of the global population. However, in development and financing frameworks, disability inclusion is too often omitted or an afterthought. The Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) is a pivotal moment to rectify this historical underinvestment, for and with persons with disabilities.
Article 4.2 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) calls on States to mobilize the maximum available resources to realize the rights of persons with disabilities, including within the framework of international cooperation. Obligations under Article 32 of the Convention reinforce this responsibility, requiring States to engage in inclusive development assistance, equitable resource allocation, and financial and technical cooperation that actively advance disability rights.
At the Third International Conference on Financing for Development in 2015, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda laid a foundation to support the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. Notably, it committed to delivering social protection, essential public services, full and productive employment, decent work, quality education, and accessible technology for persons with disabilities.
However, five years away from the 2030 deadline for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), it is clear that persons with disabilities are still being left behind. Among the 118 SDG indicators identified as relevant for persons with disabilities in the 2024 Disability and Development Report, only 5 indicators suggest progress consistent with achieving the targets of the 2030 Agenda for persons with disabilities.
Exclusion strips persons with disabilities and their families of basic opportunities, pushing them into or deepening poverty due to additional expenses, accessing healthcare or assistive devices. The Disability and Development Report further indicates that the percentage of persons experiencing multidimensional poverty is higher for persons with disabilities than persons without disabilities in almost all countries. In some countries, that percentage is more than double.
Exclusion also deprives national economies of billions in potential GDP every year. A study by the International Labour Organization found that exclusion of persons with disabilities from the workforce can cost economies up to 7% of GDP.
These were messages that came through strongly at the 2025 Global Disability Summit, which culminated in the endorsement of the Amman-Berlin Declaration by 74 national governments and 17 regional organizations and UN entities. The Declaration notably includes a ’15 percent for the 15 percent’ target, meaning that 15 percent of international development programs being implemented at the country-level should pursue disability inclusion as an objective.
To achieve accelerated inclusion, governments and development partners will need to employ a range of innovative and equitable financing strategies. Disability-inclusive development requires addressing the massive global equity gap affecting over one billion people and their families, strengthening progress toward the achievement of the SDGs, and fostering sustainable economic growth, spurred by the increased productivity and participation of persons with disabilities.
It will also be important to maintain and, where possible, increase financial resources to existing mechanisms for inclusive development, for and with persons with disabilities. This includes financing the International Disability Alliance, the Global Disability Fund as the only funding mechanism dedicated to bringing governments, OPDs and the UN system together to accelerate CRPD implementation at national level, and structural multilateral funds, including the European Social Fund Plus, to reduce inequalities between countries and help millions of persons with disabilities.
It is critical to have these discussions within broader development financing conversations. Disability inclusion will not be achieved if addressed within a silo. It is therefore necessary to hold this important conversation during FfD4, where key stakeholders and decision-makers will be taking part.
Objectives:
The overarching objective of this event is to bring partners from across the international community together to identify opportunities for maintaining and increasing funding for disability inclusion, to achieve the SDGs and CRPD implementation.
Framed within the scope of the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development, to reform financing at all levels and to address financial challenges preventing the urgently needed investment push for the SDGs, the event will enable a discussion of specific actions that can be taken to increase financial commitments for disability inclusion and ensure disability-inclusive financing strategies.
The event will highlight forward-looking discussions on financing for development, building momentum from the 2025 Global Disability Summit and the adoption of the Amman-Berlin Declaration within the context of FfD4 and critical gaps to achieving the SDGs.
It will launch the flagship Sevilla Platform for Action initiative of IDA and GDF, an innovative partnership to monitor, track and influence financing to advance disability inclusion in international cooperation and domestic resource mobilization.
Finally, it will underscore the importance of closely consulting and actively engaging persons with disabilities and their representative organizations in all aspects of sustainable development.
Programme:
- Moderator: Ms. Natalia Guala, Independent Expert on the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
- Welcome and Opening Remarks
- Ms Martina Metz, Director, Development Economics and Development Banks and Acting DG Multilateral Development Policy: Transformation, Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, Germany (BMZ)
- High-level representative from the Government of Jordan (TBA)
- Round table: Strategies and case-studies to foster the financing of a Disability-Inclusive Development
- H.E. Lorena Larios, Secretary for the Ibero-American Cooperation, the Ibero-American General Secretariat – South-South Cooperation (SEGIB)
- Mr. Alain Noudéhou, Executive Coordinator of the UN Multi-Partner Trust Fund.
- Ms. Mercedes Valcárcel, General Director of the Advisory Council for the Impact Investment (SpainNAB).
- Mr. César Buenadicha, Chief Ecosystem Building and Acceleration AI at BID Lab (IADB).
- Launch of the Joint IDA/GDF Sevilla Platform for Action Initiative on Inclusive Financing Monitoring
- Mr. José Viera, Executive Director, International Disability Alliance.
- Dr. Ola Abualghaib, Director, UN Global Disability Fund.
- Discussant Intervention
- Mr. Javier Güemes Pedraza, Director of International Relations, ONCE Social Group
- Mr. Mark Barrell, Co-Chair Climate Action Task Group, International Disability and Development Consortium
- Questions & Answers from the Floor
- Closing remarks
- H.E. Jesús Celada, Special Ambassador for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities from the Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation of the Kingdom of Spain.
Accessibility
International Sign interpretation, CART.
FFD4 Side Event – Financing for Disability-Inclusive Development – 1 July 25