Introduction: Building Disability-Inclusive Futures

An estimated 1.3 billion people worldwide experience disability and are a part of human diversity. People with disabilities remain underrepresented in development programmes and research. People with disabilities must be included in development initiatives to ensure that no one is left behind. This issue presents a collection of articles written by researchers and practitioners involved in the UK aid-funded Disability Inclusive Development (DID) programme. The articles explore a range of topics relating to disability and development such as health, education, safeguarding, transport, stigma, including the most marginalised groups, the imperative role of Organisations of Persons with Disabilities, and disability-inclusive approaches to research and evaluations. This issue presents robust evidence produced under the DID programme to show what is known, makes practical suggestions for what needs to be done to achieve inclusion going forward, and highlights persisting evidence and funding gaps.