Today more than one billion people experience a physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairment. Of these, nearly 80% live in developing countries. The challenges and obstacles faced by people living with a disability are immense but none are greater than the discrimination, marginalisation and neglect to which people with a disability are subjected.  Their disability comes not from their impairment but from society.  The impact of this is little or no access to education, health services, and employment opportunities and often being excluded from decision making in their communities. 

There is a vicious cycle of disability and poverty.  Given 15% of all people have an impairment, tackling poverty without disability inclusion will mean we don’t include some of the poorest, most marginalised and vulnerable in the world.  Most astonishingly, one third of people with a disability are children, two thirds of whom have preventable impairments.