As Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) revise their safeguards and respond to the current realities facing people and the environment, they must explicitly include marginalized groups, particularly persons with disabilities, in these policies. Without clear references and requirements, institutions risk overlooking the distinct barriers and harms persons with disabilities face.
In 2016, the World Bank Group established an important precedent by recognizing persons with disabilities as “disadvantaged or vulnerable groups” in its Environmental and Social Framework. Since then, other MDBs, including the Inter-American Development Bank, African Development Bank, and Asian Development Bank, have followed suit. Now, as the International Finance Corporation (IFC) updates its Performance Standards (PS), it has an opportunity to build on these precedents to strengthen disability inclusion. Updated standards should support the meaningful participation of persons with disabilities and protect them from harms associated with IFC-financed projects; this includes addressing the disproportionate risks they face from climate events.
Read our recommendations on how IFC can include persons with disabilities in the updated PS and in other forthcoming policy reviews here.
