Disability and Safeguards at the 2015 World Bank Meetings

The Disability and World Bank Safeguards Campaign, together with its Peruvian focal point organizations Society and Disability and the Peruvian Down Syndrome Society, participated in the World Bank Annual Meetings in Lima, Peru October 6-9, 2015.

The Campaign was joined by Catalina Devandas,  Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, to advocate for the systematic inclusion of persons with disabilities in World Bank operations, including the World Bank safeguard policies.

As Jose Alejandro Rojas Ramirez, the World Bank Executive Director representing Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Spain, and Venezuela, stated as he moderated the Campaign’s panel on Disability and Inclusive Development at the Civil Society Forum, “Inclusion is the cornerstone to eradicating poverty.”

Without ensuring inclusion for all, including persons with disabilities, in World Bank project benefits, the World Bank cannot accomplish its twin goals of eliminating extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity.

The Disability and Inclusive Development panel also included Catalina Devandas, Vladimir Cuk, Executive Director of the International Disability Alliance, Maninder Gill, Director for the Social, Urban, Rural and Resilience Global Practice at the World Bank, and Fernando Bolaños, Vice Minister of Vulnerable Populations of Peru.

Additionally, the Campaign hosted a panel on the importance of inclusive development during the Alterative Forum. Panelists included Vladimir Cuk, Catalina Devandas, and Bryan Russell from the Peruvian Down Syndrome Society.