19 March 2026

Our article in the IDS Bulletin 57.1 ‘Building Disability-Inclusive Futures’ emphasises the need for adapting development programmes for people with disabilities with high support needs.

It shouldn’t need to be stated that the ‘leave no one behind’ ethos of inclusive practises in international development includes people with disabilities with high support needs.  

But too often, we’ve found that people with disabilities with high support needs (compared to other people with disabilities) are not equally benefitting from existing policies, development projects, or services and practices. 

Sense International’s experience has already shown that, with the right approach and deliberate consideration from the project level, people with disabilities with high support needs, such as people with deafblindness, can be successfully included in development projects. However, this inclusion remains uncommon, meaning they are left out of programmes and further behind.  

For an article published in the IDS bulletin this month, Sense International (with Impel Consultancy) gathered lessons from our work with the FCDO-funded Inclusive Futures programme which highlight key areas for collective focus and systemic change to ensure that people with disabilities with high support needs are included within development programmes. The findings go beyond project-level activities and understanding to broader systemic changes that build inclusion into projects from the offset. 

The article highlights the need for greater evidence-gathering and eliminating data gaps; establishing a global standard definition of the term ‘high support needs’ that will facilitate data-gathering; and establishing or strengthening decision making processes to accommodate people with disabilities with high support needs. 

By grounding programmes in human rights standards and adopting a systemic approach to funding and project design that is centred on equity, this article argues that inclusion of people with disabilities with high support needs can become mainstream in development projects, ensuring that no one is left behind in the pursuit of inclusive development. 

Both Sense International and Impel Consultancy are committed to ensuring that disability inclusion and development project outcomes are more equitable, with people with disabilities with high support needs routinely included in development programmes.  

Read the article Building Disability-Inclusive Futures – Institute of Development Studies and get in touch to find out more about how to be more inclusive by design and more intentional in your inclusion of all people with disabilities, including those with high support needs.