Reflecting on the March Inclusion Café
On March 19th, 2025, our Living Inclusion Network Café took place with the topic International Disability Inclusion at Risk? Navigating the Shifting Political Landscape. Amidst the shifting global political landscape, we found this topic important to address in our network. To do this, we offered a different format to our inclusion café than usual. We deliberately did not have project presentations or keynote speakers but opened the floor to members to freely discuss the current trends, effects, and potential opportunities for us as international development and humanitarian actors, and as a network to continue to stand and act for inclusion.
The Café this time was two-phased: The first phase was about a short survey, which was sent out before the event to LIN members. The responses to the survey were then used as a foundation for our discussions during the second phase of the Café. In total, 76 participants joined our conversations at the café.
Analysing the Survey Questions
Question 1: How do you think current political developments affect your work on inclusion? In which areas do you expect/anticipate changes?
As we anticipated, most of the votes (65%) went to available budgets and capacities, closely followed by funding priorities (39%) and funding conditions (26%). Given the dismantling of USAID, the active opposition to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) in the USA, and impending cuts to the international aid fund in the UK, the very topics that we work on are at risk of being sidelined.
Participants posted concerns that their ability to support disability organisations will be significantly curtailed, that the commitment of leadership and colleagues to support disability inclusion may be influenced, and that inclusion may not be perceived as important as it used to be. There was an expression of worry about online safety, risk de-registration, and other safety concerns in a context of shrinking resources. One participant posed the question: When to critically reflect and when to become despondent?
Question 2: What kind of responses are you considering or already implementing?
The majority of the responses pointed to intensifying advocacy work and communication (39%), and to the anticipated or actual internal budget and staff cuts (30%). There will be no easy way around dealing with a lack of resources, which is felt at both the organisational level affecting the livelihoods of staff and thereby their families, and the very people organisations work with at country level to improve health, safety, education, social protection, income, and so much more. New partnerships/collaborations (26%), identifying new funding streams (17%), and focusing on better data and evidence (16%) were also featured as possible responses. There was a clear call to unite and mobilise allies and to continue advocacy on disability whilst trying to understand the impact on programmes and partners.
Participant Reflections during the Event
The event offered a space where participants could express their feelings about the current situation. We used a whiteboard and asked participants how they felt about the future of their work in disability inclusion. As expected, the overall responses reflected a sense of concern, worry, and uncertainty.
Moving Forward as a Network
Members expressed concerns about the direct impact of USAID cuts on people on the ground for their different projects, noting that there is too little discussion about it in the affected countries as well as in Europe. They observed that aid cuts and opposition to DEI are treated as normal developments, giving the impression that saving money has become a priority for donors and governments, and that disability will no longer be a priority.
Participants also commented on a report by the US House Foreign Affairs Committee Majority Staff, which accused organisations like the Disability Rights Fund of “openly espousing hyper progressive rhetoric” and “unnecessarily segregating an at-risk population in the name of advancing progressivism.” A participant explained their initial stunned reactions to the report and the devastating impact of funding cuts, including job losses and reduced support for project participants.
An OPD representative in Uganda shared challenges related to funding cuts, which limit their operational capacities and direct support to families with members with disabilities, resulting in reduced food, medical treatment, and educational opportunities.
Participants also emphasized the importance of inclusive approaches to aid, warning that focusing on numbers alone risks desensitizing people to the importance of saving lives they cannot relate to. They urged a narrative shift to include those most at risk, including many persons with disabilities.
Additionally, one participant highlighted the role of racism in DEI resistance.
With all the negative impacts already being felt by some of our members and the worry about the future, we wondered what we can do as a network to explicitly promote inclusion and work together? Participants shared what could be opportunities, risks, and next steps to take.
Despite the expression of concern and worry, there was also a strong sense of not giving in! Participants in the room felt like this is an opportunity to continue doing what we are doing and even increase our advocacy efforts if possible. The Global Disability Summit, which happened after this event, only came to reinforce this notion. The Living Inclusion Network will certainly continue to provide opportunities for sharing and collaborating through our events. Let’s keep talking and find ways to increase our inclusion efforts together!