Inclusion counts: The economic case for disability-inclusive development.

Based on evidence from a literature review of how barriers in society exclude persons with disabilities from key areas of life, such as health, education, and work and livelihood, this book asks readers to consider the following questions: can governments afford to continue excluding women, men, girls, and boys with disabilities from key areas of life? How can investment in inclusion benefit persons with disabilities, their families, and societies overall and how can international cooperation support this inclusion?

“Inclusion Counts” does the following:

• illustrates the social and economic costs of exclusion and the gains from inclusion to persons with disabilities and their families and to society as a whole;

• provides the legal and policy context which obligates governments to invest in disability-inclusive development cooperation;

• provides examples of how investments in key sectors have created opportunities for people with disabilities and the wider society in which they live;

• supports practitioners working in disability-inclusive development with a resource advocating for inclusion of people with disabilities in development; and

• provides development practitioners with evidence to convince them to take action to include persons with disabilities in their work in international collaborations.