Building an Inclusive Development Community (BIDC) Overview

In 2001, MIUSA launched the Building an Inclusive Development Community (BIDC) project, sponsored by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), with the goal of increasing participation by people with disabilities, including women and girls, in USAID-sponsored international development programs as participants, agents, administrators and consultants.

Working with organizations to make policy and programming changes:  Through the BIDC project, MIUSA has worked intensively with U.S. development organizations to develop strategies for expanding inclusion of people with disabilities in programs and policies.

Working in the field to provide technical assistance and support partnership building on inclusion:  MIUSA provides field-based trainings and consultation to USAID Missions, USAID implementing partner organizations and local Disabled People’s Organizations (DPOs). 

Through the BIDC project, MIUSA supports development actors in the field to:

• Implement agency-specific policies and strategies to promote inclusion of people with disabilities in USAID-sponsored field programs
• Expand outreach efforts to include women and girls with disabilities in development programs
• Plan for the needs of people with disabilities in emergency relief programs
• Make practical adaptations to provide access to water, sanitization and infrastructure programs
• Incorporate disability inclusive policies and practices into education programs
• Expand outreach and implementation strategies for micro-credit and micro-enterprise programs to ensure access for people with disabilities
• Include women with disabilities in medical services, HIV/AIDS and reproductive health programs
• Make program offices and activity sites accessible to people with diverse disabilities
• Recruit and hire individuals with disabilities as staff and consultants
• Draft inclusive language in solicitations and create organizational disability inclusion action plans
• Deliver workshops and training for development organization staff on including people with disabilities in democracy and governance and civil society strengthening programs
• Consult with development partners, private sector and governments on inclusive tourism strategies

BIDC Project Strategies include:

• Field based technical assistance and training:  MIUSA coordinates disability-led training teams offering development organizations knowledge, skill and experience in cross-disability inclusive development.
• Relationship building between development organizations, contractors and local DPOs as well as leading US DPOs
• Capacity building: Strengthening the capacity of DPOs to promote inclusion of people with disabilities in development organizations and programs. MIUSA implements capacity building initiatives in several ways: through in-country workshops and trainings, creating networking opportunities with international development actors, and through our small grants program
• Information dissemination: making resources including research, case studies and practical tools available to international development and humanitarian assistance organizations, disability and development organizations and USAID Missions

BIDC Small grants program: 

MIUSA administers small grants to DPOs or other disability-led initiative groups for projects that result in inclusive practices, policies and outcomes within existing international development activities and promote collaboration between DPOs and international development agencies.

BIDC activity highlights:  2009-2011

• USAID/Colombia, USAID/Ethiopia and USAID/Jordan are drafting Mission Disability Inclusion Plans, with guidance from MIUSA to make the plans comprehensive and ensure disability is included as a cross-cutting issue in all programming.
• MIUSA provided technical assistance to the USAID/Ethiopia Mission to draft and develop a USAID/Ethiopia Disability Inclusion strategy in consultation with Ethiopian DPOs
• In Jordan, the USAID Mission has convened a Disability Committee to draft a Disability Inclusion Action Plan and is working closely with their contracting office to incorporate inclusion into solicitations in a meaningful way. 
• With MIUSA’s guidance, the International Office of Migration (IOM) convened a disability and gender inclusion panel as part of a regional workshop series on gender inclusion in emergency response programs working with disabled women leaders from Latin America 
• Through BIDC small grants, a Colombian DPO has partnered with an international women’s organization to implement leadership training for women with disabilities.  Women with disabilities involved in the training established a  network of women with disabilities, the first of its kind in Colombia
• Under the BIDC small grants program, an Ethiopian organization supporting people with intellectual disabilities is providing training to people with intellectual disabilities in rural districts of Ethiopia on self-advocacy and human rights.  They are also training local officials and community members on inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities. Through the small grant, the DPO has trained over 300 people. 
• In Ethiopia, inclusive HIV/AIDS programming and inclusive education were the foci of MIUSA training to DPOs, NGOS, USAID Mission staff and USAID implementing partners.