What we do

CBM Global works alongside people with disabilities in the world’s poorest places to fight poverty and exclusion and transform lives. Drawing on over 115 years’ experience, we work with the most marginalised in society to break the cycle of poverty and disability and build inclusive communities where everyone can enjoy their human rights and fulfil their full potential.

Our proven community-based programs help millions of people with disabilities benefit from real and lasting change.

Community based inclusive development

Promoting inclusive community development to improve access to inclusive education, employment and healthcare and improve quality of life for people with disabilities and their families.

Humanitarian action

Delivering inclusive humanitarian assistance, promoting the participation of people with disabilities in reducing the risk of disasters, and preparing and responding to humanitarian crises.

Neglected tropical diseases

Helping to eliminate neglected tropical diseases by building on our long experience and existing strengths to achieve a programme that is inclusive, comprehensive, integrated, cross-cutting, holistic, person-centred and country-led.

Inclusive eye health

Improving access to inclusive and comprehensive eye health services for all, strengthening national eye health systems, making services affordable and accessible to the poorest and most marginalised people.

Community mental health

Promoting good mental health, challenging the exclusion of people with psychosocial disabilities, and strengthening mental health systems.

Inclusion Advisory Group

We share our expertise, advising governments, UN bodies and others on how to ensure inclusion in their own organisations, policies and programmes through our Inclusion Advisory Group.

Inclusion Advisory Group: Partnering to put inclusion into practice

80% of people with disabilities live in poverty

What is the cycle of poverty and disability?

Poverty and disability go hand-in-hand, making people with disabilities some of the poorest in the world. A combination of people’s attitudes, poor legislation and a physically-limiting environment can also stop people with disabilities from having the same opportunities as everyone else. This is a human rights issue. And one we cannot ignore. 

The intersection of gender and disability

Disability has a different impact on women, men, girls, boys and people with other gender identities. Furthermore, while all women and girls face inequality, women and girls with disabilities often face additional, compounding disadvantage due to discriminatory social norms and perceptions of their value and capacity. CBM Global always considers the intersection of gender and disability in our strategies, programmes, advisory and advocacy work. For more information download our Disability & Gender Analysis Toolkit

How we work

Authentic partnership with the disability movement underpins all we do. We’re deeply committed to working alongside people with disabilities and their representative organisations, and to the principle of ‘nothing about us without us’. We work with and support organisations of people with disabilities in our programmes, to ensure we meet the needs of, and are accountable to, the individuals and communities we serve. Our advocacy aims to support and amplify the voices of people with disabilities, from community to global level. Our advisory approach is undertaken with the best technical experts on disability inclusion – people with disabilities themselves.

Our community programmes

Our programmes across Africa, Asia and Latin America are developed and delivered with local partner organisations to ensure long-term transformation and accountability in communities we serve.

External advisory

We partner with the disability movement to influence organisations, institutions and systems to realise the rights of people with disabilities. We believe that tailored input, communicated effectively, with the right people at the table can help make inclusion a reality.

Our advocacy

We draw on learning and evidence from our community work to inform our advocacy and achieve systemic change for people with disabilities.

Our partnership approach

CBM Global Disability Inclusion works in partnership with the disability movement. This and our wider partnership approach is key to achieving our mission. We believe that cooperation and collaboration are crucial to achieving our impact.