Low vision boy Karthik (11 years old) feeling the surface of a globe. A resource teacher is helping him. In the middle between them there is a classmate of Karthik. She is also touching the globe. The picture was taken in the resource room of a school integrating handicapped children in Coimbatore, India.

CBM Federation Strategy 2023

Our vision is an inclusive world in which all persons with disabilities enjoy their human rights and achieve their full potential. To realise this, we have developed our Federation-wide Strategy 2023.

Watch a video about our strategy

CBM logo inside a magnifier glass

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The world is making progress in tackling poverty. However, people with disabilities are being left behind.

One in seven people has a disability - that’s more than a billion people around the world, 80 per cent of whom live in developing countries.

There is a vicious cycle of poverty and disability:

  • If you’re poor, lack of access to medical care, poor nutrition and living or working conditions mean you’re much more likely to have a disability.
  • If you have a disability, lack of access to education and livelihood opportunities, combined with stigma and discrimination, mean you’re much more likely to be - and stay – poor.

It’s a cycle that millions are trapped in.

But it CAN be broken.

With over one hundred years of experience working alongside people with disabilities in poor communities in Africa, Asia and Latin America, CBM has a vital role to play.

Our vision is for an inclusive world in which all people with disabilities enjoy their human rights and achieve their full potential.

This is where CBM’s Federation Strategy 2023 comes in.

Working towards this vision, we have four strategic goals:

[Goal 1 - On screen text]

We will strengthen the voice and autonomy of people with disabilities, supporting them to promote inclusion and hold decision-makers to account.

[Goal 2 - On screen text]

We will build inclusive, resilient communities where people with disabilities are recognised as equals and included.

[Goal 3 - On screen text]

We will build inclusive and sustainable local and national systems and services making healthcare and other vital services accessible.

[Goal 4 - On screen text]

We will ensure that people affected by natural and human-made disasters can access inclusive humanitarian assistance and protection.

To deliver our goals, we focus on the following five key initiatives:

Disability Inclusive Development: Empowering individuals to speak out and claim their rights.

Community-Based Inclusive Development: Helping people access medical services, education and livelihood opportunities.

Inclusive Eye Health: Improving access to eye care for all and eliminating Neglected Tropical Diseases.

Community Mental Health: Empowering communities to address mental health needs and challenge the exclusion of people with psychosocial disabilities.

Humanitarian Action: Ensuring people with disabilities receive vital humanitarian relief when disasters strike.

Join us and become part of the journey.

Together, we can change the lives of millions of people with disabilities.

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What drives our strategy

While the world is making progress in tackling poverty, persons with disabilities are being left behind. CBM’s strategy is driven by stark facts:

  • More than one billion people globally have a disability.
  • 80% of persons with disabilities live in developing countries.
  • 20% of the poorest people living in developing countries have a disability.  
  • There is a vicious cycle of disability and poverty. 
  • An estimated 20 million persons with disabilities are currently affected by humanitarian crises. 

Disability rights and inclusion are increasingly being recognised as a priority and included in global frameworks and agreements. CBM is committed to supporting persons with disabilities to break the vicious cycle of poverty, disability and exclusion, and to realise their rights as enshrined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).

Taking a closer look at our strategy

Four strategic goals

Our four strategic goals are to: (1) strengthen the voice and autonomy of people with disabilities; (2) build inclusive, resilient communities; (3) build inclusive and sustainable local and national systems and services; and (4) ensure that populations affected by disasters have access to inclusive humanitarian assistance and protection. ©CBM

CBM’s strategy operates at four complementary levels – pursuing impact at the individual, community and systems levels as well as in emergencies – to fulfil our mission.

Our work promotes a whole-of-life, person-centred approach for individuals with disabilities. It takes an approach that does not just address change at an individual level, but challenges systemic discrimination by strengthening inclusive systems and services, and by supporting the voice and power of persons with disabilities as agents of change in both development and humanitarian action.

Boy using a telescope to see

View Federation Strategy 2023

This digital booklet gives context to CBM's Federation Strategy 2023. It covers our strategic goals, the initiatives developed in order to realise these goals and explains our approach to change and working with partners.


Download the strategy