Economic Inclusion of LGBTI People and Persons with Disabilities

Advancing economic inclusion means creating an economy that works for everyone, regardless of their sexual orientation, gender identity, place of birth, family background, racial identity, age, ability, or other circumstances, over which they have no control. An inclusive economy ensures that all parts of society, especially poor or socially disadvantaged groups, have full, fair, and equitable access to market opportunities as employees, leaders, consumers, entrepreneurs, and community members.

IFC’s Economic Inclusion Program focuses on advancing the economic inclusion of persons with disabilities and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) people. The Program does this through research and building the evidence base, generating ideas for investments, training and capacity building of IFC staff, clients, and partners, and creating opportunities for peer learning and networks of internal and external stakeholders such as other DFIs/MDBs to collaborate and share knowledge.

Disability Inclusion

Persons with disabilities are critical to building stronger economies, and there is a business case for their inclusion. The disability market is larger than China — 1.85 billion people and $1.9 trillion in annual disposable income. Discrimination on the grounds of disability — including failure to ensure equal access to employment and financial services — not only violates universal human rights, but also harms business performance and economic growth.

LGBTI Inclusion

While LGBTI issues have been recently receiving a lot more attention, there is still a lot of work to be done to ensure the inclusion of sexual and gender minorities. Estimates suggest that the LGBTI population has significant spending power and that it could represent a sizable part of the global population. LGBTI people, however, likely make up a large segment of the bottom 40% of the global population earning an income and are currently underserved by the financial sector

Contacts

Rudaba Zehra Nasir
Global Lead for Economic Inclusion and Care
Evangelia Tsiftsi
Communications Specialist, Gender and Economic Inclusion
+1 202-473-4159