Global influence and research center

IDA’s hub for global policy influence, thematic advocacy, and knowledge & research for disability-inclusive systems change

Five women seated at a long conference table with laptops and an NGO sign. There is blind woman in the group.

@ Rosemary Hodkiewicz

We advance CRPD standards in law and practice and secure the participation of persons with disabilities in all global agendas/discussions

IDA’s Global Influence and Research Centre brings together policy leadership, advocacy influence and research across the major global agendas shaping people’s lives. IDA influences governments, UN agencies, donors, private sector actors and partners to strengthen disability-inclusive policy, financing and implementation across development, climate action, humanitarian response, peace and security, and emerging economic and digital agendas.

The Centre connects representation, advocacy and change.

Why it matters

Global decisions on finance, development, crisis response, technology, trade and governance shape whether persons with disabilities are included or left behind. IDA works to ensure disability rights are embedded from the start, with OPDs recognised as partners and leaders.

Research used to talk about us. When we produced it, change followed.

Abner Manlapaz

Life Haven Center for
Independent Living,
Philippines

Services missed our needs for decades. When lived experience informed policy, access improved.

Faatino Utumapu

Co-Chair, Pacific Disability Forum

KNOWLEDGE & PUBLIC GOODS – WORLD-LEADING TOOLS FOR SYSTEMS CHANGE

By producing and sharing world-leading knowledge products, IDA helps shape global standards, support national implementation, and build the evidence, language and tools needed to transform systems so they work better for persons with disabilities everywhere. This work is central to IDA’s systems-change and accountability role. Knowledge becomes a bridge between global advocacy and practical transformation and back again: it turns CRPD principles into operational guidance; it documents what works; it identifies gaps in existing systems; and it supports more effective, inclusive and rights-based service delivery.

Man in a wheelchair smiling and typing on a laptop at an office desk.

Group of people posing for the picture in a conference about disability.

Human rights standards and accountability

Alliance strengthening

Human rights standards and accountability

online learning academy

As part of the Knowledge & Research Centre IDA has an Online Learning Academy to support practical understanding of disability rights and inclusion across key agendas to support systems transformation and impact. Courses include Introduction to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), Empowering independence: navigating the world of assistive technology (English and Spanish versions) and CRPD Periodic Review. To register, please fill out the forms:

Introduction to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

CRPD A to Z (Articles 3 to 33 of the CRPD)

Empowering independence: navigating the world of assistive technology

Regístrate

CRPD periodic review: English, French, Spanish

Strengthening financial systems: a practical course for OPDs

Global influence and research center

IDA’s hub for global policy influence, thematic advocacy, and knowledge & research for disability-inclusive systems change

Why it matters

KNOWLEDGE & PUBLIC GOODS – WORLD-LEADING TOOLS FOR SYSTEMS CHANGE

Resources GALLERY

CRPD at 20: The revolution of the ordinary

Annual Report 2025

Inequality in life and death - Global study

online learning academy