Inclusion Europe together with its member associations Mencap (United Kingdom) and Lebenshilfe (Germany) are pleased to announce the launch of the Inclusive Development Toolkit, a resource for disability NGOs looking to improve the situation of people with intellectual disabilities in developing countries.

The toolkit has been developed within the project "Full Inclusion in Development Aid for People with Intellectual Disabilities and their Families", carried out by Inclusion Europe and its project partners since December 2009. The project aimed to ensure that development aid programmes at national and European level include the needs and interests of people with intellectual disabilities and their families.

The toolkit contains comprehensive practical information on including people with intellectual disabilities in development cooperation, gathered to support development cooperation activities between disability NGOs and local authorities in Europe and organisations and services for people with intellectual disabilities in developing countries. It is composed of two parts: a selection of material supporting development of such activities and a collection of existing relevant resources (contacts to development aid organisations, useful websites, literature and legislation) for further reading on the topic.

Starting with the explanation of basic principles underpinning inclusive development cooperation and overview of development aid policies, the toolkit further provides inspiring examples of good practices and success stories about including people with intellectual disabilities in mainstream development aid programs. Detailed guidelines on how to establish development partnerships and manage development projects are complemented through information on different funding opportunities to finance such projects. A guide to town-twinning, as a first step towards international cooperation, is also included.

In addition, a series of awareness-raising brochures has been published, explaining the concept of inclusive development to the three different groups targeted by the project. An easy-to-read publication "An Introduction to Inclusive Development" explains the concept of development cooperation and the UN Millennium Development Goals and provides suggestions on how people with intellectual disabilities can help their peers in developing countries. "Development for everyone" addresses families and disability professionals, pointing out that the expertise of disability NGOs is crucial to achieve full human rights for people with intellectual disabilities in developing countries. And finally, "Development for all!" explains to mainstream development aid organisations why their programmes need to be made inclusive of people with intellectual disabilities and their families.

All project deliverables are available in English, German and French on the re-launched project website www.inclusive-development.eu.

The project "Full Inclusion in Development Aid for People with Intellectual Disabilities and their Families" addressed the implementation of the Article 32 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, providing for international development cooperation inclusive of and accessible to persons with disabilities; focusing on the particular situation of people with intellectual disabilities and their families.

The overall objective was to develop better support for people with intellectual disabilities and their families in developing countries in mainstream development aid programs. The project was based on the recognition that local disability NGOs in Europe managed to develop high-quality support services for people with intellectual disabilities. This, together with their expertise in the development of inclusive local policies, is a precious know-how that could come to a great use in the developing countries, if adapted to the specific situation of each country and transferred accordingly.

The project thus sought to mobilise local disability NGOs in Europe to get involved in development cooperation activities, providing them with necessary knowledge of development cooperation issues, policies and contacts at national and European level.

To this end, in addition to the Inclusive Development Toolkit, national networking meetings and a European Networking Conference were organised within the framework of this project. More information about these meetings can be also found at www.inclusive-development.eu.

The project received funding from the European Commission Programmme "Non-State Actors and Local Authorities in Development Cooperation".