December 3 is International Day of People with Disability, a United Nations observed day which aims to recognise and celebrate people with disability, increase awareness of disability and overall promote understanding and acceptance – both locally and around the world.

Through working with our local partners, raising awareness and understanding of disability and committing to reaching those who are underserved, Opportunity International Australia aims to improve outcomes for those living with disabilities.

Microfinance can empower persons with disabilities with access to financial services where they may not have previously had them and help in building a more inclusive world.

Breaking down barriers to access

Persons with disabilities can face many barriers in accessing financial services, including small loans through microfinance institutions.

While persons with disabilities make up 15 per cent of the developing world, it’s estimated only 0.5 per cent of current microfinance clients have disabilities – meaning there’s still a long way to go in terms of inclusion.

Economic participation is an ongoing challenge for persons living with disabilities, who face larger barriers to enter employment, access healthcare, education and other services that many of us take for granted.

Disability inclusion through our local partners

In Indonesia, there are at least 10 million people living with disabilities, which is nearly 5 per cent of the population and affects over 8 million households. Poverty in Indonesia remains high, and inequalities for marginalised and vulnerable people – particularly women, and even more so those living with disabilities – creates even more of a challenge.

In order to increase access and reach more families living in poverty, including those who have historically been underserved, Opportunity is looking to improve our reach and empower this vulnerable segment of society who can greatly benefit from financial services.

One of the clients supported is Anachi, who runs a beauty salon in Kupang, Indonesia with the help of a small loan from one of Opportunity’s local partners. With an initial loan of RP. 3,000 (AUD$28) in 2015, Anachi used her skills learnt from a government training program to open up a salon – and later a kiosk outside – to serve the community and train local hairdressers.

The small loan has helped afford better equipment for her salon, where she now employs another staff member, and helps her stock her kiosk. Using Whatsapp and word-of-mouth to widen her networks, she hopes to grow her two businesses further and reach more members of the community for training.

Social protection to prepare for future shocks

In the COVID-19 recovery process, social protection has become more important than ever in the countries we serve. As the women and families we partner with rebuild during the pandemic, we’re helping poor and vulnerable communities cope with crises and shocks, generate income, and invest in the health and education of their children.

In India, we’ve been working to strengthen and revive 200 microfinance lending groups for people with disabilities in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, to help bridge some gaps in disability inclusion.

As our microfinance partners in Indonesia partner with entrepreneurs like Anachi, a review is being conducted to improve and mainstream inclusion of persons with disabilities in services - with the aim to share and scale these findings across our other local partners

As of July 2022, we’re helping 7,181,023 families accessing small loans and financial services – including 95 per cent women. Read more about the impact of our programs.

This program is supported by the Australian Government through the Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP).