In 2025, Opportunity International Australia worked on deepening the integration of Gender Equality, Disability and Social Inclusion (GEDSI) and Safeguarding across our Financial Service Provider (FSP) partnerships — strengthening inclusive finance, ensuring people’s safety and dignity remain central, and de‑risking impact investment and inclusive finance programming to drive scalable, safe financial inclusion.

GEDSI (Gender, Disability and Social Inclusion) highlights

Through direct engagement with women entrepreneurs with disabilities, we identified key intersectional barriers limiting access to digital financial services in Indonesia. These insights have informed the development of practical GEDSI tools and cheat sheets now being applied across partner operations. This work is enabling FSPs to better reach clients facing multiple layers of exclusion and embed more inclusive practices at scale.

Our leadership in inclusive finance has also been strengthened through strategic engagement with Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australian Council for International Development , the Center for Financial Inclusion (CFI), Microsave Consulting (MSC) , Australian Disability and Development Consortium and Australian International Development Network.

In 2025, this included:

• A co-authored article with MSC in The Jakarta Post advocating for inclusive digital financial innovation: How can inclusion work if it leaves people out?
• A Spotlight Webinar on Disability Inclusion Practice convened development finance leaders from Opportunity International Australia, KOMIDA Indonesia, and Opportunity Bank Uganda to share practical, field‑tested approaches for strengthening inclusive policies and expanding accessible financial services for entrepreneurs with disabilities.
• Advocacy at Financial Inclusion Week 2025, in collaboration with MSC and Terala Foundation (an OPD), promoting Gender Lens Investing with a Disability Inclusion Lens.

At the partner level, Opportunity is strengthening the accessibility of KSP MITRA DHUAFA (KOMIDA) 's head office and branches across Indonesia, helping transform how safe and inclusive digital financial services are delivered to 17,259 women with disabilities.

Three Key Achievements to Date

1. Accessible Infrastructure KOMIDA branches are being upgraded with accessible toilets, ramps, widened entrances, and supportive features, enhancing safety, dignity, and independence for women entrepreneurs and staff with disabilities.
2. Inclusive Tools & Systems Together with KOMIDA, we co‑developed new needs‑assessment tools for financial service providers and workplaces, integrating the Washington Group Short Set (WGSS) to help staff identify accessibility needs and strengthen disability‑inclusive service delivery.
3. Disability‑Inclusive Training KOMIDA is developing animated videos and micro‑learning modules—co‑created with Opportunity and HWDI Indonesia and reviewed against WCAG accessibility standards—to embed inclusive practice across its workforce of more than 4,900 staff.

Impact in action: Hendri’s Story

One story that continues to inspire us is Hendri, a long‑serving KOMIDA staff member who, after a life‑changing amputation, was welcomed back to work with accessible facilities and institutional support. His resilience exemplifies the purpose of this partnership: ensuring every person can participate fully and with dignity.

At the community level, our partnership with TLM Foundation further strengthened the Resilient Villages model by embedding stronger GEDSI and safeguarding lenses, supporting ultra-poor villages in East Nusa Tenggara through women’s empowerment, economic and health initiatives, and accessible, child-friendly, gender-responsive disaster preparedness.

Safeguarding in action

We strengthened safeguarding systems across our FSP (Financial Service Provider) network in India and Indonesia, including Pahal Financial Services Pvt. Ltd. CASHPOR INDIA , Avanti Microfinance, KOMIDA, PT Bina Artha, TLM Foundation and TLM Cooperative.

A standout achievement was KOMIDA’s SEAH training video, developed by millennial staff and recognised by ACFID and DFAT for its creativity, locally led and youth-driven approach. It reflects the growing leadership of young development finance professionals in shaping inclusive, safe and accountable workplaces.

Together, these efforts demonstrate our commitment to embedding GEDSI and safeguarding into everyday financial services practice, while amplifying local leadership and innovation across the finance sector.