We’re proud to announce that Lumos has joined Inclusion International
28.11.2025
Lumos is delighted to announce that we have joined the membership of Inclusion International.
As affiliate members, Lumos looks forward to building relationships with the other organisations that make up Inclusion International’s network, learning from their rich knowledge and sharing our own experiences. Lumos will work in partnership with Inclusion International to further our joint advocacy goals and influence policy and practice at regional and global levels.
Inclusion International is the global network for children with disabilities and their families. It was founded over 60 years ago by families who came together to support one another and share experiences, and it has grown into a movement which represents more than 200 member federations across 115 countries in five regions – the Middle East and North Africa, Europe, Africa, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Their mission is to create a world where people with intellectual disabilities and their families can take part and be valued equally in all areas of their lives in their communities. Inclusion International advocates for the inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities into their communities as neighbours and valued citizens.
One of Lumos’ key thematic priority areas is the prioritisation of the rights of children with disabilities in care reform. Around the world, children with disabilities are far more likely than their peers without disabilities to be separated from their families and placed in institutional care. This happens because of a lack of accessible, affordable services in their local areas, and because of discrimination and stigma surrounding disability from both professionals and communities. In institutional care, children with disabilities are more likely to face harms such as violence than those without, and when they grow up often remain in institutional care. We also know, from our 20 years of programmatic experience, that too often children with disabilities – especially those with high support needs – are left behind when governments reform their systems of care and protection for children. In many contexts, where care reform is considered to be advanced, children with disabilities with high support needs remain forgotten in institutions. For this reason, this year Lumos updated our organisational position on the use of ‘Small Group Homes’.
Lumos’ mission is to ensure that all children are able to grow up and thrive in family and community-based care, including those children who have disabilities. In our country programs we work with government, civil society, and those with lived experience to promote services such as inclusive education, early childhood interventions, and parental support to help keep children in families. Our programmes are designed to support families to care for their children with disabilities at home, in supported communities. On the global stage, we are committed to promoting the prioritisation of the rights of children with disabilities in care reform processes, and to strengthening the collaboration between the child rights and disability rights movements.
As we look towards the next ten years, Lumos is prioritising building relationships with key partners across regions and sectors, working with other towards the transformation of care systems around the world. We are excited to see what we can achieve as members of Inclusion International.
