More than 1 billion people – approximately 15 percent of the world’s population – experience some form of disability. They are the world’s largest marginalized group, and face significant accessibility and representation challenges that limit or restrict their equal participation in nearly all aspects of society. At the first Global Disability Summit – held last week in London – self-advocates, governments, international institutions and business leaders from around the world convened to raise attention about the scale of disability exclusion and secure new commitments for change.

The leaders of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and its four core institutes appeared together on stage last week to talk about their work on behalf of democracy, free enterprise and workers’ rights.