Q: A group of friends and me have for several years participated in a small donors circle in California.  We have been considering expanding our efforts internationally where small amounts of money can go further. Is there a way to target disability internationally in low and middle income countries to support entrepreneurial efforts and the local economies?

A: Yes, in fact a recent paper entitled, "The price of exclusion: the economic consequences of excluding people with disabilities from the world of work" postulates that economic losses related to disability are large and measurable, falling into a band between 3 and 5 percent of GDP. The author, Sebastian Buckup, Global Leadership Fellow, World Economic Forum (Geneva, Switzerland) quantifies the macroeconomic losses related to the exclusion of people with disabilities from the world of work. The study pilot-tests this approach on a selection of ten low and middle-income developing countries, three of which are in Asia (China, Thailand, and Viet Nam), and seven in Africa (Ethiopia, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe).

One way to participate in international development is through the Kiva organization.  Kiva's mission is to connect people, through lending, for the sake of alleviating poverty. Kiva empowers individuals to lend to an entrepreneur across the globe. By combining microfinance with the internet, Kiva is creating a global community of people connected through lending.

Basically, Kiva partners with a local field microfinance institution, which disburses loans and uploads stories of loan requests from local entrepreneurs.  Lenders, you and your friends, can browse these profiles and choose to lend as little as $25.00 dollars to the entrepreneur. Kiva then disburses lenders' funds to the field partner who does the direct lending. Finally, the local entrepreneurs repay their loans, the field partner repays Kiva and your original loan is tracked and repaid! You, the individual lender do not receive interest payments; the interest paid by the entrepreneurs supports the infrastructure of the local field partner. Several clubs of investors have emerged over the years at Kiva.  Much like an affinity group, these clubs are organized around a particular lending philosophy and group served.  More than one disability focused group exists at Kiva, targeting loans for people with disabilities or businesses which serve people with disabilities. Kiva provides an affordable, simple way to target the economic and employment outcomes for people with disabilities in low and medium income international locations.  Perhaps with such truly entrepreneurial efforts, we can begin to demonstrate the positive impact to countries GDP through inclusion of people with disabilities in economic development projects.