Inclusion International is a global network of members. It is also an organisation.

This page explains who makes decisions at Inclusion International and how we are run.

We are an organisation of persons with disabilities

Inclusion International is an organisation of persons with disabilities, or OPD.

Being an OPD means that people with intellectual disabilities and their families make the big decisions about how Inclusion International is run.

Our rules about how we are run are there to make sure this always happens.

Who runs Inclusion International

There are 4 main groups that make decisions and help run Inclusion International:

  • The General Assembly
  • The Officers
  • The Council
  • The Staff Team

The General Assembly

The General Assembly is where all of our full members come together.

Our full members are organisations that represent people with intellectual disabilities and their families in their country. Their decisions are made by people with intellectual disabilities and their family members.

The General Assembly meets every 2 years. It is the most powerful decision-making group at Inclusion International.

At the General Assembly, our full members:

  • vote for our leaders
  • decide what our network will say in our advocacy on important topics
  • agree on our big goals as a network

Every country has an equal vote in the General Assembly.

Because the General Assembly only meets every 2 years, it chooses people to help run Inclusion International in between meetings.

The Officers

The Officers make sure Inclusion International is running well between General Assemblies.

The Officers are the President, Vice-President, Treasurer and Secretary General of Inclusion International, plus other people with special skills. The General Assembly votes every 2 years to choose the Officers.

We make sure that people with intellectual disabilities and family members make up most of the Officers. This is part of being an OPD.

The Officers make sure that Inclusion International:

  • follows the law
  • follows its own rules
  • spends its money well

The Officers meet regularly. They do this job as volunteers, which means they are not paid.

Other organisations sometimes call this group “trustees” or a “board of directors”.

The Council

The Council makes sure that Inclusion International represents its members well.

The Council is made up of self-advocates, family members and other people from different regions. All of the Officers are also part of the Council.

Each of our 5 regions chooses 2 people to represent it on the Council. They are called Regional Representatives.

These are the 5 regions.

  • Africa
  • the Americas
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)

The General Assembly then approves the people each region chose.

At least 1 of the 2 representatives from each region must be a self-advocate. This means at least half of the 10 regional representatives are always self-advocates.

Our rules also say that at least half of the whole Council must be self-advocates and family members.

The Council talks about issues that affect our members, like challenges our members face or advocacy on important topics. The Council also works on special projects to make our network better.

Meet our Council

Listening to our members

For everyone on the Officers and the Council, listening to what our members think is an important part of the job.

Our elected leaders do not make decisions based on their own opinions. They listen to our members and make decisions based on what is best for the network.

The Staff Team

Inclusion International also has a staff team. Staff are the people we pay to coordinate the work of the network.

Staff have different jobs, like coordinating our advocacy, running our programmes, and communicating with our members and the public.

Staff do the work that our elected leaders choose. The General Assembly agrees on a strategic plan, and staff work within that plan. Staff also support our members to work together to reach the network’s goals.

Meet our staff team

How the 4 groups work together

  • The General Assembly makes sure the right people are leading our organisation and decides on our big goals as a network.
  • The Officers make sure we follow the law, spend our money well and make good decisions.
  • The Council makes sure we represent people with intellectual disabilities, their families and our members well.
  • The Staff Team supports our members to make the goals of the General Assembly, Officers and Council happen.

Most of the work of running Inclusion International is done by volunteers. Our members at the General Assembly, our Officers and our Council members all do this work without being paid.

Want your organisation to have a say in these decisions? Find out how to join our network.