The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) approved a $265 million loan to improve the social inclusion of people with disabilities.

Within the framework of a Results-Based Loan, the program will promote an increase in effective access to rights, services, and basic benefits by people with disabilities who do not have Obras Sociales or prepaid coverage.

The IDB loan seeks to increase the number of people with disabilities who have timely access to basic benefits and services contemplated in national regulations, through a current Single Certificate for Disability (CUD), through, among other strategies, the removal of barriers to its processing or renewal. This certificate is valid throughout the country. Today only a third of the estimated population of people with disabilities has a valid CUD (1.5 million). This occurs partly due to lack of awareness about the benefits and services to which they are entitled and can access by obtaining the CUD and the difficulties of accessing the interdisciplinary evaluation boards that issue the certificates.

The project seeks to benefit the population with disabilities, estimated at 3.6 million people in the 24 jurisdictions that make up the Argentine territory.

In addition, the initiative aims to strengthen the capacity of the National Disability Agency (ANDIS) as the governing body of policies and programs aimed at improving the social inclusion of people with disabilities. In this sense, it seeks to update related statistics, increase knowledge to promote labor and educational inclusion, and train public officials at the national and sub-national levels in the perspective of disability.

The $265 million IDB loan has a 3-year disbursement period, a 5.5-year grace period, and an interest rate based on SOFR.