Do overlapping identities matter for development programs? The case of Community-Based Rehabilitation Program in Karnataka.

Development programs rarely engage with social identities, although their importance in influencing behaviours and wellbeing is well acknowledged in the literature. The objective of this paper is to investigate the role of overlapping identities in in uencing the impact of a development program through the case study of the Community-Based Rehabilitation (CBR) in Karnataka (India). CBR programs have been promoted as the most viable and practical solution for the improvement of the well-being and empowerment of persons with disabilities, especially in middle and low income countries like India. While the evidence on the general e ectiveness of this programs are widespread, there is limited knowledge on the impact of CBR on the well-being of children and the youth disaggregated by gender and caste. This paper attempts to bring new knowledge by investigating through a multilevel analysis whether the CBR program that is implemented in two districts of Karnataka State has increased the well-being of children and youth with disabilities and whether the program is inclusive in terms of the severity of disability, gender and caste. The analysis shows that the program has a positive and significant impact for all the dimensions in the medium and long term. It also shows that the program is inclusive with respect to gender, and severity of disability.
Overall, this paper produces evidence over the importance of accounting for the intersectional nature of identity in development programs.