Dilmurad Yusupov is a postgraduate researcher in the Participation, Inclusion and Social Change Cluster. He is currently applying ethnographic and participatory research methods to analyse issues of social exclusion and marginalisation of disabled people and explore ways of promoting Community-based Inclusive Development in Uzbekistan. He is the Wenner-Gren Foundation’s Wadsworth International Fellow and the Open Society Foundations scholar.

Prior to joining IDS in September 2017, he worked as a Programme Coordinator of Japan’s Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects in Uzbekistan and as a Project Assistant at Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) project on ‘Improvement of Social Protection and Rehabilitation of Disabled People in Uzbekistan’.

Apart from his professional experience in the sphere of disability and inclusive development, Dilmurad has actively volunteered for local disabled people’s organisations such as the Society of Disabled People of Uzbekistan, the Cultural Center for the Deaf of Tashkent City and the Association of Disabled People of Uzbekistan. In 2016, he also co-founded a local NGO ‘Sharoit Plus’ (‘Opportunity Plus’) which aims to promote a barrier-free and inclusive society for all in Uzbekistan.

Dilmurad posesses both quantitative and qualitative research skills combined with professional skills such as grant writing, project/programme management, monitoring and evaluation. He has an MA in Economics (with specialisation in Development Economics) from Waseda University and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO University).