Interaction with Local Government on Way Forward for Disability Inclusive Development and Enhanceing Access to Justice for Girls and Women with Disabilities at the Local Level_Lumbini Province

Access Planet in the support of Legal Empowerment Fund conducted a half-day event on: “Interaction with Local Government on Way Forward for Disability Inclusive Development and Enhancing Access to Justice for Girls and Women with Disabilities at the Local Level”. The program was conducted on the 16^th of April 2024 with the participation of both right-holder women with disabilities and duty-bearers local government representatives of Nepalgunj Sub Metropolitan City.  The program had the participation of a total of 38 representatives including ward chairs, the head of the social development department, women, children, and disability department, the education department of the sub-metropolitan city, ward members, and representatives of disability groups. The interaction program aimed to orient local government on disability-inclusive development and to discuss the way forward on access to justice for girls and women with disabilities.

Objectives:

To orient the local government on disability-inclusive development and the issues of access to justice for girls and women with disabilities.

The introductory part of the program was moderated by Ms. Pramila Adhikari, Board member of Access Planet, Banke Branch,  that featured two key presentations on disability inclusion. Srijana Dhakal discussed disability-inclusive local governance and enhancing access to justice, covering definitions, models of disability, current government efforts, and future directions. Similarly, Ms. Manju Pandey, Chief of the Women, Children, and Disability Department of Nepalgunj Sub-metropolitan City, outlined the submetropolitan city’s work and future plans in the disability sector, emphasizing capacity-building, distribution of assistive materials, stakeholder coordination, and effective disability identity card distribution. The event was continued with a open discussion with the open discussion among OPDs, person with disabilities and stakeholders,  call for recommendations to improve disability services in Nepalgunj. Then it was concluded by gathering commitments from the representatives of Nepalgunj Sub-metropolitan City where stakeholders emphasized on implementing recommendations for better lifestyle of person with disabilities.

Outputs:

• The local government representatives were sensitized on concepts of disability-inclusive development at the local level
• Commitments were gathered from the local government representatives on the effective allocation of the budget to support disability-inclusive programs and initiatives.
• Gaps were identified and the way forward on disability inclusion was discussed
• Networking with the stakeholders including local government, organizations, and persons with disabilities representation was built.
• Valuable feedback and recommendations were gathered for the betterment of the person with disabilities.
• The interaction paved further pathway for disability-inclusive development at the local level.