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 in Madhes Province

Conducted on 21st March 2025

Access Planet Organization in the support of Women Fund Asia/Leading from the South (LFS), 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 at 21st March at Paroha Municipality with the participation of both right holders’ women with disabilities and duty bearers’ local government representatives of Paroha Municipality, Rajpur Municipality, and provincial leaders. The program had the participation of a total of 26 representatives, including the chief administrative officer, members of the judicial committees, head of the social inclusion department, employment department, planning department and education department and representatives of disability coordination committees at the municipal level.

Objectives:

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

The program opened with a welcome from Program Officer Ranjita Shrestha and Executive Director Laxmi Nepal, who introduced the participants and highlighted Access Planet’s work. Laxmi presented on disability-inclusive governance and access to justice, emphasizing legal frameworks and barriers such as inaccessible infrastructure, lack of interpreters, and political interference. Participants shared powerful insights: activist Sunil Yadav highlighted the cultural and social barriers faced by women with disabilities, especially in the Madhesh Muslim community; local officials raised concerns over misuse of disability identity cards due to political pressure; and Sandip Shah stressed the need to shift focus from benefits to empowerment of grassroots persons with disabilities. The Chief Administrative Officer of Paroha committed to allocating ward-level budgets to support disability-focused initiatives. Key recommendations included making local infrastructure accessible and organizing regular sensitization programs for local officials. The program ended with a shared commitment to work collaboratively toward inclusive justice and development at the local level.

Outcomes 

• The local government representatives including the members of the judicial committees were sensitized on the issues of access to justice of girls and women with disabilities
• Commitments were gathered from the local government representatives on more investments and programs for disability inclusion and enhancing access to justice at the local level
• The interaction paved further pathway for disability-inclusive development at the local level