One day Leadership program to young women with disabilities in Kaski District

Conducted on 16th May 2025

Access Planet Organization conducted a “One-day Leadership Program for young women with disabilities” in Kaski on May 16, 2025. The event took place at the Royal Shakura restaurant, Pokhara in the support of FRIDA. The program was successfully accomplished with the active participation of twenty women with disabilities residing at Pokhara. The event aimed to develop leadership skills of the trainees who participated in three days TOT program on ‘Leadership and Legal Literacy for Women with Disabilities in Gandaki Province held on 23^rd-25^th April, 2025, at Pokhara.

Objectives 

• To offer Leadership skills to the trainees at local level who participated in TOT program
• To aware women with disabilities about their basic rights

The event began with an opening session moderated by Ms. Sajana Gurung, who welcomed participants, introduced Access Planet’s objectives, and organized group seating and introductions. She also assigned roles to assist throughout the program. The first session, led by Ms. Romi Gurung, focused on leadership and team building through activities such as identifying personal leaders, a balloon coordination challenge, and a whisper game to highlight teamwork and communication.

In the second session, Ms. Monika Thapa explored gender, its social construction, and identities through group discussions, roleplay, and activities that highlighted discrimination faced by women in family, religion, media, and state. The session also introduced SOGIESC (Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression, and Sex Characteristics) and the LGBTIQA++ community. After a short game break, Ms. Bandana Gurung led a session on feminism and intersectionality, discussing patriarchal structures, the diversity of identities, and how overlapping factors create privilege or marginalization. A movement-based activity illustrated these inequalities.

The final session, delivered by Ms. Anju Baral, covered the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2074, detailing available services and legal provisions. Participants shared personal experiences highlighting gaps in implementation. The program concluded with reflections from participants, who appreciated the learning and suggested including men in future sessions. The event ended with a group photo and distribution of transportation allowances.

Major Achievements:

• Trainers who received TOT training were able to train others
• The event provided wonderful platform to the trainers to enhance their confidence
• Other women with Disabilities also got an opportunity to learn about basic concepts related to disability advocacy campaign