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Leaders of the community of people with disabilities express hope that ‘no one will be left behind’, be it in education, health, employment or policy formulation.
In every country, people with disabilities remain among the most excluded and hard-to-reach communities, one which is largely deprived of good education, health care and income generation opportunities. The situation is worse in developing countries like Nepal where 1.94 percent of the total population has one or multiple forms of disability. They are one of the most excluded groups, as very little has been done towards mainstreaming their concerns.
The SDGs, adopted by over 190 countries including Nepal, are a comprehensive development framework that focuses on inclusive development, thereby enhancing the quality of life of marginalized communities. Among the 17 goals, seven are explicitly related to persons with disability, although all the goals are concerned with them under the overarching principle of ‘leaving no one behind’.
As the Nepal government has already defined its roadmap and national SDG indicators, the leaders of the community of people with disabilities express hope that ‘no one will be left behind’, be it in education, health, employment or policy formulation.
Sudarson Subedi, chairperson of National Federation of the Disabled-Nepal, the umbrella body of persons with disabilities and representing more than 300 member organizations, says all stakeholders—the government, organizations advocating for the rights of the disabled, and UN agencies—should work hand in hand to achieve the goals by 2030.
Thousands of children have been deprived of education for lack of accessible classrooms and trained teachers; children with blindness are often without braille textbooks; and even emergency service providers like hospitals aren’t disabled-friendly. Very few people from the community have reached decision-making positions; representation in the three tiers of government is also very low. Given the lack of meaningful representation in the legislative and executive branches, their concerns often don’t find a place in policies and laws.
Subedi believes equitable development isn’t possible unless people with disabilities can contribute to policy formulation. “As per the spirit of leaving no one behind envisioned in the SDGs, people from our community must get equitable opportunities in every field,” he says.
The Federation has prepared a comprehensive position paper clearly outlining what should be done to attain those SDGs concerned with people with disabilities. The aim of the paper is also to facilitate the mainstreaming of disability in the SDG process, accelerate progress on SDG targets and provide policy support for disability inclusive SDG processes.
The position paper, according to Subedi, provides a roadmap for inclusive and sustainable development. It states that all stakeholders must come together to implement the SDGs by mainstreaming disability across the board. Another recommendation of the Federation is the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. As the three tiers of government are in the process of formulating their laws, they should give priority to inclusive provisions and their robust implementation.
The Federation also suggests incorporating relevant SDG targets and indicators into the National Policy and Plan of Action that is under consideration for revision. It says establishing meaningful and functional partnerships between the government and international development partners at local, provincial and federal levels could be another step towards attaining the goals. “Meaningful collaboration and synergy among the stakeholders should be developed for SDGs processes that will be able to include disability as a core action area,” reads the paper.
The Federation also advocates that a framework for gender responsive and disability inclusive local governance is instrumental for promoting inclusive development. As disability and poverty have a complex and interdependent relationship, the Federation suggests prioritizing persons with disability as major target beneficiaries of development and poverty reduction programs.
Another recommendation the policy paper makes is engagement with the private sector in promoting the rights of persons with disability in education, health, employment and skill development, and innovation in promoting accessibility, raising awareness and disseminating information from the center to the local level to ensure inclusive development and an equitable society. It also suggests establishing disability and SDG forums at the sub-regional (SAARC) level in order to encourage region-wide discussion and engagement.
“We have long heard the commitments; now it is time to come up with specific, targeted plans and processes to execute the commitments,” Subedi adds. The Federation is currently working on making the disability movement vibrant by reorienting itself in accordance with the federal structure of the country. It believes the recent change in the form of governance comes with both opportunities and challenges. Therefore, it is making an effort to create inclusive policies and institutions right from the rural municipalities to the national level.
