The Election Commision Nepal's BRIDGE workshop sought to increase the participation of people with disabilities in elections by drawing participants from a wide section of society

Kathmandu, September 13-15: “I want to be viewed as more than just a vote bank,” said Kiran Shilpakar, President of the National Association of the Physical Disabled - Nepal, at the three-day BRIDGE seminar on disability rights and elections.Building Resources in Democracy, Governance and Elections (BRIDGE) is a modular professional development programme that has become the world’s leading tool to build the capacity of election administrators. 

The workshop was organized by the Election Commission, Nepal (ECN) to increase the political participation and access of people with disabilities (PWD) in elections.  In order to facilitate this, participants were drawn not only from among the PWDs, but also from other stakeholders, such as representatives from the Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizens, disabled people’s organisations, disability rights advocacy groups, political parties and the media. There were a total of 28 core participants.

The Secretary of the ECN, Dev Kumari Guragain, informed the attendees that the recommendations from the workshop would feed into the third five-year strategic plan of the commission. The other speakers also emphasized that the workshop would serve as a platform to enhance dialogue and networking among the diverse groups of electoral stakeholders present.

Discussions at the seminar revolved around making the electoral cycle inclusive for people with disabilities. It discussed how the political parties could facilitate and encourage their participation. Some means that were identified were: including captions under pictures in voter education curricula for the hard of hearing; making simple and easy-to-read voter education materials for those with intellectual disabilities; creating tactile voter education information and audio guides for the visually impaired; and ensuring physical infrastructures are accessible and human support is in place. The workshop helped emphasize that there are variations even within and among PWDS, which demand specific attention. In fact, the participants represented seven different types of disabilities, ranging from physical to intellectual.

Some of the participants representing the political parties committed to sharing the learning on disability rights and elections within their parties. Similarly, participants with disabilities committed to spreading information about the upcoming by-elections within their network, and representatives of the media committed to ensuring they maintained an inclusive lens in their reporting. Therefore, steps toward a gradual attitudinal change were visible during the seminar.

The BRIDGE workshop was supported by UNDP Nepal’s Electoral Support Project, with backing from the European Union. It took place from September 13-15, and proved to be an effective platform to bring out the voices of different electoral stakeholders for a coordinated approach.

The Electoral Support Project- Phase II (ESP) is a technical assistance initiative which focuses on a long-term institutional and professional capacity development of the Election Commission Nepal (ECN) to conduct credible, inclusive and transparent elections. The objectives of the project are 1) to strengthen the capacity of the ECN to function as an independent and credible institution, 2) to allow the conduct of the election cycle in an effective, sustainable, and credible manner, and 3) to increase democratic participation, particularly for under-represented and disadvantaged segments of the Nepali society. The ESP is currently funded by the EU.