Speaker Ghimire calls for sensitivity towards disability issues

Kathmandu, December 4 — Speaker of the House of Representatives (HoR) Devraj Ghimire has advocated for sensitivity towards disability issues and economic independence of the persons with disability (PWD).

Inaugurating a national youth conference related to disability here today on the occasion of the 33rd International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD), Speaker Ghimire argued that the PWD should be economically empowered first before addressing the concerns of inclusiveness for the PWD.

According to him, before enforcing the policy of inclusiveness for the PWDs, their basic needs must be addressed.

Stating that the Constitution of Nepal prioritized equality, inclusiveness and rights of PWD as well as respect for them and ending discrimination of all forms, the Speaker commented that there were weakness and lapses in terms of implementation of constitutional rights and legal provisions concerning disability.

Furthermore, he pledged to make utmost efforts on his part to ensure equal participation of PWD in the policy-making-level. He also pointed out the need to make the Election Act relevant to ensure their equal participation in the federal and provincial assemblies.

"More importantly, the laws concerning disability should be fully enforced and those failing to implement them should be brought to book," he noted. Similarly, National Federation of the Disabled-Nepal's President Devi Dutta Acharya underlined effective enforcement of the 'disability inclusion' provision included in the disaster related laws and policies in practice.

It may be noted that the current constitutional and legal framework of Nepal guarantees the rights of PWD with any discrimination. Nepal has ratified the International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability-2006 since 2009.

The Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizens is working towards drafting action-plans to implement the National Policy on Disability.

According to the World Health Organization's statistics, an estimated 1.3 billion people experience significant disability. This means, 16 per cent of the world's population have disability issue which is every 1 in 6.

In the context of Nepal, there were 647,744 people having some form of disability in Nepal, constituting 2.2 per cent of the total population of 29,164,578 as per the Nepal Census 2078 BS conducted by the National Statistics Office.