A Nepal that works for women with disabilities – NDWA’s election manifesto demands

Democratic processes and practices in Nepal have improved in recent years. However, many Nepali citizens’ still face barriers to political participation, inclusion and accountability. These issues are especially acute for those who face intersecting forms of stigma and discrimination, including those from Dalit or indigenous communities, and persons with disabilities. Women from these communities face additional barriers to participation. Despite promises of improvement in previous elections manifestos, these have often resulted in unmet commitments, resulting in public frustration.

In the 2017/18 elections in Nepal, 7,000 Dalit women entered politics for the very first time. A seismic shift in the representation of women and Dalit women in key decision-making spaces and a major step towards true democracy and gender equality in Nepal.

In the last general election in Nepal in November 2022, a movement of women ran for election backed by their communities, and many won. However not a single woman with disabilities was elected to federal parliament in 2022.

Women with disabilities continue to face significant barriers to genuine participation in decisions that affect them. Social stigma, discrimination and deeply rooted patriarchal norms limit the opportunities afforded to women with disabilities to engage in politics. Economic, educational and accessibility barriers further hinder their participation. Alongside this, political parties rarely prioritise the inclusion of women with disabilities in leadership roles.

Nepal will once again go to the poles on 5 March 2026. Ahead of the election, Womankind partner Nepal Disabled Women Association (NDWA) share their demands for sustained commitment and real action from political parties to ensure Nepal’s democratic processes are inclusive and accessible and the needs of women with disabilities are prioritized. This includes:

Electoral Participation and Accessibility

• Meaningful participation, leadership, and representation of persons with disabilities in governance process
• Participation and inclusion of persons with disabilities in all levels of government, from local to federal.
• A special mechanism put in place to ensure youth with disabilities are represented at the local level Women’s Provision.

NDWA also calls on all political parties to meaningfully include commitments to persons with disabilities in their manifestos, including:

Sexual and gender-based violence prevention and response

• Effective facilitation and management of gender-based violence desks and ring-fenced gender-based violence prevention funds at the local level.
• Provisions to ensure the safety of women and girls with disabilities including through targeted programmes such as free self-defense and self-protection training, given the increased risk they face of gender-based and sexual violence

Economic Support

• Adjustment to social security allowance for persons with disabilities based on their type of disability and needs.
• Improvement to skill development, capacity building and employment opportunities for persons with disabilities so that they can gain economic independence and contribute to the state through taxes. Participation of women with disabilities should be ensured in every training small and/or cottage industries.
• Local employment, and startup and innovation support for youth with disabilities.
• 50 percent exemption should be provided on registration fees and tax rates for self-employment and enterprises run by persons with disabilities. Provision should be made for employers to receive tax exemption of at 10-50 percent for opening opportunities for employees with disabilities.
• Additional arrangements should be made for the promotion and marketing of businesses and products run by persons with disabilities.

Health and Wellbeing Support

• Immediate provision of personal assistant and caregiver services for people who need them, as per the directive order of the supreme court.
• Free health insurance should be made available to all persons with disabilities and life insurance provided for those with [1] where required.
• Rehabilitation and assistive technology: quality assistive devices (wheelchairs, white canes, hearing aids) should be free and accessible based on individual assessments.

Legal support

• Free and effective legal aid for disabled people, gender and sexual minorities, and economically marginalised communities.
• Guardianship, care and support provided by the state to persons with disabilities without guardians and custodians. This can be ensured by robust systems for social participation and rehabilitation home referrals.

Alongside raising these demands, throughout the electoral period, NDWA in coordination with the Forum for Women, Law and Development (FWLD) will be conducting voter education campaigns. These will raise awareness among voters to vote correctly and efficiently, ensuring that their voices will be heard in the democratic process.

Alongside their calls for real commitments to accessibility and inclusion by all political parties, NDWA team members will also be participating as trained election observers focusing on gender equality, disability and social inclusion. These observers are specially trained to ensure the rights of women, gender and sexual minorities, youth, senior citizens, persons with disabilities, religious and linguistic minorities and other marginalised groups are upheld throughout the nomination and election campaign process, on voting day and during vote counting and results announcement.

Nepal Disabled Women Association (NDWA) are a disabled-women led organisation, supporting women with disabilities to pursue their rights, provide them with protection and livelihood support.

[1] Per the Rights Act, in Nepal Severely Disabled refers to a person who faces extreme difficulty in performing daily activities, even with the continuous assistance from others.