Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights opportunities for young People with Disabilities in Nepal
BRAC, one of the world’s largest NGO’s, has teamed up with Humanity & Inclusion, Sense International and Light for the World to bring Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights and income generation opportunities to young people with disabilities in Nepal.
People with disabilities in Nepal are amongst the most vulnerable and marginalised, particularly women and young girls, who suffer from additional discrimination within society. This situation is compounded by the social, geographical and financial barriers to access essential services in remote parts of the county. Persons with disabilities make up between 2 and 12% of the population depending on the source and yet they are disproportionately excluded from education, health and livelihood services.
This project aims to help address this by ensuring young people living in two municipalities in Surkhet district, Karnali Province Nepal, particularly those with disabilities (physical, intellectual, mental, sensorial). The programme participants will attend an extensive network of clubs facilitated by BRAC. They will receive high quality awareness training on sexual and reproductive health rights issues and be given the platform to learn about cross-cutting issues including disability friendly life-skills modules and other skills for sustainable livelihoods. It will achieve this impact in a sustainable way by also strengthening the institutional capacity of the local authorities, public health facilities and local organisations in Nepal to establish a system that provides easily accessible Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights services for young people, including those with disabilities.
The overall initiative will be managed by a consortium of four specialist international NGOs (Humanity & Inclusion, BRAC, Sense International and Light For The World). Humanity & Inclusion are the lead organisation and responsible for the overall coordination of the project, whilst BRAC are running the network of clubs and facilitating skills development for productive employment, in partnership with a Surkhet-based Disabled People’s Organisation, Disabled Empowerment Centre (DEC).
Sense International will be providing specific technical assistance to include people with deafblindness in project initiatives. Their local partner, the National Federation of the Deaf Nepal (NDFN), will provide technical assistance and capacity building/training support. Light For The World will build the capacity of all consortium partners, including project staff, through inclusion and facilitation training.
The project is part of the Inclusive Futures disability-inclusive initiative which is working to ensure all children and adults with a disability have an equal opportunity to access education, health and work opportunities. Inclusive Futures brings together the expertise of 16 global development partners, people with disabilities, and the public and private sectors to deliver long-term improvements and generate robust evidence of what works to ensure the inclusion of people with disabilities.