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Nepal

In Nepal, HI enhances access to education for all children, including children with disabilities, and helps people with injuries or disabilities receive care and other services.

A young boy and a woman both wearing masks, look at a tablet on the ground between them, practicing sign language.

Abishek, 12, learning with a new Nepali language sign application. | © Sadiksha Malla / HI

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Humanity & Inclusion has been present in Nepal since 2000. The country, adjoining the Himalayan mountain range, experiences significant seismic activity, particularly in the Kathmandu Valley where 1.5 million people live.

HI is working with communities and local authorities to develop emergency plans and improve emergency warning and evacuation systems, taking into account the specific needs of people with disabilities.

HI trains teachers and promotes access to education for children with special education needs, such as autism, particularly children with disabilities in several districts, through the “Reading for All” project. HI also provides support to young girls and teenage girls with disabilities by promoting their access to education. In addition, the organization supports five rehabilitation centers in Nepal, enabling thousands of people in the country to benefit from physical therapy and orthopedic fittings, and works to improve rehabilitation services in earthquake-affected districts.

Thanks to its experience in the case management of earthquake victims, the organization was able to take immediate action to help people affected by the earthquake that hit Nepal in April 2015, which killed more than 8,000 people and injured more than 22,000.

Through its physical rehabilitation activity program, HI supports the establishment of a sustainable, integrated, public-private rehabilitation system in order to improve the mobility and functional independence of people with disabilities and injuries.

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Nepal and climate change: the challenges faced by people with disabilities
© HI
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Nepal and climate change: the challenges faced by people with disabilities

In 2023, HI published a report highlighting the impact of climate change on people with disabilities in Nepal, one of the countries most exposed to the consequences of climate disasters.

HI supports affected communities after Nepal earthquake
© HI
Emergency Rehabilitation

HI supports affected communities after Nepal earthquake

Humanity & Inclusion teams arrived in the worst-affected areas to assess needs and support local health services following the earthquake on November 3.

After surviving mine explosion, prosthesis expert brings personal experience to job
© HI 2023
Explosive weapons Rehabilitation

After surviving mine explosion, prosthesis expert brings personal experience to job

Navin Raut specializes in the production of prostheses and orthoses—also known as artificial limbs and braces—with Humanity & Inclusion in Nepal. He talks about his journey from a young soldier requiring amputation to a prosthetics & orthotics (P&O) specialist.

Background

Map of Humanity & Inclusion's interventions in Nepal

In Nepal, more than 40% of the population lives below the poverty line. 

The livelihoods of three-quarters of the population depend on agriculture. The economic development was hindered by the conflict between the government authorities and Maoist insurgents (1996-2006), who are today integrated into the democratic process. This conflict left 12,000 dead and displaced hundreds of thousands of people. It also left many veterans of the war with disabilities.

Today the country is working towards democracy and is in a period of relative stability. 

In Nepal, disability is primarily considered a social issue. It is rarely addressed as a public health issue or taken into account in education, health or economic development. An estimated 78% of children with disabilities are not in education and only 1% of the population with disabilities in Nepal has access to employment.

Nepal has been severely hit by COVID-19, although the situation has improved more recently.

Number of HI staff members: 85

Date the program launched: 2000

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