USAID Inclusive Livelihoods – Central activity is being implemented by Disability and Development Partners (DDP) in Kathmandu and Dhading District in central Nepal, coordinating partners are Nepal Disabled Human Rights Center (DHRC-Nepal), working with four other Organizations of People of Disabilities (OPD); Disabled Welfare Association (DWA), Dhading; Federation of Women with Disability, Nepal (FWDN); Forward Looking; and SHRUTI (National Association of the Hard-of-Hearing and Deafened). This is a three-year fixed amount milestone-based USAID activity, with 12 milestones (summarized below) to be achieved by the end of the project on October 31, 2025.
The overall objective is the economic empowerment of people with disabilities in both rural and urban areas of central Nepal, through the mobilization of people with disabilities, livelihoods training and to promoting inclusive employment at the national level. The activity’s inclusive livelihoods component aims to provide people with disabilities and their households with the mutual support, experience, skills, and capacity that will bring them greater economic independence and resilience. Ten women-led self-help groups (SHGs) will be established in each of Gokarneshwor (an urban/peri-urban municipality in Kathmandu) and Thakre Rural Municipality in Dhading District, bringing together at least 180 people with disabilities and family careers in each area, who will be supported to set up small enterprises for income generation and saving.
Through the activity’s training component in Kathmandu valley, 224 young people with disabilities, mostly women, will gain access to vocational training designed to meet both their learning needs and the requirements of employers. By completing their training courses and through mentoring and work-related learning, 224 young adults will have improved prospects for meaningful employment.
The activity’s advocacy component aims to celebrate and multiply inclusive employment practices, to promote enabling environments and help tackle the legal, regulatory, and cultural barriers that hold people with disabilities back from full participation in economic life. It will bring together a cross-disability coalition of OPDs and stakeholders, building on existing campaigns, and set standards for Inclusive Employers at the national level, pushing for implementation of existing quotas, and the development of further ambitious targets. Symbolic (non-monetary) prizes will reward inclusive employment practices in various categories, and the winners will also receive media fanfare, coverage and publicity.
