Villagers discuss the program in one of the ward meetings.

Provincial Government 

As Karuna has been working in a number of municipalities of Province 1 in the past years, it was decided to focus the replication in this province. Nepal has 7 provinces and Province 1 is located in the far east. The province has the second largest population (5 million approximately) and its topography ranges from the plains and hills to mountainous areas (with the 7 world’s highest mountains out of 10, including Mount Everest). In Province 1 live an estimated 100.000 persons with a disability, of which approximately 25.000 children (estimation based on the latest Nepalese census of 2011 and field research by Karuna). Most villages in the hills and mountains are poorly accessible and particularly persons with a physical disability have an extremely poor mobility.

In 2015, after many and long battles to restore democracy, Nepal got its Constitution drafted and endorsed by the elected members of the constituent Assembly. The Constitution restructured Nepal into a federal republic with three tiers, Federal Government, Provincial Level and Local Level. It divided the nation into seven provinces. It completed the transition of Nepal from constitutional monarchy to republicanism and from a unitary system to federalism. The guiding principles of the ‘Holding Together’ type of the Nepalese federal system is based on Co-existence, Co-operation and Co-ordination (the 3 C’s).

Each province has its own elected Provincial Assembly, cabinet, plans and budget. In the provincial government, the Ministry of Social Development is responsible for healthcare, education, disability and senior’s citizen related issues, sports and social development. The provincial cabinet has endorsed the program in 2019 and developed the ‘Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation (Implementation) Directives 2019. This directive clearly explains the funding modality and implementation strategies. A Steering Committee, chaired by Minister of Social Development, has been formed with all relevant senior government officials, Karuna, and the National Federation of the Disabled. The provincial headquarters is in Biratnagar.

Municipalities

The program will be implemented in 117 municipalities (Palikas) under their own responsibility.  The restructuring in 2015 also strengthened the local governance. Four to five villages were grouped into municipalities, enlarging scale, budget and local authority. Also, the introduction of elected mayors and ward members has strengthened the local governance and accountability. Each mayor and his/her team of elected ward members, is eager to show good results in his/her municipality and has ambitious plans for development. Each municipality develops their own DPRP plans and budgets with the involvement of all local village leaders, officials, beneficiaries and other stakeholders. Local DPRP management committees are formed to steer progress and results. All these municipalities are sub-divided in wards (villages) ranging from 7 to 19 per municipality.

Other key partners :

• the National Federation of Disabled Nepal (NFDN) and DPO’s
• NGO’s in Nepal offering “specialised care” and local hospitals
• Medic Mobile Nepal
• the federal government and other Provincial governments
• Enable Me