National Indigenous Disabled Women Association Nepal (NIDWAN)

About us

National Indigenous Disabled Women Association Nepal (NIDWAN), founded in 2015, works for the groups having multiple and intersecting identities and builds synergy both at the grassroots and global level collectively with various organizations and relevant stakeholders by cross-movement collaboration.
We are involved in development delivery works that advocate and empower our kind, encouraging meaningful participation from these women and respecting the diversity and collective identity of each individual.

Our Vision
NIDWAN envisions a fair, just and equitable society where every indigenous woman and girl with disabilities live their life with dignity and full respect.

Our Mission
To promote civil, political, social, economic, and cultural rights of indigenous women and girls with disabilities through an intersectional approach with due respect to their multiple identities.

Our Goal
Improve the socio-economic status of indigenous women and girls with disabilities through awareness-raising, economic empowerment, policy advocacy, and access to services creating an enabling environment for all.

Our work:
Development delivery
• Education: Discussed Inclusive Education Sharing and Framing Inclusive Education Framework
• Empowerment and Livelihood: NIDWAN works on creating enabling environments for young indigenous women and women with disabilities. NIDWAN provides peer counselling, self-help support and training engaging marginalized women in the society and institutions to represent their voice and supporting them in their professional development.
• Health and Wellbeing: Awareness, promotion, and maintenance of physical as well as healthy mental well-being have always been NIDWAN’s top priority as an org. working in the field of People with Disabilities. We encourage and motivate for a positive mindset for a happier and better life.
• Sports and Culture: NIDWAN encourages and facilitates the practice of Sport and Culture to promote social change, indignity and disability inclusion. NIDWAN enables young IPs and Indigenous Peoples with Disabilities to integrate and pass on cultural traditions and art such as dance, painting, music, sewing art, etc. to promote the intergenerational transfer of our knowledge.
• Crisis Relief and Emergency: NIDWAN provides support for individual needs such as building material, assistive devices, and medication. NIDWAN also assists collective needs with building community houses, peer counselling for the survivors and training for stakeholders and Peoples with Disabilities after the disaster. We collect data, facts and information on People with Disabilities and Indigenous Peoples affected to assist in relief, recovery, and rehabilitation.
• Youth Initiatives: We encourage the younger generation to be aware, understand and raise awareness about such realities and involve themselves in these activities. We provide internship and volunteer programs for youths to gain professionalism, experience and engage them in various emerging issues.
• Environmental Justice: NIDWAN focus on researching, raising awareness and reporting locally and internationally on the impact of environmental justice on Indigenous Peoples with Disabilities.
Development Advocacy:
• Advocacy: Influencing the underrepresented to build and strengthen Indigenous Human Rights Defenders who can further influence others in their communities for a just and equitable society is a vision NIDWAN carries. For this, NIDWAN has been constantly; through training, interventions, research, documentation, and campaigns; directly and indirectly, mobilizing and facilitating communities. With a mission of bringing substantial change in the system nationally and globally NIDWAN had been involved in advocacy and lobby of IPs and People with disabilities in various platforms and influencing inclusion of underrepresented groups at policymaking levels.
Development Research

Projects:
• Training on Advocacy and Activism
• Training on Disability and Human Rights Weekly Interactive Session
• Skill Development Training for Women with Disabilities
• Different Types of Impairment Skills, Training and Capacity Building of Deaf Women and Women with Disabilities
• Launch of NIDWAN Helpline Toll-Free no for Psychosocial Counselling Support
• NIDWAN conducted quantitative research on Violence against Indigenous Women and Indigenous Women with Disabilities
• Intersectionality and Marginalization: A Study of Indigenous Women with Disabilities in Nepal
• Impacts of Climate Change on Indigenous Women with Disabilities

Pratima Gurung is the President of National Indigenous Disabled Women Association Nepal (NIDWAN).

For other net participants we can offer an expert guidance through trained staff, give an expert opinion, procure expert information and establish new contacts in the field of our work.