After making it mandatory by the constitutional and legal provisions, the participation of women in both houses of the federal level, provincial assemblies and working committees of political parties has reached 33 percent and 40 percent at the local level. However, the political participation of women with disabilities within the diversity of women is not satisfactory. Statistics say so.
After the implementation of federalism in the country, in the last election of 2079, 884 MPs were elected to the Federal Parliament and seven provinces, only four MPs are represented by persons with disabilities. In which there are two women . Lakshmi Ghimire of the Rashtriya Prajatantra Party and Sunita Thapa of the Congress have been added to the Gandaki Provincial Assembly from 28 November 2018. Both are proportional MPs . According to the data of the National Disabled Federation of Nepal, 40 people with disabilities are represented when 35 thousand 45 people's representatives are elected at the local level across the country. Of which only 6 are women with disabilities .
According to the Election Commission, people with disabilities were represented by nine people in the federal and seven state assemblies from the 2074 election. According to the report published by the Nepal Disabled Women's Association in 2019, there were no women with disabilities out of about 300 women elected to the federal parliament and provincial assembly at that time. When 35 thousand 41 people's representatives were elected in the local level elections, there were 21 people with disabilities. At that time, 6 women with disabilities were elected. According to the "Gender and Social Inclusion in Elections" booklet published by the Election Commission, two people with disabilities were represented in the 064 Constituent Assembly by the proportional election system. One of them was a woman .
Three decades have passed since the formal campaign for the rights of persons with disabilities in Nepal started. During this period, the constitution, laws, laws and policy guidelines have been addressed to persons with disabilities . Especially after the constitution issued in 072, such participation in the constitutional and political system is increasing.
Article 42 (1) of the Constitution seems to have become binding after ensuring the participation of persons with disabilities in state agencies based on the principle of proportional inclusion. The 'Act on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities' enacted in 2007 has given the right to persons with disabilities to be candidates in elections in an equal and fear-free environment like other persons and to voluntarily choose the leadership they want by participating in accessible polling places. It has been 14 years since Nepal ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2006, which provides for the equal participation of persons with disabilities in politics. Looking at this, people with disabilities have started participating in politics, so it is argued that the turn of women with disabilities is coming, because our social environment based on male biased thinking is the same.
However, if we look back at the past, people with disabilities (including women) have always contributed to political change by being in the forefront, be it the movement to restore democracy in 046 or the people's movement of 062/63. In the meantime, we should not forget the contribution of disabled people who fought in the decade-long Maoist conflict for system change. In the Second Constituent Assembly of 2070, there was a 43-day street protest and 11-day relay fast with the demand that 2/2 disabled women and men participate in the 26-member cabinet. Although political parties and top leaders have expressed solidarity with this demand, those demands have not been addressed yet.
In order to fulfill the international convention and constitutional commitment, after 074, people with disabilities started getting representation in the federal parliament, provincial assembly and local level, even though it was a small number. Whereas the 'Gender and Inclusion Policy in Election Management 2077', which was brought with the aim of making all elections gender-friendly and inclusive based on the principle of proportional inclusion, states that when political parties nominate candidates for positions elected in the House of Representatives and the Provincial Assembly according to the proportional election system, they must represent backward classes and communities, including women and the disabled.
There is a provision that at least one-third of the total number of members elected from each political party should be women, and there should be at least one person with a disability when eight people are recommended from each province for the National Assembly. Institutional structures related to elections and political activities, voter education materials, polling places, polling centers, counting places should be made gender- and disability-friendly and ensure equal access for all. During the publication of the final voter list, the data of persons with disabilities should be published in such a way that the data of the persons with disabilities is clearly visible, and during the campaigning of the elections, the activities that show the weakness of the persons with disabilities and inclusion have been stopped .
is the practice of going to the election system through political parties or as an independent candidate. Most of the parties have organized people with disabilities in their fraternal organizations, but they have only made these organizations a ladder to collect votes of people with disabilities. It is a natural right of persons with disabilities to reach the level of policy making or political participation. Their participation helps in making disability-friendly policies. Regarding Nepal itself, according to the 2078 census, there are 2.2 percent of the total population in the country, i.e., 647,744 people with disabilities. 45.30 percent of them are women . Women with disabilities have different and unique needs and problems. Their participation and decision has a great meaning to address that policy.
Therefore, to increase the participation of women with disabilities in politics, 'gender and inclusive policy in election management' should be ensured. A provision should be made to include women with disabilities in the candidature registration process. Just as the participation of women representatives at the local level has been ensured due to the provision that two women members including Dalit women members should be elected in the ward, similarly gender inclusion within disability, ensuring diversity of women with disabilities within the women's reservation system and provision of giving preference to women with disabilities in political participation from different castes, tribes and communities should not be delayed .
