6 September 2026 | Kathmandu, Nepal

The National Federation of the Disabled – Nepal (NFDN) expresses its deepest solidarity with the families and communities affected by the catastrophic Bhotekoshi–Trishuli flood of 26 August 2026 and acknowledges the continuing efforts of the Government of Nepal, security agencies, local governments, humanitarian organizations, volunteers and communities engaged in search, rescue, relief and recovery.

NFDN particularly acknowledges the Government’s establishment of the Rasuwa Flood Rescue Portal under the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers (OPMCM), together with emergency hotlines, missing-person reporting, help requests, rescue information and government updates. This is an important step toward an information-led emergency response.

The Ministry responsible for disability affairs has also formally called for persons with disabilities, older persons, children, pregnant and lactating women and others requiring additional protection to be prioritized in search, rescue and relief, through DDMC and LDMC coordination. NFDN welcomes this commitment.

However, our current observation from affected communities shows that an important gap remains between policy commitment and operational visibility of persons with disabilities.

THE EVIDENCE IS ALREADY WARNING US

NFDN has been receiving information directly from affected persons with disabilities, relatives, local OPD leaders, community contacts and people reporting their situation through NFDN’s disability emergency information system.

NFDN’s current Flood Strip Update records:

• 83 persons with disabilities assessed
• 47 currently displaced
• 12 missing or uncontactable
• 6 confirmed deceased

Source: NFDN’s Flood –Live Data Tracker

These figures are preliminary and dynamic. They represent cases that have reached NFDN’s rapid-assessment and reporting channels and must not be interpreted as the total number of persons with disabilities affected by the disaster.

The same field information continues to point to urgent requirements for tracing, accessible temporary shelter, evacuation support, accessible toilets, personal assistance, communication support, replacement of assistive devices, medicines and referral to health, protection and rehabilitation services.

The scale of potential exposure is much larger. According to the 2021 National Population and Housing Census, 17,249 persons with disabilities live across Rasuwa, Nuwakot and Dhading, including 1,293 in Rasuwa, 6,939 in Nuwakot and 9,017 in Dhading. This is a planning baseline, not a flood-affected count, but it demonstrates why disability cannot remain a marginal consideration in the response.

These numbers should make us ask a simple question:

If persons with disabilities are missing, displaced, injured or requiring specific assistance, can our national rescue information system identify them and tell responders what support they require?

At present, the answer is not yet sufficiently clear.

A CRITICAL GAP IN THE GOVERNMENT RESCUE PORTAL

NFDN appreciates the establishment of the Government’s Rasuwa Flood Rescue Portal, which enables people to request help, report missing and found persons, access emergency contacts and follow government rescue efforts.

At the time of NFDN’s review, the portal itself was displaying 49 help requests, including 25 classified as extremely urgent, demonstrating its growing importance as an operational emergency information mechanism. The portal appropriately cautions that its figures are dynamic and may contain duplicate reports.

However, NFDN’s review of the publicly displayed case information and reporting fields finds no clearly visible disability identifier, disability type or functional support-needs field. Publicly displayed help-request records contain information such as disaster type, assistance requested, number affected, urgency and location, but do not visibly identify whether an affected person has a disability or what disability-related support is required.

This is not a minor data issue.

If disability is invisible in the rescue system, disability-related rescue and support requirements can also become invisible.

NFDN therefore respectfully calls upon the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, NDRRMA and relevant ministries to immediately strengthen the Government rescue portal by including, at minimum:

• whether the affected/missing person is a person with a disability;
• disability type, consistent with Nepal’s recognized disability classification;
• functional assistance required for evacuation or rescue;
• preferred/required communication method;
• need for personal assistance or accompanying support person;
• wheelchair, crutch, white cane, hearing device or other assistive-product requirement;
• medicine, rehabilitation or health-support requirement; and
• referral and follow-up status.

These fields should also be incorporated into relevant DDMC, LDMC, shelter, relief and recovery information systems.

NFDN stands ready to provide technical disability-inclusion support for this improvement.

NFDN is also operating its disability emergency reporting mechanism and encourages affected persons, relatives, OPDs and community members to report urgent disability-related situations. Timely reporting can support tracing, referral and coordination.

NEPAL’S FLOOD IS OCCURRING AT A HISTORIC INTERNATIONAL MOMENT

The present disaster coincides with an important development in international disaster law.

The United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 79/128 of 4 December 2024, advancing work toward a legally binding international instrument on the Protection of Persons in the Event of Disasters.

This was followed by UN General Assembly Resolution 80/169 of 15 December 2025, establishing the process for a United Nations Conference of Plenipotentiaries to elaborate and conclude that legally binding instrument. The resolution was adopted without a vote.

Importantly, Nepal was one of the sponsors of draft resolution A/C.6/80/L.14, which became Resolution 80/169.

And just two days before this NFDN statement, the UN Preparatory Committee on Protection of Persons in the Event of Disasters concluded its meeting in New York on 4 September 2026. The process has now produced the consolidated negotiating text A/AC.303/2026/L.8 that will feed into the forthcoming diplomatic conference.

Nepal therefore has a unique opportunity.

Our experience from Bhotekoshi–Trishuli should inform Nepal’s international position on the future disaster convention.

THE GLOBAL DISABILITY MOVEMENT HAS ALREADY IDENTIFIED THE GAPS

In April 2026, the Thematic Group on Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Action under the Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities, hosted by the International Disability Alliance (IDA), issued a policy brief on the emerging international Convention on Protection of Persons in the Event of Disasters.

Its findings are disturbing:

84% of persons with disabilities surveyed lacked personal disaster preparedness plans.

56% lacked access to disaster-risk information in accessible formats.

Only 8% reported that local disaster-risk-reduction plans addressed their needs.

The disability movement has consequently called for the emerging treaty to explicitly address:

meaningful OPD participation, accessible early warning, inclusive evacuation, accessible shelters and services, disability-disaggregated data, reasonable accommodation, dedicated budgets, assistive technology, disability focal points and protection against segregation or institutionalization during disasters.

These recommendations are directly relevant to what NFDN is observing today in Nepal.

NFDN CALLS FOR SEVEN IMMEDIATE ACTIONS

1. Make disability visible in every disaster information system

Immediately add disability and functional-support information to the Government rescue portal, missing-person database, shelter registration, rapid assessment, relief and recovery databases.

What is not identified cannot reliably be reached.

2. Trace missing persons with disabilities as a specific priority

NFDN’s preliminary strip data alone identifies 12 persons with disabilities as missing or uncontactable.

Verified cases should be rapidly connected with local government, Nepal Police, APF, Nepal Army, NDRRMA/NEOC and community-level search mechanisms.

3. Make every rescue and evacuation disability-inclusive

Search-and-rescue teams must receive information about mobility, communication, intellectual, sensory and personal-assistance requirements before deployment wherever possible.

A deaf person may not hear a warning.
A blind person may not independently identify an evacuation route.
A wheelchair user may not cross debris or inaccessible terrain.
A person with intellectual disability may require familiar support and accessible communication.

Equal treatment alone is not enough. Reasonable accommodation saves lives.

4. Make temporary shelters accessible now

Accessibility should not wait for reconstruction.

Temporary shelters, toilets, water points, food distribution, health services, information desks and complaints mechanisms must be accessible. Alternative arrangements and personal assistance must be provided where immediate structural modification is impossible.

5. Protect continuity of assistive devices, health and rehabilitation

Loss of a wheelchair, crutch, white cane, hearing aid, medicine or personal assistance can transform displacement into a life-threatening situation.

Assistive products, rehabilitation and disability-related health support must be classified as essential humanitarian assistance, not secondary welfare support.

6. Put OPDs inside the response architecture

Persons with disabilities and their representative Organizations of Persons with Disabilities must participate in assessment, coordination, rescue planning, shelter monitoring, relief, recovery and reconstruction.

This is required by the spirit and obligations of the CRPD, particularly Articles 4, 9, 11, 31 and 32, and by the Sendai Framework.

Nothing About Us Without Us must operate during emergencies, not disappear during emergencies.

7. Build Back Accessible

Every school, health facility, public building, road, shelter, WASH facility and community infrastructure reconstructed with public or humanitarian resources must meet accessibility and universal-design requirements.

Nepal must not spend recovery resources rebuilding yesterday’s barriers.

NFDN’S NATIONAL CALL

NFDN calls upon the Government of Nepal, OPMCM, NDRRMA, relevant ministries, provincial governments, DDMCs, LDMCs, security agencies, UN agencies, humanitarian organizations, donors and development partners to recognize disability inclusion as a core operational requirement of the current response.

Our national legislation, the CRPD Article 11, the Sendai Framework 2015–2030, the IASC Guidelines on Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action, the emerging PPED Convention, and the recent IDA-hosted disability movement recommendations all point in the same direction:

Disability inclusion cannot begin after being rescued. It must be part of a rescue.

• A warning system that cannot reach everyone is not an effective warning system.
• A rescue system that cannot identify disability-related support requirements is incomplete.
• A shelter that cannot be entered or used by everyone is not a safe shelter.
• Data that does not see disability cannot guide an inclusive response.
• And recovery that rebuilds inaccessible communities cannot be called Build Back Better.
• NFDN calls upon Nepal to use this tragedy as a turning point, both nationally and internationally, and to demonstrate that the rights, safety, dignity and leadership of persons with disabilities remain non-negotiable even in the most difficult humanitarian emergency.

No Person with a Disability Left Unidentified.

No Person Left Behind in Rescue.

Nothing About Us Without Us.

Issued by:

National Federation of the Disabled – Nepal (NFDN)

Bhrikutimandap, Kathmandu, Nepal

6 September 2026

नेपाली भाषाको राष्ट्रिय वक्तव्य:

राष्ट्रिय अपाङ्ग महासङ्घ नेपालले प्रत्येक चौमासिकमा प्रकाशन गर्ने आफ्नो मुख पत्र “रूपान्तरण” पत्रिकाको वर्ष २८ प्रथम अङ्क E-Pub संस्करणमा समेत प्रकाशित गरेको छ ।  यस अङ्कमा अपाङ्गता भएका व्यक्तिहरूले आफ्नो अधिकार र पहिचानका लागि गरेका सङ्घर्ष र सफलताका प्रेरणादायी कथाहरू समेटिएको छ ।

महासङ्घले आम पाठकहरूको सहज पहुँचका लागि यस अङ्कलाई विभिन्न डिजिटल फर्म्याटमा उपलब्ध गराएको छ । पाठकहरूले आफ्नो अनुकूलताअनुसार माइक्रोसफ्ट वर्ड, पीडीएफ र ई-पब फर्म्याटमा डाउनलोड गरी अध्ययन गर्न सक्नेछन्  ।

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परियोजनाको अवधि सकिन केहि महिना बाँकी हुँदा मिति २०७९पुष १ गते राष्ट्रिय अपाङ्ग महासंघ नेपालका नवनिर्वाचित महासचिव सुगम भट्टराईले कफी खेतिको निरीक्षण गर्नु भएको छ | स्थानीय कफी किसानहरु संग प्रतक्ष्य भेटघाट गरि उनीहरुले खेति किसानी गर्दा भोगेका चुनौतीहरु, कफी बिरुवा संरक्षणको लागि उनीहरुले गरेका प्रयासहरु र राष्ट्रिय अपाङ्ग महासंघ संग उनीहरुले गरेको अपेक्षाको बारेमा छलफल गर्नु भएको थियो | परियोजना शुरु भएको लगभग २० महिना पुग्दै गर्दा कफीमा चेरी लाग्न थालेको छ | कफी किसानहरु आफ्नो आम्दानिको श्रोतमा वृद्धि हुने देखि पछी अत्यन्तै हर्षित भएका छन् भने परियोजनाको समय सकिन लागेकोमा चिन्तित पनि छन् |

सदस्य संस्थाहरुबाट प्राप्त प्रतिनिधीहरुको नामावली डाउनलोड गर्नुहोस् (पहुँचयुक्त)

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२९ औं अन्तर्राष्ट्रिय अपाङ्गता दिवसको उपलक्ष्यमा महिला, बालबालिका र वरिष्ठ नागरिक मन्त्रालयले मंसिर १७ गते राष्ट्रिय अपाङ्ग महासंघ नेपाल (एनएफडीएन) सँगको समन्वयमा एक भर्चुअल प्रेस बैठक आयोजना गर्यो । जूम प्लेटफर्ममा सन्चालित प्रेस बैठकमा राष्ट्रिय मिडिया, अपाङ्गता भएका व्यक्तिहरुको संस्था, संघीय र प्रादेशिक समितिका पदाधिकारीको उपस्थिति थियो। प्रेस बैठकमा महासचिव राजु बस्नेतले अपाङ्गता क्षेत्रमा वर्षौंको उपलब्धीमा प्रकाश पार्दै अपाङ्गताका मुद्दाहरूलाई सामूहिक रूपमा सम्बोधन गर्नुपर्ने बताउनुभयो ।

उक्त्त बैठकमा संचारकर्मीहरुले राष्ट्रिय अपाङ्ग महासंघ नेपाल (एनएफडीएन) को अपाङ्गता समावेशी अभियान, न्युन प्रतिनिधित्वका साथै अङ्ग ह्रास भएका समूहहरूको उत्थान गर्ने योजना, र आगामी जनगणना २०७८ (२०२१) मा वाशिंगटन समूहले तयार पारेको छोटो प्रश्नावलीको प्रयोगको बारेमा चासो ब्यक्त गरे।

महासचिवले जोड दिनुहुँदै “आवाजको शक्ति” लाई कमजोर पार्न सकिदैन र अपाङ्गता भएका व्यक्तिहरुको सवालमा उनिहरुकै नेतृतवलाई जोड दिइयो भने उनिहरुको सशक्तीकरण र दिगो विकास हुन्छ भन्ने कुरा राष्ट्रिय, अन्तर राष्ट्रिय सन्जालमा कुरा राख्दै आएको बताउनु भयो । आगामी राष्ट्रिय जनगणना २०७८ मा अपाङ्गता समावेशी तथ्याङ्कको आवश्यकता सम्बन्धी बुझाइमा जोड दिइएको, बिषयगत प्रतिबेदनको प्रस्तुतिकरणमा प्रभाव पार्न निरन्तर जारी रहेको बताउनु भयो।

राष्ट्रिय अपाङ्ग महासंघ नेपालका अध्यक्ष मित्रलाल शर्माले आफ्नो मन्तब्यको क्रममा अपाङ्गता मुद्दाहरू उठाउनमा मिडियाको भूमिकालाई जोड दिए । उनले अपाङ्गता अप्रत्याशित हो र जीवनको जुनसुकै उमेरमा पनि हुन सक्दछ भन्नेमा जोड दिए, अपाङ्गता भएका व्यक्तिहरुलाई परिवार समुदायको अभिन्न अङ्गको रूपमा लिनुपर्दछ। विकास एजेन्डामा अपाङ्गतालाई मुख्य प्रवाहमा प्राथमिकताका साथ राख्नु पर्दछ ।

यसबाहेक, एनएफडीएनले अन्तर्राष्ट्रिय अपाङ्गता दिवस अन्तर्गत २ डिसेम्बरदेखि १० डिसेम्बरसम्म नौ दिने कार्यक्रमको राष्ट्रिय नाराः “कोभिड-१९ पश्चातको उत्कृष्ट पुनरागमनको सुनिश्चितता: अपाङ्गता भएका व्यक्तिहरुको पहुँच र दीगो विकासको लागि हामी सबैको प्रतिबद्धता”  साथ उत्सव मनाउने छ । एफडीएनले मुख्य मुद्दाहरूमा सचेतना जगाउन डिजिटल प्लेटफर्म मार्फत कार्यक्रमहरू श्रृंखला बद्ध रुपमा आयोजना गर्नेछ ।

The International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD) is annually observed on 3 December to promote the full and equal participation of persons with disabilities and to take action for the inclusion of persons with disabilities in all aspects of society and development.

To commemorate the 29^th International Day of Persons with Disabilities, a virtual press meet was organized on 2 December by Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizen in coordination with NFDN. National media, Organization of Persons with Disabilities, NFDN Federal and provincial bearers attended the virtual press meet. During the press meet, General Secretary Raju Basnet, highlighted the achievements made over the years in the disability sector and detailed the disability issues to be addressed collectively.

Media persons raised concern regarding NFDN’s disability inclusive efforts, plans to uplift under-represented impaired groups, and on the usage of Washington Group Questionnaire in the upcoming census 2078 (2021).

General Secretary emphasized that, “power of voice” cannot be underestimated and enhancing voice of persons with disabilities on issues concerning them is empowering and more sustainable. Regarding disability inclusive data, he explained NFDN’s relentless effort to influence disability-disaggregated data and production of thematic report in the upcoming census.

NFDN President Mitra Lal Sharma, during his final remarks reiterated Media roles in raising awareness on disability issues. He emphasized that, disability is unpredictable and can happen at any age, persons with disabilities should be taken as a part of family, society. Mainstreaming disability in development agenda should be a priority.

Furthermore, NFDN will mark the celebration with a nine-day programme from 2 December to 10 December under the international theme: “Building back better: towards an inclusive, accessible and sustainable post COVID-19 world” by, for and with the persons with disabilities”. NFDN will organize a series of events utilizing digital platform to raise awareness on cross cutting issues.

Banner of press meetPRESS_MEET_IDPD_2 Dec 2020

राष्ट्रिय अपाङ्ग महासँघ नेपालको विधानले यस संस्थाका सम्पुर्ण गतिविधि र कार्यदिशा निर्दिष्ट गर्दछ। यो विधान वि.स‌. २०५० मा पहिलो चोटी तयार गरिएको हो भने वि.स. २०७५ सालमा पाँचौं संसोधन गरिएको हो। यस विधानमा राष्ट्रिय  अपाङ्ग महासँघको उद्देश्य, कार्यक्षेत्र तथा यसका पदाधिकारीहरूको काम, कर्तव्य र अधिकार उल्लेख गरिएको छ।

यस विधानलाई पहुँचयुक्त फर्म्याटमा डाउनलोड गर्नको लागी यहाँ क्लिक गर्नुहोला।

राष्ट्रिय अपाङ्ग महासँघ नेपालले तयार गरेको यस पाँच बर्षे रणनिति पत्रमा सन् २०१३ देखी २०१७ सम्ममा महासँघले प्राथमिकतामा राखेका सवालहरू, पाँच बर्ष भित्र हासिल गरिने बिशिष्ट उद्देश्य र पाँच बर्ष रणनितिहरू प्रस्तुत गरिएको छ। साथै महासँघको दिर्घकालीन परिकल्पना, ध्येय र लक्ष्य अनि  यसका सिद्धान्त मुल्य र मान्यता हरू पनि यसमा उल्लिखित छन्।

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राष्ट्रिय अपाङ्ग महासँघ नेपालको विधानले यस संस्थाका सम्पुर्ण गतिविधि र कार्यदिशा निर्दिष्ट गर्दछ। यो विधान वि.स‌. २०५० मा पहिलो चोटी तयार गरिएको हो भने वि.स. २०७१ सालमा चौथो संसोधन गरिएको हो। यस विधानमा राष्ट्रिय  अपाङ्ग महासँघको उद्देश्य, कार्यक्षेत्र तथा यसका पदाधिकारीहरूको काम, कर्तव्य र अधिकार उल्लेख गरिएको छ।

यस विधानलाई अनलाईन पढ्न तल हेर्नुहोला वा यसको PDF भर्सन डाउनलोड गर्न यहाँ क्लिक गर्नुहोला।

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