FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   ·   Kathmandu, Nepal   ·   3 June 2026

Assistive Technology for All: Nepal’s Disability Movement Urges the Government to Fund It, Deliver It, and Guarantee Access

On the 3rd World Assistive Technology Day, the Government of Nepal and eight organizations of persons with disabilities call for assistive technology to be financed through the health system, delivered close to where people live, and made accessible to every person who needs it.

Kathmandu, 4 June 2026 – On the 3rd World Assistive Technology Day, the Department of Information Technology (DoIT), Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, Government of Nepal, as Lead Organizer, together with the Nepal Association of the Blind (NAB) as Secretariat and a coalition of national organizations of persons with disabilities (OPDs) Prayatna Nepal, Blind Women Association Nepal (BWAN), Access Planet Organization, National Federation of the Disabled Nepal (NFDN), National Federation of the Deaf Nepal (NDFN), Parents Federation of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities (PFPID), and Blind Youth Association Nepal (BYAN), jointly call on the Government of Nepal, development partners, and the private sector to make assistive technology available, affordable, and accessible to everyone who needs it. The coalition marks the day in Kathmandu with a National Policy Dialogue and a hands-on Assistive Technology Exhibition at Alpha House (4th Floor), Kathmandu.

Our call to the State: five priority demands

The organizers urge the three tiers of government and their partners to act on five concrete priorities:

1. Make assistive technology affordable. Integrate the Priority Assistive Products List into national health insurance and reimbursement, and operationalize the tax and tariff exemptions on assistive products and materials, ending the out-of-pocket burden that families carry today.
2. Bring services closer to home. Establish multidisciplinary assistive-technology hubs in every province and deploy mobile outreach clinics, so that rural citizens can be assessed, fitted, and supported near where they live.
3. Equip every classroom. Reform and pool education financing so that mainstream schools have the devices, Braille, and screen readers they need, ending the funding rules that push children with disabilities into segregation or out of school altogether.
4. Build capacity and set standards. Train clinicians and frontline health workers, and mandate a full “assess–fit–train–follow-up” service standard so that devices are matched to the person, maintained, and not abandoned.
5. Make Nepal accessible by design. Enforce building codes and digital-accessibility standards for public services, and make assistive technology a budgeted line item at the federal, provincial, and local levels.

Why this matters from the World to Nepal

Assistive technology, from eyeglasses, hearing aids, and wheelchairs to white canes, Braille, and screen readers, is the bridge between a person’s functional difficulty and a full, participating life in education, employment, and the community. According to the WHO–UNICEF Global Report on Assistive Technology, more than 2.5 billion people need at least one assistive product, yet nearly one billion are still denied access, with coverage in some low-income settings as low as 3 percent of the need. Access is recognized as a precondition for people to realise their human rights under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), which Nepal ratified in 2010.

In Nepal, the scale of need is far larger than official counts suggest. The 2021 National Population and Housing Census recorded 647,744 persons with disabilities (2.2 percent of the population), but the WHO rapid Assistive Technology Assessment (rATA) national survey points to a much higher level of functional difficulty and unmet need, meaning that hundreds of thousands of Nepalis who could benefit from an assistive product are not yet being reached. For each of them, the right device at the right time can mean a child staying in school, an adult keeping a job, and an older person living with dignity at home.

These goals sit squarely within Nepal’s own national priorities. The Sixteenth Plan (2081/82–2085/86) commits the country to the “Leave No One Behind” approach, to social inclusion, and to making public spaces, services, and infrastructure accessible and friendly to persons with disabilities, senior citizens, and children. Assistive technology is one of the most direct and highest-return ways to deliver on that promise: investing in a basic set of assistive products can return an estimated nine times the investment through education, employment, and independence. Assistive technology is not a cost; it is an investment in people.

The day’s program

At the heart of the day, the National Policy Dialogue brings together government representatives, OPDs, and stakeholders to chart practical, ambitious steps to make assistive technology more available, affordable, and accessible across Nepal, with presentations from the Department of Information Technology (DoIT) and the Leprosy Control and Disability Management Section (LCDMS), alongside the lived experience and leadership of organizations of persons with disabilities.

The Assistive Technology Exhibition brings innovation to life with live demonstrations of screen readers, the Orbit Reader and DAISY players, a Braille embosser, a talking weight machine, and a talking blood-pressure monitor, accessible applications and videos, and a 3D animated film on accessibility vivid proof of how the right technology unlocks independence and full participation.

True to its inclusive spirit, the event provides sign-language interpretation and real-time Nepali captioning and is broadcast live via News Bank and across the co-organizers’ Facebook pages. Organizers invite people across Nepal and around the world to amplify the message using #UnlockTheEveryday, #MeAndMyAT, and #WorldATDay.

“Assistive technology is the key that unlocks education, employment, and full participation. On World Assistive Technology Day, we call on government, development partners, and society to work together so that every person in Nepal who needs assistive technology can access it at the time they need it and in the place they live. Access to assistive technology is not a luxury; it is a prerequisite for the empowerment and inclusion of persons with disabilities.” – Khomraj Sharma, Inclusion Advisor, Nepal Association of the Blind (NAB)

From Kathmandu to the world, the message is clear: when assistive technology reaches everyone who needs it, everyday life and opportunity open up for all.

About World Assistive Technology Day

World Assistive Technology Day is observed globally on 4 June as part of the “Unlock the Everyday” campaign led by ATscale, the Global Partnership for Assistive Technology. The campaign advocates for equal access to assistive technology for all and offers free, accessible resources to help organizations plan their own events. Further information is available at unlocktheeveryday.org and atscalepartnership.org.

About the event and organizers

• Lead Organizer: Department of Information Technology (DoIT), Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, Government of Nepal (doit.gov.np).
• Secretariat: Nepal Association of the Blind (NAB).

Co-organizers:

• Nepal Association of the Blind (NAB) : Secretariat
• Prayatna Nepal
• Blind Women Association Nepal (BWAN)
• Access Planet Organization
• National Federation of the Disabled Nepal (NFDN)
• National Federation of the Deaf Nepal (NDFN)
• Parents Federation of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities (PFPID)
• Blind Youth Association Nepal (BYAN)

Media contact

Khomraj Sharma

Inclusion Advisor, Nepal Association of the Blind (NAB)

Phone: +977 9856030698

Email: [email protected]

Media may also contact each co-organizing organization directly through its respective official channels.

#UnlockTheEveryday   #MeAndMyAT   #WorldATDay   #AssistiveTechnology   #DisabilityInclusion   #Nepal #CADiR #CADiRNepal