LALITPUR: Minister for Agriculture, Forests, and Environment, Gita Chaudhary, has stressed the need to effectively bring the issues of women and girls with disabilities from indigenous communities up to the policy-making level to ensure their rights, participation, and leadership.

Inaugurating the three-day third regional conference of Asia-Pacific Indigenous Women and Girls with Disabilities, which started today in Lalitpur organized by the National Indigenous Disabled Women’s Association Nepal, she said that the achievements made so far in this sector were possible through the contributions, cooperation, coordination, and collective efforts of disability rights pioneers.

“The indigenous communities also played an important role in the recent people’s movement, and it is necessary to institutionalize the achievements gained so far through various movements and efforts and to push our issues forward with greater priority,” Minister Chaudhary said.

She said that future generations should remember the pioneering contributions of those who raised their voices for disability rights from the streets to the parliament in the past.

Minister Chaudhary suggested to move forward with inclusive climate justice and disaster management programmes by embracing the core feeling of ‘we are nothing without us,’ while focusing on disability and indigenous perspectives.

At the conference, the association’s president Dr Pratima Gurung informed that there will be discussions on strengthening the rights, participation, leadership, access, and regional-level movements of indigenous women and girls with disabilities.

She said that the conference aims to exchange experiences from different countries in the Asia-Pacific region, create shared learning, common understanding, and formulate future course of action.