HELP NEPAL Network signed an agreement with National Human Right Protection Forum for the Disabled Nepal (NHRPFDN) in August 2017 promising financial support of NRs. 57,000/- ( Fifty seven thousand rupees only) for the production and distribution of more than 80 digital talking books for persons with visual/ print disabilities.

The project will mainly produce educational and reference materials for students from high school to higher education. It is believed that the project will fulfill the inadequacy of textbooks in Braille to some extent. In addition to textbooks, important curricular materials such as the Constitution of Nepal, relevant newspaper articles and literary books will also be recorded.

The existing digital books are not in navigable format so the project aims to convert those in DAISY (Digital Accessible Information System Format).

About 2% (513,321) of the total population is found with some kind of disability. Physical disability constitutes 36.3% of the population with disability followed by blindness/ low vision (18.5%).

Article 24 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities ensures access to quality education for persons with disabilities. However, visually impaired people face numerous barriers- inadequacy of textbooks in Braille, lack of proper accommodation, inaccessible government services, scarcity of books in accessible format, etc.

NHRPFDN is a non-governmental non-profit organization established in 2006 by a group of people with disability or personal experience with disability. The organization works for the rights of disabled people through advocacy and education programs.

The fund, disbursed in two installments, will be utilized to buy necessary items such as books, headphones, hard drives and pen drives.

HeNN had previously supported NHRPFDN’s audio book project in January 2013. HELP NEPAL Network provided NRs. 1,50,000/- (One lakh and fifty thousand rupees only) for the production of audio books including books from grade eight to Bachelor level, Civil Services exam preparation guidebooks, religious books, international laws and conventions on disabilities, and other relevant materials.

In October 2012, HeNN also supported NHRPFDN’s clothes distribution for 50 families on the occasion of Dashain.