Training and seed financing within local communities

Persons with disabilities and their family members are provided with vocational training depending on their interests and skills. Successful graduates are then provided with seed capital on a loan basis so they can start their own businesses. The costs of the initiative are shared between the Karuna Foundation and the community

Inspire2Care is a project initiated by the Nepali branch of the Karuna Foundation, a Netherland’s- based non-profit organization, and is committed to disability prevention and community-based rehabilitation. Work focuses on improving the livelihood of persons with disabilities and providing vocational training for the targeted group and their respective families. From the project’s beginnings in 2011 until March 2016, 125 persons with disabilities were provided with vocational training, after which many of the trainees started their own businesses.

Problems Targeted

In Nepal, as in many developing countries, it is generally assumed that persons with disabilities are unable to make valuable contributions in the open labour market, thus they are not given the opportunity to enter the workforce.

Solution, Innovation and Impact

The initiative is a community-led project implemented by a local community structure called the Health Management Committee with resource support from government bodies (Village Council and District Council). The cost of the initiative is shared between the Karuna Foundation and the community . Persons with disabilities and their family members are provided with vocational training depending on their interests and skills. They are then provided with seed capital on a loan basis to allow the trained individuals to start own businesses, such as bicycle shops, tailoring, bakeries, and farming. In addition, the foundation strongly advocates for the employment of persons with disabilities – for example, by providing major support for Career Expo, a job fair organized in 2011 and 2013 by the Ministry of Women, Children, and Social Welfare.

Funding, Outlook and Transferability

Operational spending amounts to €62,000 per year. Inspire2Care began in 2011 with seven villages in two districts of Nepal (one in the central region, one in the eastern region) and has since expanded to 31 villages and two additional districts in eastern Nepal. However, Inspire2Care believes that the government must take responsibility for all developmental issues in the long run.

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