This Field Note brings to light the findings of a project entitled “Making Development Disability-Inclusive for All Children in Nepal” implemented by UNICEF Nepal and its partners (2019-2022) that aimed to ensure that school WASH facilities and services are accessible and inclusive for children with disabilities. An audit of the WASH facilities in 100 public schools in Nepal revealed that the accessibility of WASH services for children with disabilities was either very poor or non-existent.
During the two years of its implementation from October 2019 to April 2022, the project supported the construction and retrofitting of school WASH facilities, successfully improving their accessibility for children with disabilities. Key to the success of the project were: the involvement of persons with disabilities throughout various project activities, such as the advocating for disability-inclusive WASH facilities, the development of guidelines, auditing tools and hands on support to the selected municipalities and schools, demonstrating best practice inclusive WASH facilities in schools. The development of learning videos on the importance of disability-inclusive WASH in schools and how to carry out an accessibility audit were produced to stimulate thinking and generate demand for inclusive schools. The next step for Nepal will be to take this approach to scale in all of Nepal’s schools to ensure the full implementation of Nepal’s School Education Sector Plan.