Uniting Voices: Pratima Gurung's Intersectional Approach to Advocacy
In this episode. I talk with Ms. Pratima Gurung, an outstanding advocate for indigenous peoples and individuals with disabilities from Nepal. We discuss the complexities faced by indigenous women and girls with disabilities, the power of collective leadership, and the transformative approach to activism that Pratima embodies. Her work underlines the importance of a patient, persistent pursuit for inclusive and intersectional policies, and the recognition of marginalized groups' contributions to society.
Pratima Gurung
Ms. Pratima Gurung is an academic activist from Nepal. She has been remarkable in bridging multiple marginalized identities and initiating cross-movement collaboration with intersectional lenses among women, indigeneity, disability, and other marginalized movements and discourse. Pratima has been influential in raising the voiceless voices of young indigenous peoples/women with disabilities from Nepal, Asia, and globally since 2011.
She is also a faculty member at Padmakanya College, one of the single women colleges in Nepal. She is engaged in research and links her academic research to advocacy. She also contributes as an expert on the Disability National Direction Committee under the Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizens, Government of Nepal. Ms. Gurung is a founding member and currently General Secretary of Indigenous Person with Disabilities Global Network (IPWDGN) and National Indigenous Disabled Women Association Nepal (NIDWAN). Most recently. Ms. Gurung was awarded the Human Rights and Environmental 2023 Award from the United Nations, selected from over 123 countries and more than 13,050 CSOs.
Connect with Pratima
Resources from the Episode
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
National Indigenous Disabled Women Association Nepal (NIDWAN)
Transcript
Image descriptions: mauve background, teal and salmon accents. The far left and right image have white blocks in the middle with text. The middle image has a picture of Beth in a blue shirt with a red scarf, looking at the camera and smiling.