Independent Living Centre–Pokhara (CIL-Pokhara) is a Nepal-based disability rights and independent-living organization working primarily to promote the rights, dignity, participation, and independence of persons with disabilities.
Independent Living Center- Pokhara is listed as a nonprofit organization in Pokhara. Its work goes beyond providing services: it emphasizes people with disabilities taking leadership in decisions that affect their own lives.
What does CIL-Pokhara do?
Some of its main areas of work include:
- Disability rights advocacy — advocating for laws, policies, accessibility, and implementation of disability rights.
- Independent living — supporting people with disabilities to live with greater autonomy and dignity in their communities.
- Peer support — training people with disabilities to support and motivate other people with disabilities. During a COVID-19 response project, CIL-Pokhara helped establish a peer-support program and trained people with disabilities as peer-support motivators.
- Leadership development — building the capacity of people with disabilities, including women with disabilities, to participate in advocacy and public decision-making.
- Accessibility — promoting accessible public spaces and inclusive communities. For example, CIL-Pokhara has been involved in accessibility initiatives around Pokhara’s Fewa Lake.
- Inclusive education and community work — its projects have included working with schools, families, government agencies, and communities concerning children and adults with disabilities.
A particularly important area: disability legislation
CIL-Pokhara has become involved in disability-rights legislation in Gandaki Province. Together with disability activists and partners, it has advocated for a provincial Disability Rights Act. In 2024, it worked with Mobility International USA (MIUSA) on advocacy with provincial government officials and parliamentarians around the draft legislation.
This is significant because CIL-Pokhara’s approach is not simply “helping disabled people”—it is about disabled people themselves participating in advocacy and shaping laws and systems.
Leadership
As of 2026, Anjana KC is identified by MIUSA as the Chairperson of Independent Living Centre-Pokhara. She is a disability-rights and feminist advocate and was involved in drafting the Gandaki Province Disability Rights Act.
Partnerships and recognition
CIL-Pokhara has worked with a number of international and Nepali organizations. For example:
- Mobility International USA (MIUSA) — disability leadership, advocacy, and legislation.
- Australian Volunteers Program — organizational development and strengthening CIL-Pokhara’s planning and project-management capacity.
- Korea’s disability-development institutions — CIL-Pokhara was selected for a 2025 international disability-rights project supported through the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) funding mechanism.
- Nepal’s Social Welfare Council records CIL-Pokhara as an organization implementing disability-related projects, including a disability-led advocacy project concerning disability-rights legislation.
In simple terms
Think of CIL-Pokhara as an organization that works with and led by people with disabilities to make society more inclusive.
Its work can be summarized as:
Independent living + disability rights + accessibility + peer support + leadership + policy advocacy.
It appears particularly relevant if you’re interested in disability inclusion, social work, human rights, rehabilitation, inclusive education, community development, or NGO/INGO work in Nepal.
If you’re researching CIL-Pokhara for a job, internship, academic assignment, partnership, or project proposal, I can also give you a more detailed profile covering its history, objectives, programs/projects, funding partners, leadership, contact details, and current activities in 2025–2026.