Draped in a kachhad, a traditional Nepalese cotton garment wrapped around the waist, 28-year-old Umesh Balal walked into his meetings at the COP28 conference in Dubai with a sense of determination.
He is there to advocate for inclusion of disability rights in the climate change agenda — an aspect that he says has long been ignored by organizers of the world’s largest annual meeting on climate issues. Balal, who has dwarfism, has dedicated himself to making sure all kinds of marginalized voices are heard in discussions about climate change.
Balal works as the youth program manager at the Nepal Water Foundation, focusing on projects related to climate and disability inclusion. They conduct workshops across the country on the water issues residents face due to increasing glacial melts. a traditional Nepalese
Balal hails from the Magar tribe who live in the Himalayan foothills of western Nepal, and he has seen his people forced to migrate due to the unstable environment. His biggest fear is being displaced from the mountain range, his ancestral homeland. He told NPR that he wants to use the COP28 platform not just to champion the rights of people with disabilities but also of the many indigenous peoples in Nepal.