Visiting Scholar Kamal Lamichhane Wins JASID Incentive Award 2016

JICA-RI Visiting Scholar Kamal Lamichhane, also an associate professor at the University of Tsukuba, has won the Japan Society For International Development (JASID) incentive award, 2016 for his book entitled “Disability, Education and Employment in Developing Countries: From Charity to Investment” published by the Cambridge University Press in 2015. The award was distributed on the occasion of the 27th Annual Conference of JASID, held on November 26–27, 2016 at Hiroshima University.

This book systematically analyzes the relationships between disability, education, and employment in developing countries, presenting a unique interdisciplinary analysis that interlinks the fields of education, economics, philosophy, public policy, and development studies with disability studies. In the book, Lamichhane advocates the need for an immediate paradigm shift from a charity to investment approach.

After receiving the award, he commented, "I regard this award as recognition of my efforts to empirically emphasize the importance of human capital, particularly education towards bringing disability issues in mainstream and inclusive development with investment approach so as to achieve their social inclusion and economic empowerment."

Stressing the importance of quality education for all people, he argued that he intends to continue collaborating with different stakeholders, including bilateral and multilateral donor agencies as well as people in academics.