Gender & Nepal

“Nepal has made considerable progress in policy, legislation and programming to support the rights and development of women, especially since the 2006 peace accord. It is now one of only 29 countries that have reached or exceeded 30% representation of women in parliament. The 2007 Interim Constitution guaranteed women’s rights. These high level initiatives now need to be translated to real change on the ground, despite limited resources and persisting cultural and social barriers.

Empowerment by which women take control of and expand their strategic choices in life requires mutually supporting links at personal, household, community and societal levels. Marginalized women may not have the capacity or confidence to overcome barriers or, in some cases, even to recognize the injustice of their situation. Hence, social mobilization and group support are essential to the creation of an enabling environment, particularly in Nepal where there is still a long way to go for women’s empowerment to move from policy to reality”…. 

Extract from the executive summary of  the ‘VSO Nepal – Gender Backgrounder & Discussion Paper October 2011′

A PDF of the complete document is available by clicking on the link below

VSO Nepal Gender Backgrounder & Discussion Paper. (October 2011)

Discussing land rights. Western Nepal. John Callaway 2011