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| Kathmandu Friday March 22, 2002 Chaitra 09, 2058. |
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Women’s commission needs reform
By PRATIVA SUBEDI
On the occasion of 92nd Women’s Day, the
government announced the formation of the Women’s Commission. This commission has
been under consideration for many years after the government’s moral commitment on
women’s issues in different world conferences. Now it has been formed, but it is like
a committee under the Women’s Ministry. This is not the kind of Women’s
Commission for which we were aspiring.
Women activists want to see an independent
commission with legal power, a powerful Women’s Commission. In my opinion, each and
every woman has potential which when encouraged, will flourish. We need very strong
Women’s Commission that will be inclusive and provide of justice for women. Regarding
the representation, a majority of the members are associated with party politics. These
representatives, with the exception of a few, are getting an opportunity to learn and
work. There is a great need to mobilise civil societies to perform different kinds of
work. Civil societies and NGOs are not a substitute for government, but they help and give
pressure. The problem in our country is that politicians who talk a lot are afraid of
civil society. There is confusion and disorganisation between the relationship government
and non-governmental organisations. The Women’s Commission could play a vital role to
bridge this gap.
The formation of this commission is a
positive event for women, but it cannot work strongly in this structure. We are fully
ready to give our support but it needs to be very real, not just a political slogan.
During the 25 years of women’s development in this country, many positive things have
occurred. There are useful, targeted programmes specifically for women. In this context,
welfare programmes as well as empowerment programmes are both essential. People are very
curious to know about the structure and function of the Women’s Commission. Many
women activists and social workers were demanding an Independent Statutory National
Commission for Women. The Prime Minister proclaimed under his eight-point reform policy to
establish a Women’s Commission, bringing law from Parliament. We welcome and
appreciate the establishment of the Commission’s eight members, including different
districts. However, women from civil societies and women’s studies in the university
are not represented in this commission. Up to this date, the commission is not independent
and it is without legal power. It is under the Women’s Ministry of children, women
and social welfare. While we see the formation, there are a few things lacking. A majority
of the members represent the women’s wing of political parties. Women activists of
civil society, women from women’s studies, and lawyers are missing. The priority of
the Women’s Commission is to include and accommodate many women of different spheres.
We appreciate the representation from different districts, but the visionary people from
different spheres are missing.
Let us go back to talk a little about the
draft bill of Women’s Commission. This draft bill needs to be amended before it
becomes a law. The draft bill seems clear regarding the goal, but the function it has to
carry out is not coping with the majority of Nepali women’s needs. It speaks a lot
about international conventions. This is important, but the most important is the law of
the land, the Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal (1990). This constitution provides
equality, but there are many laws that contradict this constitution. This draft bill has
forgotten the vital point of women’s representation in all the sectors- economic,
political and social. Another problem is that in this country, women are excluded from the
planning process. There is a big gap between available resources, services and needy
women. The Women’s Commission should mention this in the draft and foreign aid should
be diverted toward poverty alleviation and employment generation for women. This is not
happening in the country after the long planned development process. There is not a single
sentence about economic policy or reform for women.
Urgent points need to be taken into
consideration for this newly formed body. This body should organise interaction programmes
with the objective to make an amendment in the bill as well as its role and function. The
vision of the Independent Women’s Commission should be very clear, then the strategy
and work will be fixed. We know the agenda of Nepali women and this should be touched, but
we must prioritise it properly. Let us not make a mistake like the National Planning
Commission, which is working on a top down approach. Let us work from a bottom up
approach.
First, we need an amendment in the draft bill
to focus on socio-economic, political reform and representation of women in different
power structures at different levels. These areas are lacking in the bill. The second
point is that after the restoration of democracy, many women came out from their home at
both local and national levels. These women are not receiving due support. There is a need
for intermediary organisation to coordinate, activate and advocate for them.
We need to pressure different ministries to
implement a programme for the betterment of women at both district and village levels. Not
only that, but the Women’s Commission also needs to inform the Parliament and the
public about the real situation of women. It needs to do study and research. It should be
action oriented. Besides the draft bill, the vision of the commission should be very clear
that it is needed because it should be able to function above politics and only then will
it be able to pressurise and support the government and the public.
Recently, approach paper of the 10th periodical plan of the
country had been out which talks lot about women’s empowerment but women’s
efforts of different level to eliminate poverty are not linked. For example, a majority of
women on the grassroots and at different levels are involved in craft productions and
social and economic reform. There are many best practices of local resource and knowledge
mobilisation, such as savings and credit, groupworks, and women’s cooperative. The
main problem is that these groups need to move into the large scale. Planners have
forgotten totally to mention about that. Women’s Commission could be a great place to
talk all about that and influence the government. This only an example of the work of the
Commission. Until and unless it has legal power, it won’t be able to influence
government policy and to rehabilitate different forms of victims. It depends now on the
capacity of the leader and team of Women’s Commission to make it happen and to take
support from women of all spheres to join hands and move ahead. Let us make it something
special and concrete, reviewing ourselves.
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