Women’s Greater
Participation
Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has said
that a national women’s commission is essential because of the very fact that the
development of women is a part and parcel of overall national development. He said this at
the inaugural function of the workshop on "National Women’s Commission: The Need
of the Day", the other day. The formation of such a commission is a must in the
present times when the participation of women in every sector can alone see a prosperous
nation emerging. Here what is being hinted is that the rural women too must be able to
come to the decision making level in a big way. This is all the more a point of concern
that though more than half of the country’s population consists of women they are
deprived in every aspect of life. If one gleans through the contributions that they make
to the household and the society they are very much underprivileged. In education or
availing health services, the situation is quite miserable. As most of the people live in
the villages the death rate is very high. For example, for every 100,000 the maternal
mortality death is 1,500 while that for South Asia as a whole is 567. This is enough to
suggest that the lot of women has not greatly improved despite the regular priority of the
government. There are many NGOs and INGOs involved in working for women but on the whole
the progress is not what it should be.
Poverty, illiteracy and malnutrition are the
major stumbling blocks for creating a bright horizon for women. Though, in recent times,
there have been achievements in the form of the empowerment of women and the realization
that without their contribution nothing can be achieved. In this sense the necessary
preparations being made to constitute a women’s commission needs special mention. It
is high time that men and women work on the same footing and at par. There is no reason to
be conservative when all that means women are deprived of their rights. The Constitution
of the Kingdom of Nepal-1990 guarantees equal rights to all but the necessity is to
translate them into real life. It is the duty of all to work unitedly, without
discrimination of any sort, so that women will be able to contribute to their fullest
capacity.
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