The Nepalese Economy
Some Genuine Concerns

By Gandhi Raj Kafle

NEPAL is now in an economically uncomfortable situation. There is no market optimism. The sectors like trade, tourism and industry have been recording economic slackness. Job generating capacity, which is one of the characteristics of a vibrant economy, has declined. The symptoms of economic slowdown are also seen in revenue side of the government. The productive sectors, which were promising some years ago, are now facing tough times.

Vulnerable

Against this macroeconomic situation, the poor people are naturally troubled more vulnerably. So, the government must undertake a significant economic task to make people feel relieved. How can the government do it? The answer may be difficult, but it’s not without solution. So, the government should not lose its development spirit. It is high time the government initiated steps to fight current economic anomalies.

In fact, sustainable economic programmes, which the country requires to keep the poor people out of their plight in the long run, still need to be implemented in a more focussed manner. This is a process in which two active agents—state and people—work together for accelerating the process of development. The government while playing its role on behalf of the state needs to sharpen monitoring and evaluation bodies for reviewing project performance to facilitate reforms for achieving the desired results.

Such result in Nepal’s prevailing condition, however, will meaningfully be achieved when the poor people’s participation is development activities is impressive. But the question is, will our people join this mainstream endeavour for the nation? The development experience of the country has been optimistic. Change in social attitude and level of response of the people to the policy level concerns and priorities of the nation have been very positive. It’s a kind of ensured development asset to the government which now wants to boost economic activities for the people.

The government, therefore, can be confident in it. But, the confident and promising government, however, needs to meet the people’s aspirations sincerely because they want rapid economic progress to achieve higher level of income. The people, in fact, always worry about static income for which they seek inspiring policies and programmes from the state.

The fresh economic slowdown, which has kept the common people in discomfort these days, is another notable matter to worry about. Similarly, the cases of rising corruption have become the causes of rising public anger. Anti-corruption measures, which the concerned authorities have recently adopted to curb the cases of abuse of authority, need to be mentioned as positive initiatives in this context.

The people are also demanding practical action and solution to the present day economic problems in the country. There have been numerous suggestions, concerns and worries from economists, private sector bodies and civil society, which show that the people are no longer indifferent towards the national economic difficulties. These all are common concerns, which are very important to work for the people and nation.

So far as economic development is concerned, Nepal’s prevailing social atmosphere can be taken as stimulating factor of production. The government can, therefore, expect enhanced level of public participation in economic activities. Even the poorest of the poor people can offer active involvement for building this nation economically better. This enthusiasm and spirit of cooperation seen at people’s level in Nepal are very important elements for the permanent peace and progress.

Today the Nepalese economy is troubled from all sides. The jolts it has got in tourism sector have been serious. The investment made optimistically in hotel business some years ago is jeopardised now. The country’s many glossy hotels and thousands of employees working with them are affected badly. This situation, it’s sure, will not be normalised unless our tourism sector gains some recovery in the days to come. The distortions beyond tourism are also vulnerable. Therefore, the ill elements, which have derailed our economy recently, have to be corrected in totality. For it, besides so many other socio-economic measures, the country’s peace image needs to be restored first.

Such measures, which give a sense of relief to anomaly hit productive sectors, however, should be adopted in time because Nepal’s economy has not gone out of control yet. The conscious citizens and the welfare minded state both have to work together in the difficult period of economic slowdown honestly towards it for the speedy recovery. Priority has to be given to maintain financial discipline.

Cooperation

Suitable fiscal and monetary measures for hard time economy also yield greater benefit for directing productive sectors towards stability. Cost-cutting policies are preferred, but they should not be detrimental to the rational dealings and transactions for greater output. The worries and concerns about the economic slowdown in Nepal, thus, can be tackled. However, it all depends on how boldly the government and civil society cooperate for economic recovery.

Sexual Harassment In Workplace

By Salina Joshi

RECENTLY in Nepal, there has been a remarkable increase in women’s participation in the labour market. Women’s participation in the labour market serves to strengthen the economy of the nation, as women constitute more than half of the population in Nepal. Many women work to provide basic necessities for her family and herself. Unfortunately, common attitudes in the workplace denigrate a woman’s work as a “hobby”, thereby denying women dignity and equality in their employment. This attitude toward working women has contributed to the problem of sexual harassment in the workplace.

Discrimination

When women in the workplace experience sexual harassment some complain, some retaliate and many endure. Sexual harassment is a violation of the right to work in a secure, healthy and respectful work environment. It is a significant obstacle to equality and development. Sexual harassment is a serious problem that must not be ignored. It is a form of discrimination, it is against the law, and it is a violation of workers’ rights. Sexual harassment often occurs in situations where the harasser has more power or control than the victim. Sexual harassment can happen to anyone. Young women, older women, and men too can be victims. However, because sexual harassment most often involves women being harassed by men, it constitutes discrimination on the basis of sex.

Sexual harassment has serious consequences for victims. It affects a worker’ job performance, physical and emotional health, and career. A perpetrator of sexual harassment might offer a sexual proposition to a woman in return for higher pay, work benefits, promotion, retention, etc. The rejection of such a proposition can result in oppressive work conditions, a tarnished work record and dismissal. Sexual harassment does not harm the victim alone. It affects the employer through the loss of productivity and profitability, reputation and a skilled human resource, as well as increasing recruitment and training costs.

Sexual harassment in the workplace involves unwelcome sexual conduct that creates a hostile work environment and affects the victim’s ability to do her job. Sexual harassment harms the self-respect and dignity of the victim. It is coercive and is accompanied often by threats, promise or abuse. Sexual harassment includes unwanted touching, fondling, staring, sexual jokes and gestures and displaying or circulating posters, signs or photographs that are sexual in nature. Negative-gender based comments also constitute sexual harassment. Consensual behaviour or friendship between two people is not sexual harassment. Sexual harassment should not be confused with flirtation, which is generally based on mutual consent and attraction.

Sexual harassment in the workplace is an age-old problem, yet very few studies have been conducted on this issue in Nepal. Recently, the Forum for Women, Law and Development (FWLD) and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) conducted a collaborative research study on sexual harassment in the workplace in Nepal. According to the results of this study, sexual harassment is prevalent in workplaces across the spectrum, from government and NGO offices to private business. Among the employee/workers respondents of the study 48.4 per cent said that they faced the problem. Whereas, 14.3 per cent men and 39.4 per cent women employee/workers said that incidents of sexual harassment has taken place in their organisation. However, there is very little reporting of the crime because women who complain are at risk of being labeled as immoral and suffering brutal criticism. In addition, women who depend on the income from their job do not want to risk losing their jobs by complaining.Thus, many choose to endure the harassment.

Underlying this fear of reporting sexual harassment is the fact that there is virtually no awareness of sexual harassment in Nepal. The Nepali term for sexual harassment, “yaunjanya durbyawahar”, is not commonly used or understood, even though the problem is serious, exists and pervasive in our country. The most common forms of sexual harassment in Nepal are verbal and physical harassment.
There is no specific law in Nepal against sexual harassment. However, there are laws prohibiting many of the same behaviors that occur in sexual harassment. For example, the Public Offences and Punishment Act (1970), criminalises certain behaviors including violating the peace by obscene speech, remarks, or signals or showing pornographic material in public places. The Defamation and Libel Act (1959) criminalises actions that damages a person’s reputation and accuses the person by writing, word of mouth or signs or symbols.

Nepal has agreed to abide by the obligations established by various international instruments relating to the respect and dignity of the human beings irrespective of sex. Nepal has ratified many international instruments that call for the protection and promotion of human rights by eliminating all forms of discrimination. Article 1 of the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) addresses discrimination by making the government accountable for violence in private or pubic places, General Recommendation No. 19 of CEDAW Committee recommend governments to take effective measures including strong penal sanctions, civil remedies and compensatory provisions to protect women from sexual harassment in the workplace. The ILO Convention No. 111 also calls for elimination of gender discrimination. The Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal guarantees the right to equality and the right to be free from exploitation. Despite these national and international commitments to gender equality and protection of women from violence, victims of sexual harassment remain deprived of effective remedies.

The human rights community has begun to focus its attention on the problem of sexual harassment in the workplace. Recent initiatives include awareness programmes and trade unions taking steps to provide a forum in which women can bring their complaints of sexual harassment. Nevertheless, eliminating sexual harassment is a collective responsibility that must be addressed in a comprehensive manner.

Therefore, more concrete steps should be taken by the government, employers’ organisations, trade unions and NGOs to address this form of violence and discrinination. Most importantly, a specific law/policy prohibiting sexual harassment in the workplace needs to be developed and implemented. Awareness campaigns, gender sensitivity-training for male and female workers and mechanisms for handling complaints are imperative for addressing sexual harassment in the workplace. Clearly, these measures can be implemented most comprehensively when the legislature and the courts have recognised and addressed the social ill.

Responsibility

Employer organisations and trade unions have a responsibility to ensure a workplace environment that is free from sexual harassment for all workers. Information regarding the organisation’s sexual harassment policy should be disseminated and complaints should be handled confidentially and fairly. Employees have the responsibility to inform themselves of their rights in the workplace and to encourage management to develop policies against sexual harassment. Women workers should take steps towards putting a stop to this violence by reporting sexual harassment, supporting the victims and by refusing to endure this violence any longer.