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BOOK REVIEW |
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BOOK REVIEW |
Women’s Woes Dr. Meena Acharya discusses
various aspects of gender situation in Nepal highlighting the role of women By A CORRESPONDENT A lot of books have already been written regarding the role of women in Nepalese society and gender situation in Nepal. But, there has always been a lack of a book that takes a holistic perspective of women. Dr. Meena Acharya’s book attempts to do so in her latest book titled “Efforts at Promotion of Women in Nepal.” Dr. Acharya, a renowned economist, explains policies, strategies and programs directed at women’s development in Nepal and changes in gender relations following the implementation of such programs. She delves deep into the various facets of such policies and their impacts. “Women have always constituted about half of the population and the fact that a society can not advance without their moving forward along with men has been recognized from the beginning of planned development. Nevertheless, initially women were viewed as a welfare issue as all human development issues were,” writes Dr. Acharya in her introduction. From the concept of Women in Development to education and social issues, Dr. Acharya has extensively discussed matters related to women development and its implication in society. “This book by Meena Acharya fully updates the social, economic, and political status of women in Nepal, the achievements the country has made so far and the tasks lying ahead,” said Dev Raj Dahal, chief of Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung - Nepal. “It also formulates fundamental questions about how FES as a democratic foundation can proceed in helping to promote the social and political integration of men and women in partner NGOs, educational institutions, trade unionism, media and civil society.” Following the celebration of international women rights in 1975, many things have changed in the world particularly in the areas of women’s right, education and their involvement in the development process. Despite all the changes that occurred in this sector, a large number of Nepalese women are yet to reap benefits from these changes. “Women’s involvement was seen as a necessary for the success of development projects not only in education and health but also in areas where they predominated as workers, particularly in agriculture and allied spheres in developing countries. Integration of women in the development process became a catchword,” said Dr. Acharya. Dr. Acharya discusses all aspects of women development in Nepal. In the first chapter, she talks about the understanding of the Gender Concepts: The Framework for Analysis. In the second chapter, she highlights Development Plans and Policies in Nepal explaining the government sector/donor policies and program; and program implementation. She also writes about the gender situation in non-governmental sector, NGO/ INGOs, trade unions, media and research institutions. “In Nepal, the move to WID, WAD, and Gender Approaches to Development (GAD) has not been uniform in all the aspects and civil society institutions. In principle, the government/donors and some INGOs and women-specific National Level NGOs have moved faster in this direction. Other civil society institutions such as media, trade unions, and local NGOs seem still to be grappling with the WAD approach,” writes Dr.Acharya. Nepal has a long constitutional history where women’s right was equally protected but it took decades to turn this into a reality. With the restoration of democracy in 1990, Nepalese women have seen tremendous changes in many sectors. From the Constitution of Kingdom of Nepal to Local Self-governance Act and Tenth five-year plan, the role of women in governance has been specifically highlighted. “Sustaining the capacities for democratic governance in the nation, however, requires the re-socialization and self-organization of people, both male and female, to redefine their role, solve collective problems, achieve common good, and resolve conflicts,” writes Dahal. Efforts at Promotion of Women in
Nepal |
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