Gender responsiveness in municipal governance: legal perspectives

Hari Phuyal and Ramesh Rokka

National provisions:

The constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal in its preamble has laid down a provision of basic human rights and such rights are elaborated in the chapter of fundamental rights. The article on right to equality laid down the provision ‘not discriminate among citizens on the grounds of sex, however special provision may be made by law for the protection and advancement of the interest of women. The directive principles of the State includes the provision that …the fruits of the democracy through wider participation of the people in the governance of the country and by way of decentralization and to promote general welfare by making provisions for the protection and promotion of human rights…

The state policies merely includes that the "state shall pursue a policy of making the female population participate to a greater extent in the task of national development by making special provision for education, health and employment". However, the state policy does not have a special provision on the assurance of the female population for the participation in the political process including to be elected and to implement the policy of the State.

Another notable provision of the constitution is the reservation of the five percentages of the seats to the women candidate in the election of the Parliament and at least three women members out of thirty-five members to be elected by the House of Representatives.

The Local Self-Government Act has the three-tier structure of the local government that is the Ward, Village Development Committee/Municipality and District Development Committee. Each ward committee will have one elected women member and such women member will be represented in the Village Council. Similarly, the VDC will nominate other members in the Village Council along with one woman representative and such women becomes the nominated member of the VDC executive committee. The District Council will have one member and such a member becomes the executive member of the District Development Committee. Some of the technical committees and advisory committees are gender neutral and the Local Self-Governance Regulation is not at all gender sensitive and has nothing to mention as the existing legal provision of the regulation.

Practice analysis:

The provisions of the LSGA on the reservation to women are merely to make the presence of women in the concerned unit. This is a welcome step but it undermines the women’s potentiality on the ground of reservation, as they will not get other chance. However, in the context of Nepal the protective discrimination is the political sector may result fruitful. Similarly, the role of women in the elected and nominated posts of various units is not specified and it is sure that neither their performance will be weakened nor they can intervene in the policymaking or in the implementation of women friendly policies. Therefore, the Act must have the provisions to ensure the participation of women in policy formulation and its implementation in the local bodies including the municipalities. The studies conducted in the gender auditing pointed out that some of the provisions of the LSGA are gender neutral and hence doesn’t include the participation of women e.g. the user groups provided in the LSGA. The formation of different committees and subcommittees such as account committee, advisory committee and monitoring committees are mentioned in the Act but does not have the provision of women’s participation.

The financial Administration Regulation 1999 has the compulsory provision for the thirty- percent representations of women in the Uses Groups. In some of the municipalities social committees were created in the support of the donors but their functions are still to be evaluated. The staffs of the local bodies are still female less or in case of existence they are only in the lower and non-policy making posts.

Most of the demands of women are for the basic infrastructure such as road and electricity, which does not help to reform the gender focal point to create the gender sensitivity in the local bodies with plan, policy, activities and budget. Some of the joint regular meeting for visioning the woman issues, training, seminar and interaction program must be held in each of the unit of the local bodies to sensitize and implement the g ender issues. Perhaps this may be the powerful strategy in the municipalities to start with advocacy.

The total position of women in the whole societal structure is the barrier to take the leadership in the public affairs to women. None of the local bodies including the municipalities are gender sensitive and have any mechanisms to deal separately to the woman issues. The LSG Act has the provision to nominate the women in the local bodies but their roles and responsibilities are not specified in the Act. The LSG principles and policies do not have the priority for the program selection and representation of women in the various committees. This indicates that the scheme of the LSGA isa to include the women in the political process but not to involve them in the decision-making and implementation process with clear vision. As a result the women representatives lacks knowledge and understanding in the decision-making and implementation part. Perhaps more enhanced participation of women in the political process can be made by amending the LSGA with specified role of women in the political process. The legal provision alone can’t help to ensure the better society in future; this process can be helped by the support of the political parties.

The constitution and laws provides insufficient reservation to women in comparison to the social status and which can’t secure the full equality to participate in the governance. The gender equality includes the holistic approach of the women’s development and equal participation in the political process as well. The concept of gender equality includes the total development of women in all respect of life and society. The reservations to women in the context of Nepal have been used to demonstrate merely the presence of them in some of the political units. This does not cover the appropriate aspect of gender equality. In fact, the time has come to seek the broader role of women even from within the gender equality movement and government policies and legislations.

The progress can be made by reforming the constitution and legislations by increasing more women participation, clear role with vision and implementation of issues and priorities. If, the amendment or drafting of new constitution starts, a separate constitutional provision on local bodies with its clear mandate can be though of and some of the other provision of the constitution may also be reformed in the interest of women.

The rights of the women in the municipalities and urban areas needs to be strengthens by effective implementation of the existing laws and regulation as well as encouraging the political parties and decision makers to ensure more participation/involvement and execution of women issues. This can be achieved through amending the LSGA by broadening its scope to ensure the participation of women specially focusing on the situation of the urban women.

Recommendations:

The provisions of LSGA should include the specific role of women I in decision-making policy formulation and implementation of such policies.

The mandatory representation of women in the executive post of the local bodies can be done either by imposing a mandatory provision in the Constitution of the political parties which to be submitted in the Election Commission as per the House of Representatives Act and also increasing the more percentage of reservation in the LSGA.

The proper implementation of the provision of CEDAW not only enhances the international credibility of Nepal but also empowers the women in all respect of life including the right to participate in the political process.

The role of the women in dispute settlement process according to the provision of LSGA needs to be implemented and strengthened for the amicable and gender oriented justice.

The implementation of the ‘Control of Domestic Violence against Women Act’ needs to be emphasized to being the women out of their homes in social life. This Act merely does not deal with the domestic violence but also protects the women in home and society.

The legal provision on the reservation to women should not only focus on the presence of women in the concerned unit but must focus separately as well on the role of the women representative to mainstream the development process for the purpose of reduction of poverty and to raise the literacy.

The LSGA should be amended in prior to the election to include more women in the election process with their clear role in the concerned units of the local bodies.

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