Gender Equality and Social Development

-Making Women Count-

Nepal is one of the few countries in the world where women have a lower life expectancy than men, a direct reflection of underprivileged status of women. In most castes and ethnic groups, Nepalese women have both lower status and heavier workloads than men.

Disparity has been recognized between the nation’s men and women in the Tenth Five Year Plan of His Majesty’s Government of Nepal. This plan identifies women as the prime target group for achieving its overall aim of poverty alleviation and human resources development.

UNDP supports the development tools and mechanisms that enable Nepalese women to access, participate and benefit from equitable local planning and governance through programmes that are aimed at empowering women. As a UNDP principle, almost 70% of all aid given to relieve poverty in Nepal is directed towards programmes that directly or indirectly benefit women. The Mainstreaming Gender Equity Programme, MGEP, assists the Nepalese government in overcoming gender gaps through building the capacity of policy-makers, bureaucrats, legislators, members of the judiciary, civil society and media. Implemented in 1998, the program responds to the strategic and practical gender needs to ensure that women’s voice are heard on an equal footing with the men in the fields of public policy formulation and local level decision making.

UNDP supports the UN Joint Initiative against Trafficking, JIT, in women and girls to address the root causes of trafficking and thereby reduce incidences of trafficking in girls and women in Nepal.

The overall adult literacy in Nepal stands at about 57%, but for women it is less than 30%. UNDP sponsors programs dedicated to empowering local communities to make their own education choices through community owned primary schools. The Community Owned Primary Education Programme enrolls a student body that is 58 percent female and recruits teachers who are female or disadvantaged.

One of the greatest social challenges to women in developing countries, HIV/AIDS, is being tackled by the UNDP in Nepal working closely with the government, local bodies, NGOs, Community Based Organizations, CBOs, and private partners. The disease has currently "concentrated epidemic" status. Efforts for containing the epidemic amongst the target groups are showing signs of positive results. Plan of action include among others, grass-root advocacy, strong net-working among concerned partner groups and operational researches to help tackle HIV/AIDS issues effectively. Results are already indicating an increased trend in both male and female to seek STD treatment at local health institutes and the use of condoms.

"Feminization" is a striking phenomenon of poverty in Nepal. Gender-biased practices related primarily to access and control over resources especially property rights and inaccessibility to services like health and education have lead to greater poverty and diminished capabilities among Nepalese women.

Nepal: Democratic Governance

Power to the people:

Nepal is a young democracy experiencing growing pains. While the country’s 1990 Constitution guarantees wider participation in decision making and the protection and promotion of human rights, rural people still find themselves isolated from the decision making mechanisms which directly affect their lives.

UNDP supports Nepal in its goal to provide self-governance to the people of Nepal. Through the Participatory District Development Programme, PDDP, and the Local Governance Programme, LGP, UNDP is assisting 60 of Nepal’s 75 districts in setting up systems that empower local people to make decisions about their own futures.

With the formation of broad-based community organizations, PDDP and LDP give local people, especially women and disadvantaged groups, democratic voice concerning many aspects of community development. Savings and loans schemes for small business, education community management, support services and environmental conservation are discussed and acted upon at a local level.

With an emphasis on bottom-up planning, PDDP and LGP also strengthen the relationship between local and central government in Nepal. Both the governance programs have been crucial in helping to define elements of the Local Self-Governance Act of Nepal, 1999, legislation that creates and environment more conducive to local government.

The Decentralized Financing and Development works in tandem with the PDDP and LPG. The program provides financing for small-scale rural infrastructure projects planned by the local bodies and provides additional technical assistance for development of the system for decentralized finance and the local capacity to manage the provision of basic services as intended with the Local Self Governance Act.

To alleviate poverty among rural people, the Rural Urban Partnership Program, RUPP, was developed by the UNDP to assist Nepal pledge to bridge the economic and social gap between rural and urban people. Urban Information Centers have been established in Municipalities for enhancing rural town’s access to urban markets and making life easier by enhancing the Internet facility. The Urban information centers help to provide the market rates of all agricultural products to the farmers and the local people. These have increased the mobilization of agricultural products to market, raised income levels of rural entrepreneurs and cut dependencies on local moneylenders. A very noteworthy result is the rise in female participation in micro-enterprise activities and the rise of younger generation towards the use of ICT.

Nepal has ratified 17 Human Rights Conventions and Covenants, more than any other country in South Asia. With the establishment of the National Human Rights Commission in 2000, Nepal now has an institution capable of monitoring human rights situation within the country. As a fledgling body, the Commission will need considerable support to ensure that it meets the government’s promise of ensuring broad-based human rights.

UNDP is managing a multi-donor project that aims at raising the operating capacity of NHRC through education and information program aimed at developing the Commission into a national body capable of effectively monitoring human rights. Expected results include the strengthening of a human rights culture and formulation of National Human Rights Action Plan of Nepal.

Nepal realizes that efficient and effective legal and judicial systems represent key elements of good governance. In Nepal there is a need to strengthen public trust in the judicial system through making the concept of Rule of Law a reality.

The Strengthening of Rule of Law and Reform of the Judiciary programmes seeks to strengthen Rule of Law and advocate justice. Rural people will be given speedy access to settling minor disputes at the village level through Arbitration Board under provisions of the Local Self-Governance Act. Procedural laws are to be reformed, advanced training will be provided to judges and legal staff, and the capacity to draft legislation at the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs will be enhanced.

The Peace and Development Initiative of the UNDP in Nepal supports raising awareness and advocacy, building capacities and undertaking initiatives which focus on specific target groups and action research. The beneficiaries of the initiative are those affected by violence, particularly the disadvantaged groups, women and youth, and ultimately the general public.

UNDP is dedicated to the decentralization of governance in Nepal. UNDP believes that only through giving people power at the local level to influence decisions that affect their lives will they be able to forge an existence that is truly dignified.

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