USAID supports activities to encourage women leaders of community-based organizations to improve their leadership skills, train women candidates to mount campaigns in local and national elections, sponsor voter awareness campaigns, and promote women’s participation in the electoral process.
Increasing Women’s Political Participation
From 2001 to 2004, USAID/Nepal supported efforts to increase women’s participation in local and national elections. Mission activities included providing training and educational materials on campaign and leadership skills to women leaders of community-based organizations and political parties at the local level. Working through the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI), USAID continues to build the capacity of political parties to expand the means by which women and disadvantaged groups can participate in governing their parties and running in local and national elections. After they enter local office, female and disadvantaged candidates continue to receive party and Mission support to help them to govern responsively.
Approximately 11,000 community-level women from 16 districts have gained knowledge
and skills in effective campaigning and leadership and have formed a powerful
coalition of women leaders and advocates. Their advocacy efforts have resulted
in all the major parliamentary parties committing to increasing the number
of women candidates standing for election. Major Nepali political parties also
adopted the Women Global Action Plan, which calls for increased representation
of women in all spheres of life. During 2004, over 150 community-level women
were elevated into party leadership positions, and USAID anticipates the number
of women occupying key party positions will continue to increase once party
elections are held and local elections are called.
In September 2004, USAID initiated a two-year activity to make the Government of Nepal’s civil service more responsive to gender issues and to increase women’s participation in the civil service. The Mission is providing technical assistance and targeted training to approximately 500 women to enter the civil service, with the goal of graduating 200 women to higher posts in the system. Additionally, it supports the drafting of a bill dedicated to increasing the number of women holding civil service posts. To attract women to a civil service career the activity is holding five regional forums on public awareness and facilitating exposure visits for women leaders interested in replicating regional initiatives and experiences.
Strengthening the Role of Civil Society and Women in Democracy and Governance
(SAMARPAN)
USAID/Nepal, in partnership with CARE, Winrock International, the Center for Development and Population Activities (CEDPA), and Private Agencies Collaborating Together (PACT), mounted this three year project in 2002 to increase women’s participation in local level government and to develop the capacity and advocacy skills of civil society groups. SAMARPAN targets community forest user groups, water user groups, savings and credit organizations, communication action groups, and elected and nominated women representatives (ENWRs) in 12 central, western, mid-, and far-western districts. The program is designed to provide participants with the skills and knowledge that will enable them to increase dialogue, advocate, and ultimately influence policy decisions. By creating a more capable and informed constituency, the project also empowers community group members and ENWRs to influence local, district, and national level policies by using their new advocacy skills, creating networks (especially ENWR networks), establishing coalitions of community groups, and developing strategic links between local government and civil society groups. Two hundred and ten facilitators, who are being provided with basic advocacy skills training, will train an additional 10,000 people. SAMARPAN is also conducting eight specialized trainings for those who exhibit the potential to lead community advocacy efforts and to monitor and ensure government accountability. It will continue to reach many more people by producing and disseminating education and communication materials such as posters and radio messages.
Rule of Law and Respect of Human Rights Program
In 2004, USAID began working with public and private law schools, bar associations,
and leading non-goverment organizations (NGOs) involved in justice sector reform
to launch this three-year program. The goal of the program is to establish
a strong public defender system and strengthen the existing public interest
litigation programs of Nepali NGOs. In Nepal, the legal problems of women,
minorities, low income, low-caste, and disenfranchised members of society receive
scant recognition. Legal aid, ostensibly available to Nepal’s poorest citizens,
is ineffective due to insufficient funding. With a justice system historically
unresponsive to their rights and legal services and representation unavailable,
members of such groups do not use the courts to resolve disputes. This program
aims to correct these injustices by focusing public attention on the weaknesses
in the current system and demonstrating the benefits to be gained from a strong
public defender system with trained, competent public defenders. Activities
include providing judges, prosecutors, and lawyers with sensitivity training
on gender issues and the correct response mechanisms for complaints from women
and marginalized members of society. The Mission and its local partners also
are developing a certification process for Nepali law schools, local NGOs,
and the courts to create a cadre of trained lawyers to represent indigent defendants.
Nepal's Program Objectives
Health
Economic Growth
Democracy & Governance
Trafficking
SELECTED ACTIVITIES:
Safe Motherhood Newsletter
Female Community Health Volunteers (FCHV) Program
Community of Love and Affection (SNEHA Samaj)
Girls’ Access to Education (GATE) Program
Smallholder Irrigation Market Initiative
Strengthened Actions for Governance in Utilization of Natural Resources Program (SAGUN)
Sustainable Incomes for Women in Gulmi and Argakhanchi
Women in Hydropower Development
Increasing Women’s Political Participation
Strengthening the Role of Civil Society and Women in Democracy and Governance (SAMARPAN)
Rule of Law and Respect of Human Rights Program
Trafficking Prevention and Gainful Employment
Visit USAID/Nepal link
to the Mission
Global Snapshot: Nepal
Homepage
Global Snapshots is a web-based series highlighting
successful gender-related activities undertaken by
USAID Missions around the world. The snapshots illustrate
Mission objectives and activities that take gender
considerations into their implementation.
|
