“After India, Nepal has kept the record of single women. Keeping the data in itself is an achievement and the figures will inspire several programs and policies for the women in future,” she said. Pradhan added that the government has allocated budget for the social security allowance for all single women regardless of their age in the National Policy and Program 2068/69.
As per the census, at 6.7 percent of the total population the number of widows in the country stands at 498,606 compared to 161,231 widowers. “The proportion of single women and single men is not balanced as the cultural taboos associated with the widowhood are more practiced or compulsory for women than men. On the other hand, if other things remain the same, the life expectancy of women population of Nepal is comparatively higher (66.9 years) than men (65.6 years) and it also applies to single women population,” the report analyzes.
Speaking at the program, Lily Thapa, founder president of the organization, said that the status of widows has, however, quite changed in the last few years. “Until around 5 years ago and now, we have seen great changes. Single women are not looked down upon as they were in the past,” she said, adding that a lot needs to be done yet in order to empower the women at the grassroots levels.
International Women´s Day was established by The Loomba Foundation to raise awareness on the issues of widowhood. The cause was adopted by the United Nations to address the injustices faced by widows and their dependents in several countries of the world. The first international widows day had taken place in 2005. By 2010, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, USA, UK, Syria, Kenya, India, Bangladesh, South Africa and Nepal started marking it.
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