But, needless to say, the Bill is not an end in itself. If the Bill is any consolation for the women victimized and tortured continuously by the patriarchal society of the country, just the time it took to be enforced speaks loud enough on the importance given to women’s issues in this country. If one bill takes 14 years to pass, how long will it take, for example, to identify women who disappeared during the conflict or to bring about 33 percent reservation for them (CA members now want 50 percent reservation), not to talk about compensation and justice to those women victims of war time? Unfortunately, the plight of those women who suffered at the hands of both the Maoists and the state security forces can only be established after the formation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which now seems a far-fetched dream.
Plight of women who suffered at the hands of both Maoists and security forces can only be established after formation of Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which now seems a far-fetched dream.
As they prepare to write the new constitution, it is those 197 women CA members who are now in the best position to create “special rights” for women guaranteeing the much-needed political and socio-economic rights.
Besides a gamut of issues related to women, focus must be on basic rights – food, health, education, employment, security and others. That would require a creation of a new mechanism within the CA, which would prioritize and propose the right laws. Such a mechanism must also recommend to the executive for a monitoring body.
Most importantly, the emphasis should not only be on reservation or positive discrimination but on the importance of leadership role to be taken up by women. In other words, empowerment is crucial as that alone will bring women to assume leadership role. It is sad that the new cabinet could not ensure 33 percent positions to women leaders. Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal after assuming office, apparently, had told the women CA delegates that the recommendation for inclusion of women in the cabinet “has to come from the political parties themselves.”
There seems to be two major obstacles in taking forward vital issues related to women. First, although the political parties have committed, at least theoretically, by putting in their statutes that women would be guaranteed right positions in all sectors and positions, no effort is made in practice to actually give them responsible positions. This is aggravated by the fact that the 197 women CA members refuse to rise above party lines and fight for the cause of women. In a recent interaction, Lila Nyaichyai, a CA member from Nepal Workers and Peasants Party, said that no political party member can actually rise above the ideology of their party. It is sad that lawmakers like Nyaichyai fail to realize that a unified voice is a pre-condition to fight against domination. It would be better if the women CA members realized that party ideologies have no direct bearing in the fight for women’s right. Rather, women’s issues cut ideological lines that separate parties, groups and organizations.
Second, the struggle for equality advanced by the civil society is driven by donor funding in Nepal. Although it is not at all contradictory to seek financial assistance from the international communities, there are very few NGOs who have reached the remote corners of the country with effective women-oriented programs. The recent diarrhea epidemic in mid- and far-west is a testimony to the failure of donor-driven initiatives in the health sector, which is the foremost priority of most projects.
On the other hand, the only national-level body, the National Women’s Commission, is a toothless institution. The Commission must be made a statutory body for it to effectively carry out its responsibility. Meanwhile, it would also be appropriate to point out that although the state has taken some important decisions, the implementation part has been extremely weak. For instance, the Interim Constitution brought in the provision for granting citizenship right to a child in his/her mother’s name also. But women are compelled to go from one government office to another to get a recommendation made.
Nepal became a signatory of CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women) in 1991. More than a decade has lapsed since Nepal ratified and became a signatory of CEDAW but it is tragic that the state has not taken any initiatives to enforce many provisions of the Convention. Not only that, next year, Nepal will participate in the Beijing Platform for Action. It was a participant in 1995 when it was first held. Time is appropriate for the government and all stakeholders to review the commitments made at national and international level and evaluate the progress made so far.
Given the changing political context in the country, the government has to give special attention to the grievances of the women from ethnic communities and backward groups. In the Tarai as well, more women groups are now actively speaking against dowry system, abortion of female fetuses and child marriage. Similarly, Muslim women are fighting against divorce system ingrained in their religion. Thus, the state in general and the legislature-parliament in particular are confronted with the serious challenge of guaranteeing women’s right in the new constitution. The CA must immediately formulate a mechanism to address and develop appropriate policies through national conferences and deliberations with the stakeholders in order to derive a conclusion and action plan for addressing women´s issues.
akanshya@myrepublica.com
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