PSC: Define women participation in Development and state its status in Nepal.

Definition of Development :

“implies movement from one level to another, usually with some increase in size, number, or quality of some sort.”

(Source: http://www.oecd.org/site/progresskorea/46750426.pdf)

Women Participation in Development

Women Participation in Development can be explained by two parts:

A) Women Development

In this part, following things can be done:

·         Increase knowledge, skills and capacity building of women

·         Provide opportunities to make them self-dependent

·         Develop leadership capacity of women

·         Women empowerment, strengthening and mainstreaming

·         Boosting up identity, accessibility and representation of women

·         Enhance women’s accessibility on sectors like as education, health, employment etc.

·         End of discrimination

B) Women Participation in Development

·         Utilization of women’s knowledge, skills and capacity in development process

·         Increase women participation from the level of policy formulation to implementation

·         Rising up the contribution of women on development

·         Engaging women in national building

Nepal was identified as a male dominant country in past. So, women were taken as a means of tool. After announcement of World Human Right Manifesto, 1948 (From WID to GAD), Beijing and Mexico Summit and the long struggle and sacrifice of feminist has helped to establish the women related assembly, seminar and manifesto.

Women In Development

·         Focuses on modernization and economic development

•        Reasons for lack of participation

–        Social roles of women

–        Colonialism

–        Lack of education

–        No acknowledgement of women’s dual roles in society

·          Strategies for inclusion

–        Income generating projects

–        Government Departments for women

Women And Development

•        • Marxist view: labor focus

•        • Women always part of development

•        • Capitalism reinforces gender imbalances

•        • Problem: roles are not acknowledged

•        • Strategies:

–        Establishment international organizations

Gender And Development

•         Inclusion of MEN in discourse

•         Reject current indicators of key development

•         “does child rearing have a direct monetary value?”

•         Strategies

–        Empowerment through legislation

–        Grow women’s organizations

As following the worldwide trend, Nepal had included WID in 6^th Periodic Development Plan. That’s why every plan is being modified to address policy and laws against women discrimination to emphasis women rights. For instance, Nepal stated to improve strategically and legally via various programs such as equal rights on property, guarantee of employment, laws against sexual violence and women trafficking, proportional representation, reservation and positive discrimination, gender responsive budget, accessibility of women in education and  health, skill and employment generating programs, President Women Upgradation Program etc.

In this sense, the credit of increasing practice of conservation of women rights and growing participation of women in development goes to the concept of women in development (WID).