One-third female participation is not a complete achievement

In addition, social, emotional and economic interdependence between men and women has been maintained during the development of society. Although men and women have different biological roles or responsibilities, these roles are complementary and interrelated. Today's human society and civilization has been built through this interrelationship and interdependence between men and women.

After going through many stages of human development from the primitive age to today's modern age, the gap between men and women has been dug by the human race itself. In order to institutionalize this type of unnatural discrimination created by society between men and women, many misogynist customs and traditions were given religious, social, cultural and legal recognition. On the basis of which the patriarchal society has been treating women as second-class citizens for ages, many revolts and movements have been taking place all over the world against this.

These types of campaigns and movements for gender equality continue. It has not been long since women got the right to vote in some countries that are called civilized, developed and democratic. But in order to end the social discrimination against women in our country such as sati, child marriage and untouchability, eight decades ago, Yogamaya led a great rebellion in Bhojpur of eastern Nepal and sacrificed her body by jumping into the Urlando valley of the Arun River with her 68 followers. Similarly, in the year 2004, towards the end of the royal regime, conscious women like Sahana Pradhan, Sadhana Pradhan, Mangaladevi Singh and others started a movement demanding that women should be allowed to study and participate in voting.

As a result, Nepali women exercised their right to vote for the first time in the Kathmandu municipal election held on August 17, 2010 after the end of the royal regime. Since then, we have seen and experienced many big changes in the political, social and economic system of Nepal in the long period of seven decades. As a result of various movements, social awareness and awareness campaigns for social justice, women's rights and gender equality, we have achieved remarkable achievements in the field of women's rights and gender equality from a constitutional, policy and legal point of view.

On 16th June 2063, the then reconstituted House of Representatives passed 4 important 'special proposals' (proposals of urgent public importance) regarding women's rights. Based on this 'special proposal', the Constitution of Nepal has adopted the basic rights of women including women's right to equality, proportional participation, right to reproductive health, prohibition of violence against women as fundamental rights.

Due to the constitutional, policy, legal and structural arrangements made on behalf of the state, representation of one-third of women in the important bodies of the state and representative structures of the union, state and local levels has been ensured. In this way, there has been an increase in indicators such as education, health, employment, property ownership, labor participation, and the overall gender development index of Nepal has also improved. As a result, our achievements in the field of women's empowerment and gender equality have become exemplary for the world women's movement.

Although there are various policy and programmatic efforts, there are still challenges in the practical implementation of the rights provided by the constitution and laws due to the ancient patriarchal thinking, poverty, illiteracy, superstition and some bad practices existing in our society for a long time. In our society even today, misogynist bad traditions like child marriage, polygamy, dowry and tilak system, chaupadi, accusation of witchcraft are still there. Likewise, Nepali women are still victims of heinous violence such as domestic violence, acid attacks, sexual abuse, rape and murder. Thus, customs, traditions, values ​​and beliefs that are deeply rooted in the society cannot be changed only through legal measures. For this, we should conduct continuous awareness campaign in every aspect and sector of society including family, community, educational institution, workplace. The mass media can also play an important role in social awareness and awareness campaigns for the end of all forms of violence and discrimination against women and for gender equality. Likewise, all of us should continue our continuous efforts for the educational and economic empowerment of women as well as the cultural transformation of the society as a whole, and for all these, the state should increase its investment sufficiently.

Due to background and specific socio-political circumstances, a few women in any country can reach high leadership and policy-making levels, including the country's top executive positions. Even though the women's rights movement was not developed, in South Asian countries including India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh, women managed to reach high executive positions in those countries long ago. It must have had a positive effect on the common women of those countries. Women in leadership positions can act as role models for other women and girls and inspire them to reach for leadership themselves. Also, they can inspire young women to break the stereotypes about gender roles. However, real gender equality requires systemic change at all levels of society.

The system of representation of one-third of women in the important bodies and structures of the state established in our country is the result of this systemic change. Therefore, this is an important achievement achieved by Nepalese women in the field of women's participation. The system of one-third participation is not a complete achievement for women who make up half of the society. Therefore, we must continue to strive for full proportional representation while protecting what has been achieved. Women's empowerment, representation and participation are seen as key means of achieving gender equality. The purpose of gender equality is to create an environment in which both women and men have equal rights as well as responsibilities towards the family, society and the nation.

Since gender equality is a common concern of both men and women, it requires equal and active roles of both. For the practical implementation of the constitutional and legal provisions for gender equality, it is necessary to have the same concept and understanding on this issue in both men and women. Therefore, while conducting awareness and empowerment campaigns for women's rights and gender equality, both women and men should be targeted. For the benefit and welfare of women, children, senior citizens as well as the marginalized communities of the society, the state needs to increase its investment in the field of social security. Without a strong and robust national economy, the state cannot increase investment in this sector.

After the big political change, our country is now on the path of economic prosperity. Although it is going to be upgraded from the list of least developed countries to a developing country in the near future, it is still not possible to feel positive changes in people's lives in accordance with people's aspirations. Our economy is not becoming self-sustainable due to our inability to utilize and properly manage our precious natural resources. We have to depend on imports for everything from expensive luxuries to daily consumables including food. Due to this, our trade deficit is increasing day by day. Therefore, the main challenge for us now is to develop a self-sufficient national economy by increasing indigenous production and productivity through the sustainable use of natural resources and cultural assets available in the country and the mobilization of young manpower.

Likewise, we have the sad reality that young manpower and large sums of money are migrating abroad in search of job opportunities and quality education. To prevent this, it is very necessary to provide quality education and create jobs in the country. So that a sustainable, independent and self-sufficient economy based on domestic production and income can be built instead of a dependent economy based on remittances and customs duties imposed on imported goods.

Only in this way can the state be able to make necessary investments for the practical implementation of the rights of citizens guaranteed by the constitution and laws. In addition to these issues, global phenomena such as climate change, internal and external migration and foreign employment have also added challenges to our development efforts. Women are more affected by these incidents. Therefore, it is important to pay attention to the need to develop necessary strategies to reduce the negative impact of these incidents on women.

– An edited excerpt of the views presented by former President Bhandari in the program 'Nirbhik Nari' organized by Kantipur.