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Women’s Development in Nepal:
The Myth of Empowerment
Ishara Mahat
VOLUME XVIII – 2003
The status of Nepalese women—and rural women in
particular—lags far behind that of men. The strong
bias in favor of sons in the country means that
daughters are discriminated against from birth and
do not have equal opportunities to achieve develop-
ment. The situation for women is characterized by
low levels of access to education, healthcare, and eco-
nomic, social, and political opportunities. Despite
increasing efforts from the government, non-govern-
mental organizations, and international development
agencies to empower women in Nepal, there has
been little improvement in the socio-economic status
of women at the grassroots level. This paper clarifies
the meaning of empowerment and critiques how it is
applied in the context of Nepal.
Development in Nepal remains impossible
unless women achieve equal footing with men in the
development process. Gender-based inequalities in
access to healthcare, education, ownership of assets,
and economic and social mobility are still profound.
For example, the literacy rate for women is 30 per-
cent, but for men the rate is twice as high at 66 per-
cent.
1
Many poor rural families consider education
for girls as a needless burden. In poor households,
parents prefer to pay for their sons’ education and
keep their daughters at home to help their overbur-
dened mothers.
2
Labor and physical exploitation of
young girls is widespread. In addition, gender-based
violence is often reported in domestic as well as
public arenas and is largely attributed to derogatory
attitudes towards women, which is reinforced by low
socioeconomic status.
3
The maternal mortality rate of Nepalese women,
associated with adolescent pregnancies and poor
health services, is among the highest in the world.
Recent studies reveal that one out of every thirty-two
pregnant women die due to pregnancy and child-
birth related complications.
4
According to the Gender
Development Index (GDI),
5
socioeconomic condi-
tions for Nepalese women are worse than for other
South Asian women.
6
Moreover, women remain far
behind men in Nepal according to the Gender
Empowerment Measure (GEM).
7
Indeed, women’s
participation in politics is only one-fifth that of men,
and the same pattern prevails in professional occu-
pations and administrative jobs. Although a substan-
tial proportion of women, around 40 percent, is
economically active, many are unpaid family workers
involved in subsistence agriculture.
8
To raise the status of women in Nepal and push
forward the country’s economic development, gov-
ernment and development organizations have
A PhD student at Massey University, New Zealand, Ishara Mahat is currently researching gender and rural energy technologies in
Nepal for her doctoral dissertation. She received an M.Sc in rural and regional development planning from the Asian Institute of
Technology, Bangkok and from the University of Dortmund, Germany. She has worked with the government and various international
agencies in Nepal, focusing on women, children, and gender in development issues.
67
Despite increasing efforts from
government, non-governmental
organizations, and international
development agencies to empower
women in Nepal, there has been
little improvement in the socio-
economic status of women at the
grassroots level.
focused their efforts on empowering women. The
concept of empowerment rests on awareness-raising,
capacity building, and organizing people in order to
overcome unequal relationships, in addition to
increasing women’s decision-making power at the
household, community, and national levels.
The concept of empowerment as used by many
development agencies refers mainly to entrepreneur-
ial self-reliance. It places an emphasis on individual-
istic values: “people empowering themselves by
pulling themselves up by their bootstraps.”
9
John
Friedmann, author of Empowerment: The Politics of
Alternative Development, promotes a much broader
understanding of empowerment than those focusing
on the entrepreneurial self-reliance of individuals.
10
His definition of empowerment includes three dif-
ferent aspects of power: social, political, and psycho-
logical. Social power means having access to
resources such as information, knowledge, and skills.
Political power refers to participation in decision-
making—in particular, those decisions that affect a
person’s own future. Psychological power is defined
by an individual’s sense of potency and self-esteem,
which may positively influence his or her access to
social and political power.
To apply theory to practice, the United Nations
International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF)
has developed a broader women’s empowerment
framework focusing on five levels of equality:
1. Welfare: addressing the basic needs of women
without considering the structural causes. At
this point women are viewed as passive bene-
ficiaries of welfare benefits. This is the first
step toward empowerment.
2. Access: providing women access to resources
such as schooling and micro-credit. Access
helps women to progress in meaningful ways.
3. Conscientization: helping women to recognize
the problems caused by existing socio-cultural
arrangements, and their roles and rights to
deal with inequalities.
4. Participation: encouraging women to take part
in decision-making and working collectively
to gain political representation.
5. Control: the final stage of empowerment
where the balance of power between men and
women is equal and the contributions of
women are fully recognized. At this stage
women have the independence to make deci-
sions regarding their bodies, fertility, birth
spacing, and the lives of their children.
This empowerment framework helps development
practitioners determine the point of intervention so
as to achieve higher levels of equality and the
empowerment of women.
The empowerment approach, which is fundamen-
tal to an alternative development philosophy, places an
emphasis on autonomous decision-making for com-
munities, local self-reliance, direct democracy, and
experiential social learning. The starting point for
empowerment must be at the grassroots level, because
civil society is most readily mobilized around local
issues. The major goal of empowerment is to achieve
equality through transforming the structures, systems,
and institutions that have maintained inequality.
In the case of Nepal, the process of women’s
empowerment involves many dimensions, including:
“increasing access to economic opportunities and
resources; strengthening political power through
women’s organizations, solidarity, and collective
action; raising consciousness about the symptoms
and causes of prevalent oppressive religious, eco-
nomic, cultural, familial, and legal practices; and
strengthening women’s self confidence.”
11
Economic empowerment involves gaining con-
trol over productive resources and enabling women
to make independent financial decisions. Women in
Nepal have already realized the need to be involved
in the economic sphere as a means to supplement
the household income and gain a certain level of
independence. However, these women are mainly
relegated to low-skill, repetitive jobs in the industrial
sector. This is because of a lack of education and
training opportunities, employer biases, and limited
PRAXIS The Fletcher Journal of International Development
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OLUME XVIII – 2003
The empowerment approach, which
is fundamental to an alternative
development philosophy, places
an emphasis on autonomous decision-
making for communities, local self-
reliance, direct democracy, and
experiential social learning.
mobility due to family responsibilities.
12
According
to the Nepalese constitution, women should enjoy
equal rights to employment and equal pay for simi-
lar jobs, but this is rare in practice.
Political empowerment aims to propel women
into offices where they can formulate, execute, and
monitor policies and laws. A critical mass of women,
at least one-third of the total of political representa-
tives, needs to be at every level of decision-making.
However, women have extremely limited power at
the decision and policy-making levels of political
bodies, as well as in government bureaucracy.
Although almost all political parties have formed
women’s caucuses, no organizations have been able
to put gender issues onto the political agenda in more
than a rhetorical way. Disappointingly, they have
been unable to provide moral and financial support
to women who are interested in becoming involved
in politics. In addition, women rarely get family sup-
port to go into political careers unless the woman’s
family has a strong background in politics.
Psychological empowerment aims to increase
women’s self-esteem and confidence to encourage
greater participation in political and social domains.
13
In Nepalese society, parents treat daughters as the
property of others, while parents-in-law see daugh-
ters-in-law as a curse. Women who get divorced to
escape oppressive marriages or who are abandoned
or widowed by their husbands have no social status.
14
Men take control over women’s bodies and lives.
15
Women are forced to take care of children while per-
forming backbreaking household chores. In addition,
women have no control over the decisions regarding
household, community, and political activities. These
factors add up to low self-esteem among Nepalese
women.
The government of Nepal has implemented sev-
eral initiatives to empower women. Shortly following
the fourth world conference on women held in
Beijing in September 1995, the government estab-
lished the Ministry of Women and Social Welfare
(MWSW) to champion women’s issues. The MWSW
is a leading agency for the advancement of women
through empowerment. The roles and responsibili-
ties of the ministry are to strengthen advocacy, coor-
dination, and support for women’s groups in various
ministries. The MWSW has set three objectives for
the empowerment of women: mainstreaming
gender, eliminating gender inequality, and empower-
ing women along the lines proposed by the Beijing
Platform for Action.
16
Meanwhile, the activism of non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) in Nepal has increased tremen-
dously and a number of NGO networks have been
formed. The Woman’s Pressure Group, for example,
is comprised of 84 NGOs of various categories. Other
networks are issue-oriented and focus on advocacy or
specific agendas such as media, HIV/AIDS, and traf-
ficking.
17
One typical example of an NGO working for
women’s empowerment is the Women’s Foundation
of Nepal (WF), which works to amend laws that pro-
hibit greater involvement of women in politics. The
WF also acts as a networking center and emergency
shelter and offers job training, micro-credit loans,
and literacy classes.
18
To raise awareness of women’s
issues, the WF stages seminars, workshops, street
plays, and rallies. Despite the increasing NGO activ-
ity, most NGOs are urban based and have been less
effective in mobilizing rural women for their
enhancement and empowerment initiatives.
Both multilateral and bilateral external funding
agencies have played a positive role in addressing
gender issues in development. Since the Beijing con-
ference, voices have been raised to empower women
and engender a fundamental change in socio-eco-
nomic structures. Multilateral agencies see women’s
problems as part of a larger problem of poverty and
concentrate on these issues to achieve efficiency of
resource use and thereby combat poverty.
19
Women lack human rights and in many ways are
second-class citizens. Social discrimination against
women is tightly connected to legal provisions,
which deprive women from getting equal opportuni-
ties as men. Under Nepalese law, a woman’s access to
land and property is derived through her marriage
Women’s Development in Nepal: The Myth of Empowerment
69
V
OLUME XVIII – 2003
One typical example of an NGO
working for women’s empowerment
is the Women’s Foundation of Nepal,
which works to amend laws that
prohibit greater involvement
of women in politics.
relationship. Although the property rights bill was
passed recently, providing equal rights to parental
properties for unmarried daughters, it still does not
protect women’s independence since they have to
return such parental properties after they get mar-
ried.
20
While the bill provides a share of a husband’s
property to those who are divorced and those who
are widowed, these provisions are only helpful to
those who are capable of accessing legal services. If a
husband leaves his first wife and marries another
woman—a common event in the Nepalese social
milieu even though it is illegal—the first wife loses
all access to communal property as well.
21
Women’s access to credit is limited because all
formal lending institutions seek tangible collateral for
loans and women have little access to inherited prop-
erty. Women’s access to institutional credit is further
restricted by their confinement to household activi-
ties.
22
Access to credit is important, as women have
few opportunities in the formal labor market and
women who are employed as wage laborers are paid
less than men. According to 1991 census data, more
that 36 percent of the female population was catego-
rized as homemakers and dependents. While home-
making activities are essential for the survival of the
household, they fall outside the formal economy.
23
The government’s attempts to empower women
have been limited. The present constitution has made
it mandatory for all political parties to field women as
at least five percent of all candidates for election to the
House of Representatives, as well as for the House of
Representatives to elect at least three women mem-
bers to the National Assembly. The Local Development
Act has also made it mandatory for Village
Development Committees to field at least one female
candidate in each ward committee. Although women
occupy positions at the ward level, their influence in
the decision-making process has remained weak.
In principle, the constitution protects women
from sex discrimination and exploitation. In practice,
however, constitutional provisions lack enforcement
mechanisms. Trafficking of girls and domestic vio-
lence are endemic and are recognized in Nepal as a
social evil. Several pieces of legislation have been
passed to combat trafficking, such as the New Muluki
Ain (1963), the Human Trafficking Control Act
(1987), and the Special Provisions of Human
Trafficking Act (1996). These laws have not been
strong enough to deter perpetrators. In fact, even vil-
lage elites are involved in such trafficking, and
because the trafficked girls are illiterate and poor
they are unlikely to be able to fight against traffick-
ing in a court of law.
24
Ironically, the most ardent supporters of
women’s empowerment have been the Maoist rebels,
a rebel insurgency group that initiated a “People’s
War.” This movement has attracted many women
who have suffered under the patriarchal structure of
their society and previously felt powerless and
excluded from the political sphere. According to one
observer, “the fight for women’s equality and libera-
tion is woven into the very fabric of this People’s
War.”
25
In areas where the Maoist movement has
dominated the local government, women are more
equal to men, who also share traditional women’s
work such as collecting water, cleaning, and washing
clothes. The Maoists encourage women and girl chil-
dren to learn to read and write. Hence, women feel
included and respected.
26
According to sympathizers with the rebel cause,
the Maoists are fighting against all forms of oppres-
sion, including subjugation of women. One of their
demands is, in fact, that “patriarchal exploitation and
discrimination against women should be stopped.
Daughters should be allowed access to parental prop-
erty.”
27
The Maoists have banned alcohol in many vil-
lages of Nepal to protect women from intoxicated
men. The leader of the Maoist All Nepal Women’s
Association, Kalpana Dhamala, says, “The free use of
alcohol has done a great injustice to women, as drunk
husbands go wild and attack their wives.”
28
In a rural
village of Kavre district, a woman mentioned, “the
Maoists have been very kind to us by enabling our
husbands to stop drinking and gambling.”
29
Critics of the Maoist rebels point out that women
have suffered due to armed conflict and forcible
PRAXIS The Fletcher Journal of International Development
70
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OLUME XVIII – 2003
In principle, the constitution protects
women from sex discrimination and
exploitation. In practice, however,
constitutional provisions lack
enforcement mechanisms.
recruitment into the People’s War. For instance,
women have become helpless when their male
family members have been killed during the armed
conflict or they themselves have been displaced by
the war.
30
Although the empowerment mechanism in Nepal
has been developed, improvement is needed in differ-
ent sectors. The government, NGOs, and other organi-
zations have established wings to focus on women’s
empowerment, but real action at the grassroots level
is still needed. Policies on women’s empowerment
and development are still dominated by elite theory
and remain too vague to address the real problems of
inequality. Despite all the efforts made by different
actors, there has not been a real improvement in the
socio-economic status of women at the grassroots
level. Problems like domestic violence, trafficking of
girls, and low access to education, economic
resources, and opportunities are still prevalent.
The government, non-governmental organiza-
tions, and international agencies need to focus more
broadly on strategies for empowering women in
Nepal. First, there must be better networking and
coordination among women’s wings established in
different sectors in order to achieve an integrated
effort for women’s empowerment. Second, gender-
mainstreaming activities should be properly inte-
grated at the local government level in order to
encourage the political empowerment of women.
Third, institutions advocating empowerment activi-
ties should be locally based and focus on empower-
ing women and at the same time raising men’s
awareness. Fourth, women’s literacy and vocational
education should be emphasized to provide opportu-
nities for local employment. And lastly, laws and reg-
ulations protecting women’s rights should be
effectively implemented and available to all classes of
society rather than only to the wealthy.
Women’s Development in Nepal: The Myth of Empowerment
71
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OLUME XVIII – 2003
The Maoists have banned alcohol in
many villages of Nepal to protect
women from intoxicated men.
NOTES
1 Nepal South Asia Centre (NESAC), Nepal Human
Development Report 1998.
2 Asian Development Bank, Country Briefing Paper:
Women in Nepal, 1999,
<http://www.adb.org/Documents/Books/Country_Briefing_
Papers/Women_in_Nepal>.
3 Ibid.
4 The maternal mortality rate is estimated to be 539 per
100,000 live births. United Nations Development
Programme, Nepal Human Development Report 2001
(Kathmandu: UNDP, 2001).
5 GDI is prepared by using gender equal distributions of
indices of life expectancy, educational attainment, and
income.
6 NESAC, Nepal Human Development Report 1998.
7 GEM measures the degree of participation by men and
women in economic, political, and professional spheres.
8 Asian Development Bank, Country Briefing Paper: Women in
Nepal.
9 Kate Young puts emphasis on collective action and change in
power dynamics of men and women. Both men and women
should be changed to ensure a harmonious society in the
future. Kate Young, Planning Development with Women:
Making a World of Difference (London: Macmillan, 1993),
157-163.
10 John Friedmann, Empowerment: The Politics of Alternative
Development (Malden: Blackwell Publishing, 1992), 33.
11 Meena Acharya and Pushpa Acharya, Gender Equality and
Empowerment of Women, A Status Report (Kathmandu:
UNFPA, 1997), 38.
12 Meena Acharya, “Women and Economy: The Key Issues,” in
Laxni Keshari Manandhar and Krishna Bhattachan, eds.,
Gender and Democracy in Nepal (Nepal, 2001).
13 John Friedmann, Empowerment: The Politics of Alternative
Development (Malden: Blackwell Publishing, 1992).
14 Asian Development Bank, Country Briefing Paper: Women in
Nepal
15 Philip Morgan and Bhanu Niraula, “Gender Inequality and
Fertility in Two Nepali Villages,” Population and Development
Review, 3 (1995).
16 Nepal Ministry of Women and Social Welfare, Ninth Five-
Year Plan Approach Paper 1998.
17 Asian Development Bank, Country Briefing Paper: Women in
Nepal.
18 Sage Radachowsky, “Women’s Empowerment in Nepal,”
2001, <http://www.ucc.uconn.edu/~ser00003/n_frame.html>.
19 Asian Development Bank, Country Briefing Paper: Women in
Nepal.
20 Women’s International Network News, “Nepal: Women’s
Property Rights Bill Finally Passed” 3 (28) (Summer 2002).
21 Meena Acharya, “Women and Economy: The Key Issues,” in
Laxni Keshari Manandhar and Krishna Bhattachan, eds.,
Gender and Democracy in Nepal (Nepal, 2001).
22 Meena Acharya and Pushpa Acharya, Gender Equality and
Empowerment of Women, A Status Report (Kathmandu:
UNFPA, 1997).
23 Meena Acharya, “Women and Economy: The Key Issues,” in
Laxni Keshari Manandhar and Krishna Bhattachan, eds.,
Gender and Democracy in Nepal (Nepal, 2001).
24 Pratima Poudel and Jenny Carryer, “Girl Trafficking,
HIV/AIDS and the Position of Women in Nepal,” Gender and
Development 8 (2) (2001).
25 Li Onesto, “Women hold up half the sky!” Revolutionary
Worker #1094 2001, <http://www.rwor.org/a/v22/1090-
99/1094/nepal_women.htm>.
26 Sage Radachowsky, “Women’s Empowerment in Nepal,”
2001, <http://www.ucc.uconn.edu/~ser00003/n_frame.html>.
27 Bhagirath Yogi, “Maoist Movement: Going the Prachanda
Way,” <http://www.mahilaweb.org/armed_conflict/news.htm#
maoist_movement>.
28 “Here Come the Maoist Women,” The Economist (August 25,
2001): 36.
29 Personal conversation, December 2002.
30 “Women and Armed Conflict,”
<http://www.mahilaweb.org/armed_conflict/reports_summa-
ry/ngoreport.htm>.
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