The Role of Women in Peacebuilding in Nepal

The 10 years of armed conflict in Nepal involved widespread ethnic groups in most districts, affecting the country’s socioeconomic performance and bringing greater impacts on women’s lives. Nepal’s transitional situation provides many opportunities for women, such as participation in constitution making and socioeconomic reforms, wherein a significant number of women lawmakers can take part.
There are also empowerment activities for women at the community level, and formal and informal institutions have been created to ensure equity in development as Nepal goes through transformation. Such political and socioeconomic transformation processes have created a relatively favorable environment for women to increase their influence in bringing visible changes to society.

International and national commitments place the role of women at the heart of peacebuilding, integrating it into the statebuilding agenda. In 2010, the United Nations Policy Committee endorsed the seven-point action plan on women’s participation in peacebuilding. The Busan Joint Action Plan on Gender Equality and Development made during the High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in 2011 captures commitments to gender equality, women’s rights, and women’s empowerment. Nepal’s Comprehensive Peace Agreement 2006 highlights social inclusion and gender sensitivity. Following that agreement, the Nepal Peace and Development Strategy 2010 emphasizes a more focused targeting of funds to gender-sensitive interventions as part of the long-term peacebuilding effort.

In view of ADB support for gender equality and social inclusion and action to mainstream gender sensitivity in program design and monitoring, it conducted this study to document how women have contributed to economic upliftment and social reconciliation through a number of civil society organizations and development projects, in particular ADB-supported projects. The content of this publication is drawn from literary reviews; consultant’s field observations; monitoring of ADB projects in 18 districts of the country by using the peacebuilding tool; interviews with selected development partners, government officials, and nongovernment organizations (NGOs) for women; and the results of joint context analysis with development partners.