KATHMANDU, March 8 (Xinhua) -- Nepalese President Bidya Devi Bhandari said on Wednesday that Nepal still has a long way to achieve gender equity and economic empowerment for women from all walks of life.
Addressing a special function organized by Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare on the occasion of 107th International Women's Day, the president said that though Nepalese women are leading the three key posts of the state including President, Speaker of Parliament and Chief Justice, the laws and programs for women are still insufficient and ineffective.
The first female president of the Himalayan country said that the government should put more efforts to bridge the gender gap.
"For nation development, it is necessary to strengthen economic empowerment and to provide social justice to women. The programs launched by the Nepal government and different organizations for women development has not achieved fruitful results yet," said Bhandari.
Bhandari was elected as the first female president of Nepal in October, 2015, which is regarded as the gender milestone not only in this country, but in whole South Asia. She is also counted as one of the world's top powerful female leaders.
Beside president, Nepal has the first female Speaker of the Parliament Onsari Gharti Magar, who was elected after the promulgation of new constitution in 2015. Though Nepal's new constitution sets women's representation in Parliament at 33 percent, women lawmakers in the Parliament currently stands only at 29.8 percent.
Nepal also has the first female Chief Justice, breaking the stereotypes in patriarchal attitudes.
Though these major achievements are praised as landmarks for this least developed country, Nepalese women still lack easy access to justice and equal rights.
Sushila Karki, the first female Chief Justice of Nepal said, "Gender discrimination is impossible to end in society until there is change in the patriarchal mindsets. To use the rights guaranteed by constitution for women, new laws should be formed and more attention should be paid towards providing equal rights to women."
Participation of women has significantly increased in various fields like politics, parliament, local government, security bodies and private sector in Nepal. However, the gender disparity and violence against women is still prevalent in the country due to poverty, illiteracy, patriarchy and social stigmas.
Nepal has planned of achieving the target Planet 50-50 by 2030 as announced by United Nations; however there is a huge gap for women in education, skills and employment.
Bandana Rana, a prominent gender activist working in the field of women over decades, shared with Xinhua, "The change has to start from family. Everyone needs to treat their daughters and sons equally. Women need to have access to every opportunity, in terms of education, employment; access to economic empowerment and then change is possible."
She was of view that the state policies need to be implemented and regularly monitored.
On the occasion of women's day, various rallies, interactions and programs were held across the country. Women from different walks of life celebrated the day under the theme of "Be Bold for Change," calling for the establishment of society based on gender equity.
