Region:Asia Pacific
Current UN Women Plan Period Afghanisthan:2018-2022
World Bank Income Classification:Low Income
The World Bank classifies economies for analytical purposes into four income groups: low, lower-middle, upper-middle, and high income. For this purpose it uses gross national income (GNI) per capita data in U.S. dollars, converted from local currency using the World Bank Atlas method, which is applied to smooth exchange rate fluctuations.
Least Developed Country:Yes
Since 1971, the United Nations has recognized LDCs as a category of States that are deemed highly disadvantaged in their development process, for structural, historical and also geographical reasons. Three criteria are used: per capita income, human assets, and economic vulnerability.
Gender Inequality Index:0.575
GII is a composite metric of gender inequality using three dimensions: reproductive health, empowerment and the labour market. A low GII value indicates low inequality between women and men, and vice-versa.
Gender Development Index:0.723
GDI measures gender inequalities in achievement in three basic dimensions of human development: health, education, and command over economic resources.
Population:209,497,025
Source of population data: United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2022). World Population Prospects: The 2022 Revision
Male:19,976,265 (9.5%)
Female:189,520,760 (90.5%)
outcome XM-DAC-41146-NPL_D_1.1
National, provincial and local level authorities implement and develop evidence-based gender-responsive laws, plans and budgets to advance inclusive governance and access to justice in Nepal by 2022
There has been some progress on this outcome. Government authorities are demonstrating stronger commitment to adopt and strengthen gender-responsive laws, plans and strategies. LGUs supported by UNW are also increasingly implementing gender-responsive measures and allocating budget to strengthen the implementation of GESI for their most marginalized constituents. At the national and provincial levels, (i) the Act to Amend Some Laws Related to Sexual Violence (SV), 2022 , was passed in July. As a result, the statute of limitation for rape was increased from one year to three years. Ultimately, UNW and CEDAW Committee advocate for the complete removal of the statute of limitation. To reinforce the advocacy for this purpose, UNW, UNFPA and UNICEF provided technical inputs to federal parliamentarians on the imperative of eliminating the statute of limitation for SV cases and aligning it with human rights standards. This was done during a high-level consultation with federal parliamentarians of the Law, Justice and Human Rights Committee, organized by FWLD in July. (ii) The National Action Plan II on UNSCR 1325, 1820 and subsequent resolutions, was endorsed by the Cabinet on 23 September 2022. UNW and seven UN agencies coordinated and led the provision of technical and substantive inputs to the development of NAP II throughout its formulation, which began in 2018. The NAP II is considered a landmark, given the strong focus on survivors of conflict related sexual violence (CRSV), including redress and efforts towards reparations. (iii) Sudurpashchim Province endorsed its “Dalit Empowerment Act, 2078 ”, which will create an enabling environment to advance the rights of its most marginalized population groups. UNW and its partner, JuRI Nepal, provided technical inputs to the draft of the Act. (iv) Karnali Province adopted a Gender Equality and Social Inclusion Policy, which aims to guide and institutionalize GESI. This was done through the Provincial and Local Governance Support Programme (PLGSP), where UNW provides technical assistance. (v) Sudurpaschim Province adopted its Emergency Preparation and Response Plan and Provincial Disaster Response Framework with a strong GESI perspective, with technical support of UN Women. The Plan and Framework will help ensure that women and marginalized people have equal opportunities as leaders and actively participate in emergency and disaster preparation and response processes. (vi ) Two provinces endorsed the Code of conduct against Sexual Abuse and Harassment in 2022. This was done through the PLGSP, where UNW provides technical assistance. (vii) The Bill to amend the Transitional Justice Act awaits endorsement from Parliament. UNW and the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office supported the engagement of 28 members of Conflict Victims Women’s Network (CVWN) to review the bill from a gender lens in June 2022. During the pre-consultation with the Honorable Minister of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, the CVWN members provided inputs to the government, highlighting the imperative for leadership and empowerment of victims, reparation for longer-term relief programs (medical, livelihood, psychosocial, legal support) for CRSV survivors, their dignity and confidentiality issue, and initiating investigation of past cases. During the event, high level commitment from the Minister to ensure victim-centric approaches in the implementation of the Bill was secured. The revision and adoption of the TJ Act in line with international human rights law obligations and previous Supreme Court verdicts on TJ remain a continuing agenda for advocacy. UNW provided financial and technical inputs for this initiative. (viii) The draft of the Women’s Rights Bill is now with the Parliamentary Committee on Women and Social Development and Gender Justice Taskforce. It will address gaps from GESI lens in 42 existing laws related to the implementation of Article 38 of the Constitution on women’s rights. In partnership with JuRI Nepal, UNW provided technical and financial support to draft the amendmentl. To strengthen the draft Bill and build ownership of parliamentarians, high-level consultations with the Gender Justice Taskforce and federal Parliamentary Committee on Women and Social Development was also organised. (ix) The draft Gender Equality, Disability and Social Inclusion (GEDSI) Strategy of the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Authority has been developed and is expected to be finalized and adopted by the government in 2023. It was drafted with technical and substantive inputs from UN Women. In addition, the gender equality architecture and coordination mechanism has been strengthened in 400 LGUs and 55 provincial ministries. This is evidenced by the appointment of GESI focal persons in each of these LGUs and provincial ministries to advance GESI in their work. Also, 320 LGUs completed their GESI audit, which identified gaps in the implementation of GESI commitments. Following this, LGUs developed a plan of action to implement the audit recommendations. Lumbini and Karnali Provinces also conducted a GESI audit of their provincial ministries (6 and 2, respectively) which provided a clear picture of the status, opportunities, good practices and challenges to making their policies, structure and annual plans GESI responsive. UN Women provided technical support to the process. One LGU in Sudurpaschim Province has established a help desk , for improved delivery of disability identity card, social allowance, and information. The province also recruited a person with disability who was part of the training provided by JuRI Nepal in partnership with UN Women, to serve as focal person. Due to strengthened capacity of LGUs, improved provisions and services are now in place for women and marginalized groups. (i) One LGU in Sudurpaschim Province now provides social insurance of NPR 100,000 (approx. USD 758) for each person with mental health condition, along with free medicines and psychosocial help desks in three wards. The enhanced response to mental health was a result of UN Women’s lobbying and technical support through its partner, KOSHISH. (ii) Eleven judicial committees (JCs) of 11 LGUs now provide gender responsive justice services, which have reached 277 justice service seekers (F-38; M-239) with cases like domestic violence, divorce, and property rights. This is a result of the legal support, mentoring, and capacity building provided by UN Women and three NGO partners to these JCs. Regarding impacts, women are now able to access better services related to justice and mental health from LGUs to improve their lives. UN Women’s work continues to be valued in Nepal, especially by partners, programme participants and government, development = agencies. The contributions of UN Women in the formulation and endorsement of laws, strategies and plans have been particularly appreciated by the government and CSOs involved in the formulation and lobbying processes. The federal parliamentarians of the Law, Justice and Human Rights Committee and the Women and Social Development Committees have verbally recognized UN Women’s contributions.The theory of change for this outcome remains valid and no change is envisioned in the new NCO SN. UN Women learned that in the new federal system, its technical, coordination and financial support to all tiers of government is critical. Now, LGUs have a significant role and responsibilities in delivering a range of services to people, compared to the former structure of governance. Thus, the need to strengthen LGU’s institutional capacity for service delivery is now inextricably intertwined with support to policy formulation. Leveraging a larger government-led programme, such as PLGSP, through UN Women’s technical support has also been effective in scaling-up UN Women’s efforts across all tiers of government. UN Women will therefore continue to invest in building partnerships with such entities.
outcome XM-DAC-41146-NPL_D_2.1
Vulnerable women’s groups in Nepal have income generation opportunities and are resilient to climate change and disasters that affect their livelihoods by 2022
There has been notable progress on this outcome. Vulnerable women’s groups who received economic empowerment support from UN Women have recovered their businesses and demonstrated resilience to thrive back in the post pandemic context. Income Generation: This year, 300 additional women from excluded groups, composed of 255 women engaged in sex work (WESW) and 45 women from Community Kitchen initiative, started and/or expanded their micro-scale business. Based on the lesson learned from COVID-19, WESW diversified their livelihood opportunities by joining the vocational skills trainings, so that it would be easier to pursue new livelihoods in the event of another crisis or decreased profitability of their current business. Among them, 183 started their business after attending the vocational skill training provided by UN Women through its partner, Community Action Centre (CAC) Nepal . Their daily income ranges from NPR 600-2,000 (USD 4.62-15.4). Also, the 72 WESW who received carts from CAC Nepal are now engaged in vending street food, clothes, vegetables and spicy snacks in Bhaktapur, Kathmandu and Lalitpur districts of Bagmati Province. They earn NPR 500-2,000 (USD 3.85 -15.4) per day from their business. One of them passed the licensure driving test and is now attending orientations to work with Pathao, an online platform for food delivery and cab services. A traditionally male occupation, her engagement in this job is envisioned to help break perceptual barriers, including stigma, to women’s entry in traditionally male occupations. Similarly, 45 women from excluded groups supported under the community kitchen initiative improved their income generation capacities. Evidence collected from the field in November 2022 showed that participants of the ‘Women in Value Chains’, which ended in December 2021, continue to produce market-oriented products and earn income in agriculture, food, small scale garment and handicraft value chains. For example, Rita Karmacharya, a project participant from Kavre, is currently selling her products (shoes) in the national market and exporting to Australia. She has moved moved up in the value/supply chain. Bimala Deula and Manila K.C, from Kavre are producing vegetable pickles and earning around NPR 30,000 (USD 231) per month, transforming them from being vegetable producers into processors. Access to productive resources: In 2022, 17 women’s groups (2 groups from Community Kitchen initiative and 15 groups part of the Community safety nets) enhanced their access to productive resources to expand and leverage their economic competency. A post-project follow-up in December 2022 revealed that women’s groups from Milanpur of Kailali district had started a third round of poultry raising through the previous support from the project. They reported an average earning of NPR 50,000 (USD 385) from the first round, which were reinvested in the subsequent rounds. Most of them used their earnings to meet health, education and food needs of their households. Others saved their income for further reinvestment. UN Women provided them with in- kind support, including chicks, sheds, poultry feed, and medicines. Similarly, the women’s group in Kathmandu, engaged in vegetable farming and received support from UN Women to build fertilizer storage accessed a loan of NPR 150,000 (USD 1,154) to expand their storage capacity for off-seasonal vegetable storing. They are paying the interest on a monthly basis with their saving of NPR 100 each. The group was also able to secure a room in a local ward office and has advocated for a share in the local budget. Further, 15 CSNs (out of 21) have saved around NPR 50,000-65,000 (USD 383-498) through contributions of group member s. The total membership is 1620 (31 with disability) which includes 1404 female, 206 male and 10 LGBTIQ+. The saving is being used to support elderly people in old age homes, survivors of violence, and chronically ill people in their communities. Participants from the Storytelling initiative shared that the in-kind support provided as part of the comprehensive relief package, enabled them to make savings, as they did not have to procure essential items for their households, including food. Access to legal identity and social assistance: Further, 64 women and excluded groups were able to secure social assistance from local governments. This was a result of their ability to secure a legal identity as citizens, and disability and senior citizenship cards through the facilitation support of UN Women’s partner agencies, KOSHISH Nepal and CAC. They were provided with briefing, guidance in preparing application forms, and accompaniment support in approaching pertinent government offices. Access to banking services: Out of a total of 500 WESW, 470 were able to secure access to banking services. This was facilitated through technical and coordination support to fill up the form, open a bank account and access information on banking services. There has been a demonstration of behavioral changes among CSN members, translating their enhanced understanding of gender inequalities into transformative action. For example, CSN member, Ms. Devi Paswan, got her son married in Bara district without any exchange of dowry, a practice regarded as mandatory in many places. The CSN project was implemented in all provinces by Tewa with funding support of UN Women. Increased support from family and community members have been generated in the project locations where they helped facilitate positive norm change around mobility, household chores, and women’s leadership in socio-economic activities. A male CSN member in Jajarkot district stated that, “I am now aware of women’s human rights and gender-based discrimination. I will support my women family members in household chores and ensure that they enjoy equal rights .” UN Women provided technical and substantive inputs to design and implement livelihood models on women’s economic empowerment (WEE). This includes sharing of lessons learned from past interventions and coordination support with local government/relevant stakeholders, building on UN Women’s substantive equality approach to WEE. UN Women’s meaningful approach is widely recognized. For example, Kandala Rana, Deputy Mayor of Dhangadi Sub-Metropolitan City appreciated its support to most vulnerable women in Milanpur, Kailali District. She said, ‘The women who were former free-bonded laborers and residing in one of the disaster-prone areas are now able to earn their livelihood. I hope they would be able to reinvest their earning in the longer term”. UN Women’s theory of change for WEE in Nepal remains valid. The impacts described above show that vulnerable women now demonstrate economic strength and resilience. They are expanding income opportunities to enjoy economic security and rights (including legal identity as citizens and entrepreneurs), moving up in the value chains, securing resources from local governments, increasing their decision-making roles in families and communities, promoting behaviour change, and exploring opportunities for integration in the formal economy. As they earn adequate and predictable income, their identity as entrepreneurs helps raise their confidence and self-worth and build their ability to re-shape gender relations, advance transformative change in families and communities, and set a model of what vulnerable women can become when provided with appropriate support as a group. UN Women learned that in the post-pandemic recovery efforts, comprehensive relief package, collectivisation, sustained interventions for norm change, livelihood diversification to adapt in the changed market landscape and in non-traditional sectors, coordination with the local government for project ownership and access to resources, timely monitoring and technical guidance are powerful in achieving economic resilience among the most vulnerable women.Showing 1 - 2 of 2
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