Outcome 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.

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 significant progress on this outcome. Five high-level policy instruments incorporating a strong GESI perspective were adopted by government agencies at the federal and local levels, demonstrating improved capacity to develop and implement GESI policies. These are: (a) incorporation of GESI in the Assessment Checklist developed through the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP), (b) publication of the GESI Strategy for the Judiciary with high level commitment from five key institutions to implement it, (c) endorsement of GESI policy by six local government units (LGUs), (d) adoption of GESI procedures from “Enhancing Gender-Responsive Justice (GRJ): User-friendly Resource Book for Judicial Committees” by 10 judicial committees (JCs), and (e) allocation and utilization of gender-responsive budget by five LGUs. Also, a GESI policy is being drafted in one province and a written commitment has been secured from the Administrative Officer of Kailari Municipality to amend its Disaster Reduction (DRR) Act. UN Women’s contributions to these results are as follows. First, based on a 2020 Supreme Court ruling to include the GESI checklist in the government’s COVID-19 responses, and as prioritized by COVID-19 Nepal: Preparedness and Response Plan, GESI provisions have been integrated into the assessment checklist for health desks at ground crossing by the Epidemiology and Disease Control Division of the MoHP with UN Women’s advocacy and technical support. Second, UN Women provided substantive inputs as member of the high-level committee that developed the GESI Strategy for the Judiciary. Third, through its partner Juri Nepal, UN Women also provided substantive support to the GESI policies of six LGUs and the development of the Resource Book on GRJ for JCs. Fourth, through its partner FWLD, it provided an expert to incorporate GESI in the existing DRR Act, hosted a consultation, and secured the commitment to amend the DRR Act. UN Women’s work continues to be valued in Nepal. Two JCs supported by UN Women received appreciation for their effective management of the cases and delivery of justice from the District Court and the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration. UN Women’s role as member of the Advisory Committee for the development of the GESI Strategy for the Judiciary, headed by the Senior Justice of the Supreme Court, was also recognized in the foreword of the Strategy. Five local governments allocated approximately USD 11,760 for disability inclusion and USD 20,000 for GRJ this year as a result of the advocacy of UN Women’s partners. The contributions of UN Women partners have been pivotal in realizing the above results. IOM linked UN Women with the health ministry and organized the meetings on the incorporation of GESI in the assessment checklist for health desks. The NJA facilitated coordination with justice institutions for the development of the GESI Strategy and secured commitments for its implementation. JuRI Nepal provided technical inputs to the GESI policies of six LGUs and the draft GESI policy of Sudurpaschim Province. LACC supported the development of the GESI Resource Book on GRJ and the FWLD assigned an expert and hosted a consultation on the amendment of the DRR Act. The theory of change for this outcome remains valid. These results help strengthen the enabling environment for inclusive governance and access to justice in Nepal. The Assessment Checklist enabled the government to manage health-related crises with strong attention to the rights of women and vulnerable groups. The GESI policies and procedures of LGUs now provide a normative architecture to advance GESI in local governance. The enhanced GESI capacities of 10 JCs enabled them to settle 406 cases of women on family disputes and domestic violence from June 2019 to December 2021. UN Women learned that the provision of technical advisory support to elected officials/justice actors and officials of MOHP and sharing platforms for justice actors and elected officials for cross learning are effective in fostering thinking and commitment to advance GESI and LNOB. These lessons will be scaled up through the Provincial and Local Governance Support Programme, the largest sub-national governance programme in the country, which will be key to the strengthening of both the supply and demand sides of governance, as well as the new interventions of UN Women to advance women’s leadership and decision making in the long term.