The Kathmandu Conference on Women in Politics and Social Justice

by DIPD on September 27, 2016

The Kathmandu Conference

A two-day conference on Gender Equality and Social Justice was organized by the Joint Mechanism for Political Party Strengthening (JOMPOPS) in partnership with the Social Justice and Human Rights Committee of Nepal’s Legislature-Parliament on 22 and 23 September 2016 in Kathmandu. Members of Parliament, prominent political leaders and civil society experts from Bhutan, Myanmar and Nepal participated in the conference. Mr. Manu Sareen, the former Minister for Equality and Ms. Lone Loklindt, former MP from Denmark also attended the conference.

The main aim of the conference was to explore practical ways of encouraging more women to enter leadership roles in key institutions of multiparty democracy and, generally, to promote the participation, representation and recognition of women in the political arena. In addition, the conference also encapsulated the following goals:

To change the current political culture, which is guided by patriarchal norms and values.
To generate effective recommendations, which promote gender equality in political parties.
To lobby the parliamentary committee to petition Parliament to enact the reforms necessary to promote gender equality
To motivate men to engage in the campaign for gender equality.

Distinguished speakers from Bhutan, Myanmar and Nepal gave their remarks during the Opening/Closing Sessions on both days. Among others, they included the Hon. Sushil Shrestha, Chairperson of Social Justice and Human Rights Committee of Nepal’s Legislature Parliament, , Hon. Tshewang Jurmi, the Chairperson of National Commission for Women and Children, Bhutan, and the Hon. Mya Thaung, Chair of Women and Children Rights Committee, Myanmar.

Panel Discussions

Members of Parliament and influential political leaders from Bhutan, Denmark, Myanmar and Nepal including the Hon. Lyonpo Dorji Choden, Minister for Works & Human Settlement shared their insights on the topic. Mr. Sareen shared the strategies to engage men into the campaign on gender equality. Ms. Loklindt spoke about the representation of women in political parties of Denmark; she informed that major parties of Denmark have been successfully led by women. Similarly, Ms. Chitra Lekha Yadav, Member of Parliament, Nepal shared the story of Nepal’s progress in relation to women’s representation in Parliament which increased from less than five per cent to around 33 per cent.

A documentary on Ms. Asta Laxmi Shakya, Member of Parliament, Nepal was also screened during a session called “When Women Lead.” The documentary showed a personal story of Ms. Shakya depicting the ways she overcame the harsh challenges that she faced as a woman politician in Nepal.

Apart from politicians, renowned experts on gender issues from Nepal also shared their insights. They included Ms. Chandni Joshi, former Regional Director of UNIFEM (now UNWomen), Ms. Wenny Kusuma, Country Representative, UNWomen, Ms. Bandana Rana, Expert Member, UN CEDAW and Mr. Bhojraj Pokharel, former Chief Election Commissioner.

Most of these sessions were moderated by the Steering Committee members of JOMPOPS and chaired by the members of the Social Justice and Human Rights Committee of Legislature-Parliament.

Working Session

A working session to generate practical recommendations on the five themes were conducted on Day Two. The five themes and the major recommendations drawn from the conference are as follows:

1) How to make political parties gender-equal?

Initiate amendments in the political parties’ internal Constitutions as per the spirit of the new Constitution of Nepal that stipulates full gender equality.
Ensure that meetings and activities of political parties are responsive to the needs of women (for e.g. avoid too early or too late time for the meetings/activities)
Allocate budget inside the parties for enhancing the necessary skills for women politicians

2) How to encourage the participation of women at the local level?

Sensitize men on the importance of women’s participation in politics at the local level
Introduce easier entry criteria for women members at the local level vis-a-vis men
Train women candidates at the local level to compete in the elections

3) How to enhance regional co-operation to promote gender equality?

Create cross-country internship programme for capacity building
Create a platform to share the necessary experience with each other and give continuity
Share and update the regional gender equality index

4) How can the Social Justice and Human Rights Committee promote gender equality?

Instruct the Government of Nepal to enforce provisions relating to women’s rights in the new Constitution
Ensure equal access to education
Direct the Government of Nepal to take necessary actions to promote gender equality and to end violence against women

5) How to ensure gender equality measures in Parliament?

Ensure 33 per cent women’s representation in all the committees of the Parliament
Effectively implement IPU Declaration 1997 and the SDG goal No. 5
Introduce gender friendly practices in the Parliament

Kathmandu Declaration

Before the closing session, all the participants including the visitors from Bhutan, Denmark, and Myanmar signed the Kathmandu Declaration committing to implement the agreed recommendations of the Conference to practice.

The next step for JOMPOPS, therefore, is to start the implementation of major recommendations inside the Parliament as well as inside their respective political parties.

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