Gender in the new constitution from the Maoist perspective

New discussion papers

Electoral System and Quotas in Nepal/Discussion Paper 4

Aims to help the Constituent Assembly understand the implications of different electoral systems and quotas from a gender perspective. The discussion paper includes expert views and examples from elsewhere.

Public Consultation on a Draft Constitution: With Particular Reference to Women in Nepal/Discussion Paper 5

Contains an overview of how to look at the constitution, especially from the perspective of women’s rights. It includes a checklist and a gender audit of the draft of the constitution to map women’s rights as currently proposed. It is expected to be of great use during the public consultation process on the draft constitution.

International IDEA organized a one-day conference on Addressing women’s issues in the new constitution: Do the concept notes include a gender perspective? on 25 February 2010 at the request of women Constituent Assembly (CA) members from the All-Nepal Women's Association-Revolutionary (ANWA-R)*.

The conference examined the concept notes, developed by the thematic committees of the CA, from a gender perspective. The thematic committees are tasked with preparing preliminary drafts for the new constitution in Nepal. The meeting also served to develop a common view among the women CA members from the Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-Maoist). 22 participants including women CA members of UCPN-Maoist, lawyers and journalists participated in the conference.

The conference included presentations by experts on the draft concept notes produced by the thematic committees. Presenters included Hari Phuyal, Khimlal Devkota, Geeta Pathak Sangraula and Mukti Pradhan - names suggested by the Maoist women themselves - who spoke about the implications for gender issues in the concept notes. The common view was that gender had been considered in general, but in many cases specific provisions were absent. The women members of the CA needed, therefore, to continue to involve themselves in the CA discussions to lobby for a gender sensitive constitution.

UCPN-Maoist Constituent Assembly women members participating in the conference 25 February 2010, Nepal.
Photo ©: IDEA

Panellists stressed the need for the new Constitution to guarantee women’s rights by eliminating all kinds of discriminatory laws and practices. Similarly, the importance of having a proportionate representation of women in all the structures of government was also emphasized.

The participants stressed the need to ensure the right of all women - i.e. including women from different castes, ethnicities, and religions – and not see women as a single group in the constitution. The consensus among the participants was the concept papers did not include gender in a satisfactory way. They lacked an understanding of the different marginalized communities and their specific needs. One suggestion to solve this problem was to include a provision regarding the special rights of different groups. The participants believed this could protect the most vulnerable groups from being further marginalized.

* The ANWA-R is a Nepali women's political organization that is aligned with the UCPN-Maoist. It is reported to have over two million members, and several leaders of the ANWA(R) are also in the Nepalese Constituent Assembly. There are 197 women in the Constituent Assembly of whom 96 women are from the UCPN-Maoist party.