Hon. Purna Kumari Subedi, Vice‐Chair of the Constituent Assembly and the Chief Guest of the programme giving her remarks.
Photo ©: Rita Raj/IDEA

Nepal has become a source of inspiration to  women in many countries where women’s parliamentary representation is negligible. The Nepalese Parliament, for example, has 197 women out of 601 members - a record of one-third representation. The 197 member Women’s Caucus of the Parliament/Constituent Assembly (CA) has a 23-member Executive Committee. Honorary Dama Sharma from the Unified Communist Party of Nepal - Maoist (the largest party in the Parliament/CA) is the coordinator of the Committee. 

With members drawn from 19 of the 25 political parties represented in the CA, Ms Dama believes that with this formal structure, the Women’s Caucus is playing a key role in ensuring women's rights in the new Constitution. Apart from advocating for women's rights and acting as a pressure group, the Caucus is also involved in studying important issues and analyzing them from the gender perspective. One of the features of the Caucus is its ability to work across party lines. The Caucus envisages having at least 50 per cent participation of women at all levels of the Nepalese state. It has already prepared a charter of women's rights and has submitted it to the CA so that it becomes the guiding principle while drafting the new Constitution, especially the chapter on fundamental rights.

Caucus members as participants in the Caucus meet
Photo ©: Rita Raj/IDEA

Recently, two sessions with the Women's Caucus were held in Kathmandu. One session focused on the electoral system and quotas, and the other on fundamental rights. More than a hundred Women’s Caucus members attended the event and recommended a joint action plan. The programme was supported by International IDEA and UNDP.

View Report published in Nepalitimes: http://www.nepalitimes.com.np/issue/2009/09/21/Nation/16313