From paper to lived reality: gender-responsive constitutional implementation

A constitutional text that enshrines and protects gender equality and women’s rights is a significant achievement.

However, a new constitutional text marks only the beginning, and not the end, of the road to achieving substantive gender equality. The constitutional provisions and the principles on which they are based must be put into practice through the processes of constitutional implementation.

This practice-oriented Discussion Paper explores the dynamics and processes of constitutional implementation and the particular challenges of gender-responsive constitutional implementation. It draws on a workshop convened by International IDEA in Kathmandu, Nepal, on 26–28 February 2016.