NEPAL: Meaningful Participation of Women in Peace Building 'Weak'

Although Nepal met the objective of increased women´s participation in the ongoing peace building and state restructuring process -- of at least 33 percent -- meaningful participation of women in the process has yet to be achieved, a report claimed.

The Gender Audit of Peace Building Programmes by Antenna Foundation Nepal titled ´Promoting Gender Justice: Renewing Institutional Promises´, to be released on Friday, says that National Action Plan 1325 - which mandates Gender Mainstreaming in Local Peace Building Program - has not been able to able to translate gender mainstreaming commitments into action. It says both the implementation and institutional arrangements for implementation of the program is weak.

The report states that the gender performance indicators and targets are missing so it is difficult to assess the impact of project activities. The absence of performance indicators makes it difficult to measure the extent to which objectives of gender mainstreaming have been met.

The report states that the focus of the program has been more on the procedural dimension, like increasing women´s participation in terms of numbers or training key government officials and local peace committees. However, it says the program has been weak on the structural dimension of gender mainstreaming. The issues like, how to ensure women´s meaningful participation and to bring quality changes in power relationships among and between institutions involved has been lacking.

The report is based on life experiences of 45 women and men survivors/victims of armed conflict from select districts. This audit was commissioned by the Antenna Foundation Nepal with financial support of Nepal Peace Trust Fund.

United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 1325 on 31 October 2000, to address the security concerns of women and girls and to ensure the participation of women in all stages of peace building. The Resolution calls on all member states to increase women´s participation in the formulation of policies for conflict resolution, management and prevention and protect and address the special needs of women and girls during and after conflict. Subsequently, all member states have formulated National Action Plans.