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FES Gender Training Concludes
25-27 August 2009
Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) Nepal office
organised a three-day workshop on Gender Equality with the support
of Gender Equality Project in Asia based in New Delhi office of
FES. The three day long workshop covered various gender related
issues which would contribute towards policy related outcomes
in order to bring about positive effects into the lives of people-both
men and women. Nepali expert, academics, politicians, activists
and media personnel expressed their views on the status of women
in Nepal and furnished suggestions about the course FES should
undertake.
The experts' ideas and policy-relevant views
were collected at three places: Padma Kanya Multiple Campus,
Women for Human Rights and FES office. Those experts who contributed
their views were Dr. Meena Acharya, Dr Chandra Bhadra (Academic
Director, Gender Studies Programme, Padam Kanya Campus), Dr.
Harinder Thapaliaya (Professor, Gender Studies Programme, Padma
Kanaya Campus ), Ms. Pusha Niroula (Faculty - Gender Studies
Prgoramme, Padma Kanya Campus), Ms, Neera Shrestha (Faculty
- Gender Studies Prgoramme, Padma Kanya Campus), Ms. Sadhana
Shrestha - Coordinator, South Asian Network for Widows Empowerment,
Ms Srijana Lohani, Project Manager, Women for Human Rights (WHR)
Single Women's Group, Ms Binda Panday, Chairperson of Fundamental
Rights Committee of the Constituent Assembly and Ms. Babita
Basnet, Chairperson, Sancharika Samuha. Likewise, Dev Raj Dahal
and Kristina Brike, Coordinator of Gender Project for South
and Southeast Asia of FES also provided valuable inputs during
the workshop.
The whole idea of this workshop was to create
gender-sensitive public and private life through measures such
as knowledge building, socialization, humanization and social
transformation. This is primarily because Nepal has gone through
major political changes but the political changes can only be
institutionalized in a real sense of the term if social transformations
are inculcated or reflected in the family, workplace, society,
economy and politics. In the policy making and politics equal
participation of societal actors is necessary to balance the
structural imbalances and enhance the prospects of participatory
democracy. That democracy can only be strengthened when its
stakeholder (the people) could speak their mind and feel ownership
towards it. Inclusion of gender, or to be more precise striking
gender balance, plays a great deal of role in creating a just
society, based on freedom, social justice, solidarity and peace.
However, all these can only happen, when there is a significant
changes in the attitude and mindset of the people (in many occasions
its male leadership) said Binda Pandey. For example, portrayal
(negative) of women in media merely for the "commercial
purpose" has commodified and undermined their human dignity
thereby said Dr. Meena Acharya. Kristina Birke highlighted the
gender project of FES for Asia and the possibility for Nepal
to reap benefit from it. Others who participated in the workshop
included Nav Raj Dahal, Samira Poudel and Chandra D Bhatta.
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