First published in My Republica, the national daily newspaper from Kathmandu, Nepal, on March 7, 2019 by Nabodita Subedi, Program Manager, EAI Nepal

“The global gender gap stands at 68 percent, according to World Economic Report 2018…” she begins.

“This current scenario clearly indicates that critical steps need to be taken to reduce gender disparity.

Nepal ranks 105 in the Gender Gap Index among the 149 countries assessed by World Economic Forum. Literacy rate of women is 57.4 percent compared to male literacy rate of 75.1 percent according to Nepal’s Central Bureau of Statistics (2011).

Research conducted by UN Women and more recently Equal Access International indicates that women in Nepal are mostly engaged in home-based, unpaid and unrecognized labour. And those who step outside their homes to access more employment and leadership opportunities often face deeply rooted social biases, structural barriers, gender-based discrimination, and violence from their families, communities and the markets. Issues such as equal pay for equal work, the amount of respect they receive from their male colleagues, lack of meaningful participation of women in decision-making are some of the challenges women in Nepal have been facing.”

Learn how Ms. Subedi and EAI addressed these challenges with the Sahi Ho! campaign. See below.