WA organized a high level National Conference on Gender Equality and Social Inclusion: Issues and Challenges in Kathmandu from 14-15, March, 2017. The two-day National Conference which was inaugurated by Her Excellency the US Ambassador to Nepal Ms. Alaina B. Tepliz served to elevate this dialogue and advocated for policies to ensure the rights of women as enshrined in the new constitution are protected and promoted. Major themes of conference were; (i) integrating GESI into post-earthquake reconstruction policies and interventions, (ii) contextualizing Nepal’s policy discourse on gender equality, (iii) defining the space for women’s political participation in Nepal and (iv) socio-political and cultural barriers to political participation.
The conference brought together nearly 100 GESI experts and rights activists from around the country representing the Government of Nepal, media, academia and development sectors. This conference was organized with the support from The Asia Foundation and USAID under ongoing CMM-GESI project.