[{"bbox": [82, 104, 1147, 532], "category": "Text", "text": "Elections at all levels in 2017 resulted in more than 14 600 women (of them 6 400 from the Dalit community) entering public office across the three levels of government, through mandated quotas instituted by the Constitution. More than 92% of deputy mayoral positions at the local level (palikas) are now held by women; this happened mainly due to gender quotas mandated by the Constitution and left the large majority of mayor positions in the hands of men. In the last decade, encouraging steps have been taken to formally ban harmful practices that perpetuate gender inequality and GBV,⁷ including through criminalisation efforts, and formal manifestations of a political will to address GBV as a national priority⁸. This commitment is reiterated in the Act relating to Children (2018) which elevates violence against children including various forms of GBV and harmful practices rooted in gender inequality to the status of State-party offences⁹. Women's economic security and rights have been bolstered by specific provisions in the Constitution such as Article 18 (4)¹⁰, as well as the National Employment Policy (2015) and the Labour Act (2017) with a focus on providing equal opportunities for men and women, reducing the gender wage gap, ensuring women's employment is safe and formalized, and the elimination of discrimination at work. The scope of persons entitled to social security has been widened with the Contribution-Based Social Security Act (2017), Social Security Act (2018) and Social Security Fund Strategic Plan (2020) which now encompasses informal sectors and those in self-employment. Furthermore, the government has adopted Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) as a key tool for fulfilling national and international commitments on gender equality."}, {"bbox": [82, 541, 1147, 703], "category": "Text", "text": "Federalisation has further expanded opportunities for local investment in GEWE accelerators, such as social protection. Recent initiatives include girl-focused social protection schemes by provinces, like the *Beti Padhao Beti Bachao (Educate daughter, Save daughter)* programme in Province 2 to combat early marriage, promote education and enhance girls' social value through a pay out of insurance cash when the girl finishes higher secondary and turns 20 without marrying¹¹. Karnali province has initiated a similar programme. Such innovations have the potential to inform the larger social protection landscape and make it more gender responsive."}, {"bbox": [82, 713, 1147, 981], "category": "Text", "text": "Despite a progressive and strong legal framework, women and girls continue to face significant barriers in accessing equal opportunities, resources, and decision-making platforms. This is visible in the sharp gender gaps across development outcomes¹². As noted by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) (2018),¹³ persisting gaps including in access to legal identity and citizenship, limit the full realization of their human rights. Nepalese women – especially Dalit, Madhesi, indigenous, and women from religious minorities, as well as LGBTIQ+ persons and PWDs suffer intersectional and multiple forms of discrimination. These are magnified by harmful social norms embedded in patriarchal structures and unequal power relations. Further, the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC, 2016) highlighted gendered gaps in specific child rights issues affecting the realisation of the human rights of women, including access to citizenship, early and forced marriage, adolescent sexual and reproductive health and exposure to sexual and gender-based violence¹⁴."}, {"bbox": [82, 990, 1147, 1258], "category": "Text", "text": "Women often have limited decision-making power within the household, which means that their relationship to the public sphere or the market is often mediated by men, and their participation in local development remains significantly low. The 2018 National Social Inclusion Survey (NSIS) shows that across social groups more women than men feel powerless, resourceless, and without rights to take action and change their circumstances.¹⁵ Further, the COVID-19 crisis has both laid bare and intensified discrimination across intersecting identities, at the same time it has created newer fault lines. Since women are over-represented in the informal economy, they have also borne the brunt of the economic impact of the crisis without comprehensive social protection to support them. Significant reversals in gender equality gains are already visible, with a surge in GBV including domestic violence, increase in women's care burden and an acute loss of livelihoods¹⁶. Women are managing larger households with reduced resources; and with reverse migration and return of male members, intra-household decision-making is shifting away"}, {"bbox": [72, 1285, 1158, 1334], "category": "Footnote", "text": "⁷ Committee on the Rights of the Child (2016), Concluding observations on the combined third to fifth periodic reports of Nepal, 8 July 2016 [CRC/C/NPL/CO/3-5]"}, {"bbox": [72, 1335, 1158, 1383], "category": "Footnote", "text": "⁸CEDAW Concluding Observations on the Sixth Periodic Report of Nepal. 2018. Available here: https://www.ohchr.org/en/countries/asiaregion/pages/npindex.aspx."}, {"bbox": [72, 1383, 749, 1408], "category": "Footnote", "text": "⁹ This implies triggering public prosecution, irrespective of whether a complaint is lodged."}, {"bbox": [72, 1408, 1158, 1457], "category": "Footnote", "text": "¹⁰ Article 18 (4) of the Constitution states that 'There shall not be any gender discriminations regarding remuneration for the same work and social security.'"}, {"bbox": [72, 1457, 1158, 1505], "category": "Footnote", "text": "¹¹ Overseas Development Institute. 2021. Review of the Beti Padhau Beti Bachau (BPBB) and the Bank Khata Chhoriko Suraksha Jivan Variko (BKCSJV) programmes, May 2021"}, {"bbox": [72, 1505, 528, 1530], "category": "Footnote", "text": "¹² UNICEF. 2020. Gender Action Plan Report. Unpublished."}, {"bbox": [72, 1530, 217, 1556], "category": "Footnote", "text": "¹³ CEDAW. op.cit."}, {"bbox": [72, 1556, 229, 1582], "category": "Footnote", "text": "¹⁴ CRC. 2016, op.cit"}, {"bbox": [72, 1582, 528, 1609], "category": "Footnote", "text": "¹⁵ Nepal Social Inclusion Survey (NSIS). 2018 Unpublished."}, {"bbox": [72, 1609, 1131, 1637], "category": "Footnote", "text": "¹⁶ UNICEF Child and Family Tracker 2020. Available here: https://www.unicef.org/nepal/reports/covid-19-child-and-family-tracker-findings"}, {"bbox": [1051, 1663, 1158, 1687], "category": "Page-footer", "text": "Page 5 of 22"}]