A Call for a Comprehensive Plan to Address the Needs of Widows in Nepal
Recently,
Finance Minister Surendra Pandey announced a budget of nearly 286
billion rupees (US$3.68 billion) for fiscal year 2009-2010 that will
offer men a lump sum of 50,000 rupees (US$640) for marrying a widow.
Although the government’s recognition of the needs of widows is
commendable, the incentive policy put forth to address this issue needs
to be completely re-examined and revised.
It
is mandatory for the government and the concerned authorities to
consider the intended and unintended ramifications of these unharnessed
remittances that could lead to not only supporting the already
prevalent social inequities, but also contributing to social- ills.
Despite
the unprecedented global progress in the area of Women’s Rights, there
seems to be an astounding ignorance and lack of concern on the plight
of widows and their families. Governments, the international community,
civil society, and even women's organizations rarely recognize
widowhood as an issue. Although the issues of widowhood
cut across every critical area including poverty, violence to women,
the girl child, health, education, employment, armed conflict,
institutions, systems, and human rights, widows are barely mentioned in
the literature of gender and development, with the exception of aging.
In Nepal, a decade of conflict has created thousands of widows and countless fatherless children. Although very little or no statistical data has been collected on the status of widows in Nepal, Women for Human Rights reports
that more than 40% of widows in Nepal get married before the age of 20.
Around 67% of widows are between the ages of 20-35 years and have an
average of 3 to 4 minor children. In addition, only around 29% of these
women are literate.
Girls
in Nepal are viewed to be under the protection of their fathers,
married women under the protection of their husbands, and aging women
under the protection of their sons. Widows, however, are
in limbo and no longer have any protector. The grief that widows
experience is not just the sadness of bereavement, but also the loss of
their position in society
which results in their utter desertion, destitution, and dishonor. They
suffer the most extreme forms of discrimination and stigma. They become
outcast and are often vulnerable to physical, sexual, and mental abuse.
The impact of widowhood on children cannot be ignored either. Widowhood
has a brutal and irretrievable impact on the children, especially the
girl child. For most women, having lost the husbands, the main
breadwinner and supporter of the children, widowhood consigns both the
women and the children to the very margins of society where they suffer
the most extreme forms of poverty. Poverty can force the children to
exploitation in child labor, prostitution, early forced child marriage, trafficking, and sale. Without access to land, food security
or adequate shelter, widows and their children suffer poor health and
malnutrition that can be detrimental to their overall well-being. How
is this incentive offered to men address the needs of these children?
In addition, the issue of marriage is a personal choice and should be left to individual interests. Government interference into marriage could lead to “Forced marriage”,
which in essence is a violation of basic human rights. The pernicious
threats of men marrying the women for their own financial gain and not
respecting the women in any appreciable way cannot be ignored.
Coupled
with these policy issues is the concern about the paucity of research
to guide and support policy planning and the lack of communication
between experts in the field and policy planners. Nepali Women’s Global
Network strongly recommends the government to initiate a dialogue
between the grassroots women’s organizations and the experts in this field for necessary interventions.
Based
on the anecdotal evidences, the general economic and social plight of
widowed women suggests the need for a basic floor of defined vital
services that would speak to sustainable income, education and
training, healthcare, housing, life-skills, and self-reliance.
Strategies like mentoring programs, scholarship programs, development
and promotion of employment opportunities, trainings in sustainable
income producing job skills, and micro-loans to enable women to begin
small businesses are some of the best practices that have far reaching
goals. The subtle, benevolent nudge of Rs. 50,000 given directly to the
women as seed money towards their self-reliance can go a long way.
In the light of the current situation, the Nepali Women’s Global Network applauds the work of Women for Human Rights
and strongly urges the government and concerned authorities to give a
closer attention to potential ramifications of such inequitable
policies. We call the government to come up with a comprehensive
strategy to address the needs of these women and invest in social welfare essential services.
Investing in social welfare essential services for this forgotten
community will not only help individual families, but the future of the
nation itself.
Nepali Women’s Global
Network (NWGN) is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the
cause of Nepali women around the world. We foster networking, support
and self-reliance among Nepali women through education, advocacy,
service and collaboration with like-minded organizations. www.nepaliwomen. org Sushma Barakoti President,
Nepali Women’s Global Network, USA
Contact: nwgnnepal@nepaliwom en.org
