Conference calls for forum to raise South Asian women’s issues

LAHORE: “A forum of the women politicians of South Asia should be formed to learn from one another’s experience and raise women-related issues in political parties more effectively,” said Sita Kumari Poudel a parliamentarian from Nepal and member of the Constituent Assembly.

Poudel came to Lahore to attend the one-day South Asian conference on Role of Women in South Asian Movements organised by the Women Workers’ Helpline be held on August 24 (today).

While talking to The Express Tribune, she elaborated on the role of women in constitution-making in Nepal, she said that the ratio of the women representation in Nepal’s central government had already reached 33 per cent but they were campaigning to get the share fixed in proportion to population.

She also mentioned that the law that gave women an equal share in the inheritance was passed in Nepal in order to empower women financially. “We need massive awareness campaigns to inform the people about this as most of them are not aware of this law yet.

There is a mindset of not giving women their share. We fought long for this and finally succeeded in getting the equal inheritance law passed,” she added.

Poudel said she hoped that women will be given representation according to their share of population in the Nepali constitution likely to be in place by 2011.

“We are heading towards Millennium Development Goals on health and education. Women have representation in the parliament but not in the political parties.

That’s why I believe that women parliamentarians of South Asia should gather on a platform and urge their political parties to give bigger representation to the women,” she maintained.

Though policies to empower women were made, their implementation remained incomplete so effective campaigning was very important, she said.

Expressing solidarity with the people and especially with the women who had been affected by the floods in Pakistan, Poudel said, “We will see what role we can play from the platform of South Asian Alliance for Poverty Alleviation (SAAPI) to help women in Pakistan.

This is not only a loss for Pakistan; this is a loss for South Asia”.

She said that financial empowerment was a key to liberation and the Pakistani women should campaign for it.

A women rights’ activist and secretary general of NGO Federation Nepal, Sharmila Karki is another Nepali delegate. Talking to The Express Tribune she said, “Saarc should give a platform to the people where they can exchange ideas and learn from others’ experiences.

We have also been campaigning for a wome-friendly budget in Nepal. By visiting each other we can learn a lot,” she said.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 24^th, 2010.