Our Projects

The Women's Foundation runs many programs throughout Nepal that are linked together to form a network that can help women out of crisis situations from the beginning of their recovery to the end. Some programs reach women in an isolated way, or help to fulfill very specific needs, while others are one step in a long process. We'd like to emphasize that it is not the individual programs, but the interaction between them that is the heart of WF work.

Special message regarding events in Nepal 2006

At the call of the seven Political parties, activists, all professionals like doctors, lawyers, journalist, labourers, housewives, farmers, artist, actors, poets, writers, students and others participated in protests and rallies in Kathmandu and other districts of the kingdom irrespective of the curfew imposed, to restore democracy in the country. The security forces brutally tried to crush the demonstrators with batons, tear gas shells, rubber bullets and gunfire. The people, in the face of bullets and physical beatings by the security forces defied the curfew for many days. It is reported that at least sixteen people have been killed and many are missing. One report says that at least 6000 people are injured, some of them seriously. Some of them have serious injuries and many other have broken their hands and legs.

The Women's Foundation's coordinated with Miteri hospital and the Youth Red Cross Society of Pashupati Multiple College and Miteri Hospital. provided first aid to 942 injured people during that time. Those who required further treatment were sent to the nearest hospital. WF provided medical help from 6th to 24 April and also coordinated with 20 human rights organization to monitor events in the days of the demonstration despite of the Traffic Police's harassments by not issuing the vehicle pass to monitoring team. WF monitoring team worked in different places in Kathmandu valley and outside of Kathmandu during the demonstration. The Women's Foundation also supported the injured people's family and some very poor people providing them basic food at that time. In this difficult time, The Women's Foundation received several emails and telephones calls offering to help the WF to help in its effort to help the victims of the people's movement from our respectable friends . All the family of the Women's Foundation would like to thank you very much for your this enviable support for us in this difficult time. Your support allowed us to reach injured people, and provide them health treatment we are very proud of the courage of the team. We saved several people from the face of war. Our presence pressurised the security forces to be less violent. Five people from the Women's Foundation were very badly injured in this time in the course of their work. One member name Pabitra Paudel's hand is broken and police hit her 24 times with batons. We used this pain for power and we continued our work.

When we received your emails and calls, we felt we were not alone in this struggle, we had support nationally and internationally and this gave us great energy. We will send all those who supported us detailed information about the report and also income and expenditure at this time. In recent developments the King has announced that national sovereignty will be restored to the people and he has reinstated the parliament, which was dissolved about four years ago. At the moment, the King's proclamation seems to have addressed the demand of the seven party's alliance, it is hoped that peace in our country will be restored. There is still much to do, and only time will tell whether all the aspirations of the people can be achieved. We take it one step at a time.

Again we would like to express our heartfelt thanks for you're great support to us in this hard time.
On behalf of the Women's Foundation
Renu Sharma - President, The Women's Foundation

The areas in which WF works, can be broken down into the following inter-related topics:

PROGRAMS IN THE DISTRICT:
There are six WF offices in Nepal. These offices are located in Jhapa, Panchthar, Sindhupalchowk and Dang. In Jhapa there are two offices in two different villages. Under these offices the local women's groups are involved in various activities.
At least 500 women are directly in contact with the office in each district. These offices are guiding the women by providing them various supports and help. The members of the women groups save a fixed amount each month. One or two person of the same group use the collected money for various income-generating activities. She will refund the money to the group after a certain time as determined by the group. In this way they are using their own money as a revolving fund. The Women’s Foundation is also providing the women some amount as a revolving fund to start their own business. With this amount more than 100 women have directly benefited in each district.

The members of the district office in all the districts monitor the business and the activities of the women. The income generating activities in the district are mainly from farming, animal raising and retail shopping. This small saved amount and the activities they are doing are helping the women very much to get some position and space in their family and society. These income generating activities have empowered the women to some extent. Previously women were not consulted about family decisions, but since acquiring skills through the WF programmes, women are now respected in their families and communities, and their opinions are listened too.

The district offices are also boosting the status of the women from remote villages by providing them with training and counselling. To improve the performance of the women the responsible person from each district office comes to Kathmandu as their district representative and receives training here. After her return back to her district she shares the knowledge she has gained with other women of the villages. In this way the women are being updated about the state of the women in the country. Besides the income generation and counseling the women are also getting skills development training. For example, for the past two years Sindhupalchowk office has run a sewing training programme. From this training about 30 women have benefited. Now also they are going to start this kind of training for about 25 women of the area. The district offices are also actively involved in the rescue of women and girls who are victims of domestic and social violence. They provide them with a short term shelter and legal support.

In Sindhupalchowk the volunteers from the office rescued a girl who was about to be sold by a man of the same village, and punished the culprit. After the rescue, the families of the girl were not ready to accept her, but with the great effort from the office the father of the girl was persuaded to take her back. In this way the offices are ensuring that many women and girls can stay in their own homes. The district office representatives are helping the women to uplift their lives by frequently counselling them about the power of education. Most of the people in the villages have started sending their children to school. Now the women of the groups are also interested in learning more. For this the Women's Foundation has run many informal classes for the elder people.

DISTRICT OFFICES ARE CONDUCTING THE FOLLOWING ACTIVITIES:
Women's Foundation is actively working to protect the human rights against every violence by lobbing and networking with the institutions which share our objectives about the women and child rights.
WF helps the women and children surviving in violence providing them counseling, short term home facilities, Legal support, and it also works as the advocate in every cases.
We rescue women form the danger and provide them anonymous place to be safe. Chamili Khadka is one example of the survivor of violence who was sent form the district. We conduct awareness program for the women and girls to be safe form the violence situation.We provide education about the women trafficking (selling India and other countries), sexual abuses and exploitation. We also take record of women and girls in the village so that any of them may not be missed from their villages.

INSTABILITY AND A PATTERN OF DISAPPEARANCES

The conflict between the Maoists and Government has entered its ninth year. A disturbing pattern is emerging whereby people are arrested and information as to their whereabouts is withheld from their families. While atrocities are being committed by both sides, the disappearance of people is predominantly being committed by the police and army.

Disappearance is perhaps the most traumatic form of torture in that it causes severe agony and untold suffering for the families left behind, who live in constant hope and despair. WF conducted interviews with 11 women, whose husbands or sons had disappeared at the hands of either the Maoists or the Government, to compile a paper which was submitted to a United Nations Delegation into the “Impact of Disappearances on Women”. The paper was drafted as part of WF’s contribution to a network of 20 NGO's, Human Rights Organizations and community groups, coordinated by HUDEP Nepal. The network was formed to lobby the conflicting parties to make genuine efforts to uphold the human rights of people. The paper served to express the trauma experienced by these women in the hope that the International Community will play a stronger role in demanding that both sides conform to international conventions governing human rights.

Click here to view the paper in pdf format.