Nepal’s Gender-Based Violence and Gender Equality Funds: The Path to Effective Implementation

The policy brief, Nepal’s Gender-Based Violence and Gender Equality Funds: The Path to Effective Implementation, provides targeted recommendations to the Government of Nepal (GoN), civil society, and other key actors for the effective implementation of Nepal’s gender-based violence (GBV) and gender equality (GE) funds in a federal context.

The policy brief captures the findings of a study conducted in 2019-2020 by Himal Innovative Development and Research (HIDR) and the Forum for Women, Law and Development (FWLD) to assess the status of 12 funds with mandates to respond to GBV and advance GE in Nepal. Funds related to GBV and GE are a central component of the GoN’s effort to advance women’s human rights and equality under law. The study reveals a serious gap between the rights and entitlements that are formally guaranteed to women under law in Nepal, and their ability to experience benefits from these funds. The study suggests short-term efforts to raise awareness about and improve understanding of the funds, bolster support for advocacy and capacity building among government officials, enhance coordination between different stakeholders, and to repeal inconsistent provisions of certain regulations. In the medium-term, the study recommends the revision of relevant federal laws and regulations, and that important procedural guidelines and fund flow mechanisms need to be put in place, which would enable the funds to operate effectively in a federal context. The study proposes fund consolidation as a long-term recommendation, given the scale of the work involved.

The study was supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and UN Women.