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Nepal’s situation is an urgent and complex one. For true peace in Nepal, security is essential. Only with security will we win the restoration of women’s rights, peace and democracy. Since the conflict, and trafficking in women have increased in Nepal, the goals of peace and disarmament, democracy, human rights, economic justice, have been more elusive and far-reaching. During violent armed conflicts in Nepal, most of the women who could stand the harassment, and the economic hardships, moved to the big cities like Katmandu, Pokhara, Janakpur, Dhangadhi and Biratnagar. The increased insecurity and fear of attack often caused these women to flee.
In Nepal, the opportunities for women to exchange views and forge a common policy against violent conflicts are minimal. Women must have a right to be involved in all peace processes and conflict prevention at all levels. Nepalese women are historically associated with non-violence and they know that they have to deal with the roots of conflict. Displaced women are the real problem in Nepal.
How will Nepalese women deal with their difficulties during conflict? If Nepalese women are to play an equal part in security and maintaining peace, they must be empowered politically and economically. They must be empowered at all levels of decision-making, both at the pre-conflict stage as well as at the point of peacekeeping, peacebuilding, reconciliation and reconstruction. All of these are fundamental to the whole approach when it comes to conflict prevention and conflict resolution. Women should be central to peacemaking, where they can bring in their experiences in conflict resolution. Women understand the cost of war. Nepalese women’s organizations could play a key role in information gathering, peacebuilding, and can help the government and civil society to move from simply responding to crises to preventing their occurrence. Since 1991, hundreds of local NGOs have been established in Nepal. Nepalese women have been targets of criminal violence and are more likely to be victims because they are women.
Nepalese women cannot forget how in May 1999, the Hague Appeal for Peace approved the Hague Agenda for Peace and Justice for the 21st Century, which stressed the need to include women from all areas of society at all stages in any peace negotiating process. Furthermore, in the 1920s and 1930s women from different parts of the world were united across borders as they worked to promote peace and to empower themselves. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said to the Security Council, "For generations, women have served as peace educators, both in their families and in their societies. They have proved instrumental in building bridges rather than walls." If women want to gain their emancipation, they must work for a peaceful society in which to live. Peace is inextricably linked with equality between women and men.
Women are often the main victims in situations of conflict, suffering human rights abuses such as rape, forced pregnancy and abortion. How can one feel secure when more than half of the world’s population are marginalized, violated and abused? How can anyone feel secure when Katmandu, Pokhara and major cities are bombarded, when medicines and food are blocked from reaching hospitals and dispensaries’? Women in Nepal always have to bear a disproportionate burden of poverty and they have painful experiences rising from the uncontrolled flows of arms. When there is lawlessness in society, women’s lives are torn apart.
Women’s roles in, and contributions to conflict resolution are ignored in Nepal. Socially, there is significant poverty, broken homes and families, displacement and insecurity, psychological effects like depression and disorders. The economic empowerment of women is important but economic stability requires peace. Nepalese women generally prefer collaboration and consensus but poverty, a lack of employment opportunities, lack of consciousness, social discrimination, and lack of political commitment to seeking solutions are the root causes for the continuation and increase of conflicts. Such conflicts inevitably affect women’s economic security.
Armed conflict takes several forms and women in such situations should play different roles. From the Balkans to Burundi, Sierra Leone to Sri Lanka and Nepal, women are the worst victims of domestic war. Women are strategic targets due to their role as biological, cultural and social reproducers of their societies and are subject to gender-based violence. As long as the institutions of patriarchy and militarism are dominant in our societies, there will be no peace or justice in Nepal. We are all aware that many conflicts lead to violence and women and girls in Nepal are affected by armed conflict in various ways.
Women and girls are facing discrimination from access to health, education, employment and more areas. They know that they have to deal with development and economic issues, conflict resolution and post-conflict reconstruction. Women and children account for the most number of civilian casualties in war. Peace and security must be considered in the truest sense of the word.
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Journalist and Story Writer Kamala Sarup is specializing in in-depth reporting and writing on Peace, Anti War, Women, Terrorism, Democracy, and Development. Some of her publications are: Women's Empowerment in(South Asia, Nepal)Booklet). Prevention of trafficking in women through media,(Book) Efforts to Prevent Trafficking in for Media Activism (Media research). Two Stories collections. Her interests include international conflict resolution, cross-cultural communication, philosophy, feminism, political, socio-economic and literature. Her current plans are to move on to humanitarian work in conflict areas in the near future. She also is experienced in organizational and community development. A meeting of jury members held on 21 March in Geneva has decided to attribute Kamala Sarup, The Conservative Voice, writer, with a Honorable Mention of International Award for Women Issue.
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