Gender and Development

	Table of Contents
p. 35 of 35 BACK | NEXT Bangladesh Cambodia Fiji Lao People's Republic Pakistan Viet Nam Indonesia Philippines Malaysia Nepal Promoting Pro-Poor and Gender Responsive Service Delivery, TA 4353, 2004

Nepal

Promoting Pro-Poor and Gender Responsive Service Delivery

TA 4353 - 2004

Nepal's gender empowerment index at 0.191 is one of the worst in the region, underscoring the lack of women's participation in the economic, political, and professional spheres in comparison with men. The situation of women belonging to disadvantaged ethnic groups and castes is even worse, as their social indicators fall far below those of their male counterparts. The Nepal Government's Tenth Plan recognizes discrimination based on gender, ethnicity, and caste, while reiterating that gender equality and the empowerment of women are critical elements in reducing poverty.

The goal of the TA is to institutionalize pro-poor and gender-responsive service delivery. The purpose is to develop the capacity of poor women and men beneficiaries, line agencies, and local elected bodies to promote pro-poor and gender-responsive service delivery in the agriculture and livestock sectors. The assistance will target poor men and women, line agencies, and local elected bodies in two districts, Doti and Kanchanpur, in the Far-Western Development Region. Specific outputs include implementing homestead agricultural activities that will have quick impact, increasing organizational capacity of community-based organization, improving livelihoods of poor rural men and women, strengthening line agencies and local bodies, and identifying an approach that effectively promotes the participation of disadvantaged groups while systematically mainstreaming gender. Because livestock has a vital role in improving rural livelihoods, the TA will be undertaken in village development committees where the ADB-assisted Community Livestock Development Project (CLDP) will be launched.

The TA will explore ways to come up with an approach for meaningful participation of disadvantaged ethnic groups and castes, and poor women. Control groups similar to the groups participating in the community-based organization (CBO) action learning component will be identified to assess the impact of this component. Key activities include

1. improving CBO capacity through action learning
2. building the capacity of women development section for mainstreaming poverty and gender concerns in sector programs/projects
3. building the capacity for local bodies and line agencies
4. project management services

Back Nepal	Country-Specific Gender Capacity Building Assistance