MAY.2019, 39 ISSUEFEMINIST DALIT ORGANISATION
For a Just and Equitable Society

FEDO Organises Province-Level
Conference

Feminist Dalit Organisation (FEDO) in a collaboration with Ministry forSocial Development, Sudurpaschim Province and Dhangadi Metropolitan
organised two-day province-level conference on "Act and Laws Related
to Protection of Women's Right and the Development of Policy." The
conference took place in Dhangadi, the capital of the Sudurpaschim
Province on April 30-May 1.
The conference was formally inaugurated by the Minister for Social
Development of Sudurpaschim Province, Krishna Subedi. The opening
session of the conference witnessed remarks by the different guests
presented on the occasion including Minister for Social Development ofSudurpaschim Province, Krishna Subedi; Special Guest Chief Attorney ofSudurpaschim Province Kulananda Upadhyaya; Mayor of Dhangadi Submetropolitan Nripa Bada; Founding President of the FEDO, Durga Sob;various members of Provincial Assembly, Sudurpaschim Province,
Representatives of various NGOs/INGOs and government entities amongothers.

MAY.2019, 39 ISSUE
The conference that aimed at reviewing
the roles, responsibilities, authority andjurisdiction of locally elected Dalit womenin addressing the various issue of Dalits
as well as in conducting various
development activities in their respective
local units, was attained by more than 90
locally elected Dalit women from all 9
districts of the Sudurpaschim province.

The conference was divided into various sessions; each of thesession aiming at widening the knowledge of the participants on theselected issues through presentation, discussion and interactions.
In one of the sessions, the participants were oriented on “Criminaland Civil Code.” The participants were made aware of types ofcriminal and civil offence, newly introduced acts and laws related tothese how they as an elected representative could deal with these
within their jurisdictions.During the session, it was found thatamong the participants there was no or very limited knowledge
about criminal and civil offence due to which, in many occasion,
they have tried to solve the cases of criminal offence withinthemselves rather than going through the required legal process.
The session made them aware of criminal and civil offence and theirroles, responsibility and jurisdictions, in this connection.
Likewise, the other session focused on orienting the participants about Structures, Functions andPractices of the three-tier government of Nepal with special focus on the local government. In thissession, the participants were provided information on how the three-tier government of Nepal works,
what are their duties, functions and jurisdictions; how does the decision making the process take places;
roles and responsibilities of locally elected representatives in developing policies, making laws,
budgeting among others at the local level.In this session, it has been found that the participants have noor very limited knowledge on the function of the local-level government and their authority andjurisdictions within it. Most of the participants shared how they are left out in the decision making
process just because they are from the Dalit Community: the so-called low caste. They also complainsthat they are also excluded in the process of budgeting. This session made them more aware on theprocess of budgeting and their roles, responsibility and jurisdictions, in this connection.
The conference opened out spaces for critical discussions among the locally elected Dalit Women. It
provided a unique opportunity for them to build a network among themselves to realize their own
strength and weakness collectively build resilient trajectory for the future. It not only widened theknowledge and expanded the capacity of the participants but also gave them proper space to share theirknowledge and experiences and stories so as to inspire and motivate others.

MAY.2019, 39 ISSUE

WHAT PARTICIPANTS SAY?

Meaningless Participation

Capacity Building Is Must

"We are barely given with any responsibilities. First of all, weare not informed about the meeting being called. Moreover,by any chance, we happened to attend the meeting thennobody listens to our idea, opinions or proposal. Our roles in
the meeting is more or less limited to sign in the minute ofmeetings. We feel we were there as if just to have snacks
served .Thus, we don't feel like attending meetings.
Sometimes, minute of the meeting, of which we are totallyunaware of , is send to us to have our signature on it. And if
we dare to deny to sign on the minute or ask any question inthis connection, then we get various sort of threats in return.
We are actually holding a meaningless position.""Unfortunate but true. Most of the elected Dalit womenare not capable to perform their duties as required by theposition they held. Some of them are illiterate while somehas achieved education upto primary level only. The numberof the elected Dalit women who holds the degree ofhigher studies is very less. Thus, the tasks like financial
and budget management are challenging andtrainings in these would help them perform better atwork. Moreover, there is need for leadership andempowerment training, training and information on law,the constitution, and government policies. Building
capacities and supportive environment for women's
leadership in local governance is must."

MAY.2019, 39 ISSUE

Challenges Ahead"Following the long and the continuous struggle,
finally,we have been able to have our representationand the participation in the decisionmaking. The
record number of Dalit women i.e 6567 have been
elected as a ward member. This is an historicachievement which has provided Dalit women to havetheir role in policy deliberation, reform andimplementation for the first time. However, the task is
not easy as there as so many obstacles on the way.
First of all, this is our first exposure to the formal
politics and thus we lack experience in exercising
political power. Thanks to the deeply rooted
patriarchy,our male counterparts do not support us. In
some cases, even our spouse and the families areagainst of our participation in political and publicaffairs while the domination and the discriminationfrom the so-called upper caste counterparts is still
remains unquestioned and unchallenged.
Moreover, issues of Dalit and women are notconsidered while formulating the policies or allocating
the budget. With this, it is very challenging for us tomeet the expectation of the people."

Tagged as 'Quota Leader'"We are always tagged as a 'quota leaders' fromthe other elected representatives. Our effort,
contribution and commitments are neveracknowledged. Citing that we have been electedunder the 'quota allocated for the Dalit women 'by the Local Level Election Act, we are not seen
to be deserved for the post that we are holding
and thus are not given with any responsibilities."

More Training Required“We are lucky to be the part of this event as it provided
us with so many things to improve our understanding andperformance on the issues such as budgeting, various
administrative works, formulation of the various policies,
development projects among others. Capacity and skills
constraints are the primary obstacles to effective
empowerment of elected Dalit women representatives.
Unfortunately, they are barely provided with the training
to enhance their capacity and skills. Training on skill
development, leadership development, administrative,planning and budgeting, and legal support etc would
definitely empower them to have their views and opinions
to be accounted for in the decision-making process.”

MAY.2019, 39 ISSUE

Change in the Way ofDiscrimination“Significant decline in the practice of caste-based
discrimination and untouchability has been seen, due to theintroduction of various laws that makes such practices
punishable. Dalits are now allowed to go to temple, use
public tap, share food with the people from so-called upper
caste among others. However, the discrimination is still here
and what has been changed is the pattern of it. Earlier, there
was direct and visible discrimination. People from so-called
upper caste used to practice it openly and that too with thepride. But now, they do not practice it in direct manner as
they fear being punished. Unfortunately, a new kind of
discrimination has emerged which is indirect and invisible. itis practiced in such a manner that even victim is not surewhether it is a discrimination. For example, the name of theelected Dalit women is always written is the last row of theminute, despite she holds same position in hierarchy as ofthe other ward member.” Likewise, the elected
representatives who are non-Dalits make several excuses
not to have food together with the elected Dalits. They do nosay directly that they would not have food together with theDalit. However, on the other hand, they never take the food
together with the Dalits either."

Struggle to Continue"After struggling for decades and more , we have got ourrights now. However, this is not enough as we are yet to
exercise our right in a proper and in a required manner.
Unfortunately, our rights are more confined within paper
than in practice. The practice of discrimination anddomination against Dalits and especially against Dalit
women has been continuing till the date and elected Dalit
women are no exception to this. At the time when we haveto address the issues of Dalit women, we ourselves arefacing discrimination and domination from our counterpartsand even from the people whom we represent in the localbodies. This is very unfortunate. Issues of Dalits womenare not given priority while allocating the budget. Thus, ourstruggle has not ended yet and it ought to continue until allforms of discrimination against us will be eliminated; not inpaper but in practice.

Contact Us:
Feminist Dalit Organization
Kupandole, Lalitpur
GPO Box: 4366, Kathmandu
Tel: 5543986, 5520982
Fax: 5520982

Email: dms@gmail.com
Website: www.fedonepal.org
Like us: www.facebook.com/FEDO Nepal