We would like to thank our donors and partners for their inspiration—and efforts to ActionAid’s work.
Our team has selected two change stories to reflect our values and the profound potential of transformation via solidarity, volunteerism, empowerment, and knowledge.
Challenging the norms, standing for rights: Sandya’s aspiration
Sandya Kumari Ram, a student of grade 11, is from the village of Pokhariya Municipality ward 7 in Raniganj, Parsa. She exemplifies how understanding and trust can bring about immediate and long-term positive change within a person as well as the family and community. She is an active member of the Divya Yuva Club under the Samunnati project, where she attends legal and psychological awareness sessions. Basically, these sessions are one of the interventions under the project through which ActionAid aims to capacitate young boys and girls to promote gender-equitable attitudes, raise voices against various forms of gender-based violence, and increase reporting of incidents with increased access to justice and security services.
I wasn’t ready for marriage, but I come from a culture where girls are considered burdensome, and their parents often marry them off at a young age. My father began making plans for my marriage as soon as my adolescent elder sister was married. Given the societal practice of a large dowry as the girl grows older, as well as the desire to be free of their responsibilities to us, particularly financial ones, my parents were determined to marry me immediately before my grade eight exam.
I was first hesitant to speak up against my marriage as a girl child since I had seen my sisters never speak out and my mother’s opinion is never valued. Attending several sessions of the Youth Club, as well as my mother's involvement in a women’s group from the same project, we learnt about the challenges of child marriage and the likely outbreak of gender-based violence, which motivated us to take action to end my marriage.
I was terrified of the scenario, so I tried to talk to my father, but he reprimanded me. My mother and I then went to a Women’s group and then a Men's group. My father was given various examples and drawbacks of child marriage. During those discussions, I also mentioned that underage marriage is not only illegal, but also a risk factor for GBV. I provided the example of my sister, who married at a young age, resulting in poor health for her and her child.
This truly worked; I said that continuing my school is my top priority, and my father couldn’t say no, and he now stands up for my rights.
It took time, and I had to miss a year of school, but I eventually made it, and now other girls and boys from the school and community look up to me.
I, as a girl from the so-called dalit community with less privilege, can bring about change via myself, my family, and my community. I wonder what it would look like if every young person raised their voices to end the harmful practice of child marriage.
A community of practice to end patriarchal thinking: Stories of recognizing unpaid care work
Jamuna Parki of Dipayal Silgadhi Municipality-5 Dhami Gaun is an active participant of ActionAid and Equality Development Center Nepal’s Local Right Program-35. (LRP-35). She is a determined woman and a change agent from the Dalit group. She came from a poor home where women had to work double shifts grinding wheat millet to feed the family. She and other women had little choice for care; even after 12 to 15 days of giving birth, they had to work on field while male members of their community traveled to India to earn.
She recalled that we were involved in agriculture and that, due to workload, we were unable to build our leadership, seize the opportunity for political representation, participate equally in economic, social, and political domains, take leadership in federal government local level structures, and care for our health. However, thanks to the LRP-35 orientation, meetings, and sessions, we were able to reach an agreement with the Municipality and Ward to construct the mill.
She continued to state that following the facilitation, a decision to run the mill in Dhamigaun was taken based on community demand. The mill was only operational once the group members agreed to delegate responsibility for the mill’s operation. The group became involved and took the initiative to operate the mill in their own community. We submitted the ward and municipality with a plan and budget. The municipality set up Rs 100,000 for this initiative proposed by a women’s group. Our group was then able to operate the mill thanks to the program’s, municipality’s, and group members’ financial contributions. For the mill’s successful and smooth operation, a guideline was developed. The availability of a mill in one’s own town has lessened the need for women to travel to the market for grinding. As a result, we can make better use of our time. 400 homes have begun to receive services from this mill.
Similarly, Durga Bisht from Dipayal Silgadi Municipality-5 had similar challenges; her village ran out of water for drinking and even for keeping clean during birth and maternity. The tap was a long distance from the home. She said that her husband was in India, leaving just her elderly mother-in-law at home. Her mother-in-law was unable to carry water, so she had to gather it herself for bathing and other everyday tasks. She and her toddler were starving by the time she accomplished all of these tasks, and she had no energy to do anything else. She is an active member of the women’s group and brought up the problem during a group meeting. According to the group’s request, they have constructed tanks and taps by controlling the wastewater near the village with the support of the project, which has decreased the effort and made it much simpler. At the moment, the workload of women in 70 houses in the village has been eased, and the drinking water problem has been solved.
These two women represent over 400 households that were once preoccupied with patriarchal thoughts and classified women as unworthy of being surrounded by household chores, but a shift in perspective and positive impact was seen as women’s empowerment was prioritized and the community began to recognize unpaid care work.
Women from the community established a long-term influence with resource utilization, which has surely brought about a shift in patriarchal power relations and understanding. It has capacitated women to raise their voices with confidence from home to society. Similarly, knowledge and empowerment initiatives have assisted women in reducing the load of domestic and care work while also increasing their political presence. It has built an environment for them to enjoy their leisure time. Because of shared household chores and better women’s health, women can get engaged in group and community activities. Women can now participate in productive work, which has enhanced their recognition in redistribution and reduced unpaid care work. They can indeed enjoy their equal participation rights in economic, social, and political spheres.
