“I can’t do much alone but together we can do many good things.” 

Sita is a 33 year old social worker. She left school and got married aged 13 which left her feeling very hopeless. Having met other women and girls in her village, over time she became their spokesperson and from there, was encouraged to run in the upcoming elections. In 2017, Sita was elected as a ward member in Kanchanpur district, Province 7 in the far west of Nepal. In her second term, Sita received training from the Participation and Voice for Excluded Women in Nepal (PAVE) project. 

“All the women said they needed women as political representatives because women understand women. They said that I should run in the elections. I didn’t see myself as a political person but I ran in the elections and won.” 

“Before I got trained, I knew nothing. In the ward office, I would just sit at the side. Even while they were working on the budget, I knew nothing. I just did what they told me. After I got trained, I learnt that we can get money to work on women’s issues, on Dalit issues, on Indigenous issues, for single women. They taught me what my responsibilities as a ward member are. So, I fought to get budget put aside for single women in my area.   

“PAVE trained us in many things: like women’s empowerment, how to make women more capable, financial training, how to fight for our space in the elections and why political women need entrepreneurship. Women are suppressed by not having an income, so we need to be very entrepreneurial. Once we are more financially secure, we can be independent and can live our lives easily. We don’t need to depend on anyone else. We don’t need to cry in front of anyone else. Women were really oppressed before. They couldn’t even leave their houses. They were limited to their kitchens but now they can speak about everything on their mind.” 

“They helped me get re–elected and PAVE invited me to take part in conferences. I thought that if I learn, I can teach the women in village. Only when I’m capable can I make the women capable, especially Indigenous women who are really oppressed.” 

Sita also received financial support for her business through the PAVE project which supported her to run in the elections. 

“With PAVE’s grant, I bought many new things with that money in the shop. All of it got sold. I profited from it. And with that profit, it helped me fight the elections. I didn’t think I would fight the elections again. I didn’t have the courage to fight again but when PAVE gave us the training then I got inspired and got the courage to fight again. I felt like I had to do it no matter what.” 

Sita has seen changes in both herself and in the women in her community and she has supported other women through experiences of violence and abuse. 

“Because of PAVE, things are much different now. I used to think that women belonged inside the house and should have children. But after I came into politics and got the training, I realised  women should also work. The women here have also changed. We have to move forwards. We should work and have an income. We should leave the house. I have learnt all this and the women in my village have also learnt this from me. They are influenced by me.” 

“I want to continue in politics and business. I want to be the chairperson of my ward in the next five years. I want to work on developing my village and to make other women like me. I want women to be able to fight in elections. They need to be politically active and capable. I can’t do much alone but together we can do many good things.” 

Since 2019, Womankind has been working with three of our Nepal-based partner women’s rights organisations: Women for Human Rights (WHR), the Feminist Dalit Organisation (FEDO) and Tewa to support marginalised women (Dalit women, widows and women with disabilities) to play an active role in local politics and decision-making through the Participation and Voice for Excluded Women in Nepal (PAVE) project, operating in five districts of Province 7 in the far west of Nepal.