Kathmandu: UN Women Nepal and the Embassy of Finland completed a joint monitoring mission across Kathmandu and Madesh Province, going beyond reports and numbers to meet the people turning partnership into change on the ground.
The mission began in Kathmandu with elected women representatives from across the country, sharing candid reflections on what it takes to lead in local governance, the barriers they’ve broken through and the ones that remain.
In Parsa, they met with Community Safety Net members driving feminist movement-building at the community level. In Rautahat, we met a women-led vegetable farming group formed under WHR and SABAH Nepal, turning economic independence into everyday reality. A conversation with an Organization of Persons with Disabilities, supported through KOSHISH, brought disability inclusion into sharp focus.
In Sarlahi, women’s self-help groups formed under a storytelling initiative spoke about leadership, income, and shifting social norms in their own words, while local government representatives reflected on how far collaboration has come.
The mission closed in Janakpur, where Gender-Responsive Procurement training participants shared how they’ve put new skills into practice, opening doors in markets that once felt closed to them.
