Nepal

The commission rescinded the decision after the political parties protested against the provision stating that it is against existing laws.

The Election Commission has revoked a provision that mentioned that a political party contesting for only the post of either chief or deputy chief of a municipal should compulsorily field a woman candidate.

The 22 years old Saraswati Nepali is the mom of two kids and lives approximately five hours' drive (and five hours walk) away from the headquarter of Karnali Province, Surkhet—a place that paid the heaviest of prices in the 10 year-long armed conflict from 1996-2006. Her first son is eight years old, and her second son is four and half years old, almost as old as her term of office as a ward member in Shiwalaya Rural Municipality (RM) of Karnali Province.

In line with the inclusive principles enshrined in the Constitution of Nepal 2015, the three major political parties—in their recently held general conventions—included cluster-wise inclusion in their central committees (CCs). Yet while the inclusive principles were applied in selection of lower-level leaders, top positions continued to be in the hands of the traditional elite groups.

After the first elections under federalism in 2017, Hupsekot became one of only two municipalities in Nepal in which women were voted both chair and deputy.

Sarita Giri, on Thursday, was officially expelled from the Samajbadi Party, and consequently as a Member of Parliament, in the culmination of a series of events over the past few weeks that illustrate just how difficult it is for outspoken women in Nepali politics.

Women parliamentarians and other leaders in politics, on Sunday, discussed how people generally are less likely to recognise leadership qualities in women and stressed on the urgency to break this gender gap with female journalists, in Kathmandu.

Female representation in Nepal's parliament has increased dramatically in the last 10 years. It’s the result of a far-reaching gender quota system in the Himalayan nation that has made the country’s Constitution one of the most politically progressive in Asia. But women politicians and rights advocates say that true equality remains a long way off.