Nepal's Government gets it Wrong...Again.

Widows in Nepal are treated like second class citizens. Upon their husband's death they are ostracized by their community and literally referred to as "husband eaters." In Nepal, there are thousands of young widows, who have no job opportunities or assistance from the government. To remarry a widow is considered taboo- many widows, some as young as 9 years old, stay single for the duration of their life and carry a social stigma they can never live down.

In the following press release from Women for Human Rights, a NGO in Kathmandu working for widows and single women, we see that the government has implemented a monetary incentive for men to marry widows. If a man marrys a widow he will recieve over $700 from the government, a huge sum of money in Nepal. This is not a step forward and obviously a policy thrown together with no thought for a longterm solution to the appalling status of widows in the country. It is blatantly offensive and dehumanizing to widows in Nepal.

This is an issue Global Daughter has been very involved in from the beginning. We work with many artisans who are widows. We engage them in a positive way and allow them the opportunity for stable and sustainable employment so they can continue to provide for their families and get out from under the thumb of their in-laws. This builds confidence and serves as an example to communities that widows are contributing members of society with the same desires and needs as anyone else.

The way forward is empowering women, not incentivizing men.

Dear All,

In the Budget speech of the Government of Nepal dated Ashad 29 2066 B.S., under the social security schemes, it has been mentioned that a person who gets married to a widow will be given a reward of NRs. 50,000 ($700+) as motivation. Women for Human Rights, single women group (WHR) would like to say that this policy of Government of Nepal has further humiliated and insulted single women of Nepal. This decision will further bring about unwanted social impacts and bad consequences in society. It seems that Government has failed to take into consideration the long term impact of the monetary incentive. Because of this, WHR strongly condemns this decision of government and urge the government to immediately nullify the monetary incentive mentioned for remarriage of single women and rather should focus on removing age bar while getting monthly allowances, reservation in health and education facilities, tax exemption while registering property in the name of single women, provision of ration card and job opportunities.