March 10: On the occasion of International Women’s Day 2020, Kathmandu Mariott Hotel and Vishal Group Foundation organized a panel discussion on gender equality on Sunday (March 8).

The program titled ‘New Horizons: Women for Gender Equality’ saw participation of women entrepreneurs and also women from various sectors including IT, education, social work and media.

The programme focused on the need to change the perception of people from the high-school level where students learn the roles of men and women in society in order to bring gender equality in true sense.

“We have been brought up by learning that women are housewives and men go for work. This is one major thing people instill in their mind from their childhood,” said Rojee Kattel, political specialist at the US Embassy in Kathmandu.

The participants emphasized on the importance of self-empowerment to bring a change in society. Bhumika Shrestha, transgender rights activist, stressed that for gender equality, the change starts with one’s own mindset. “Change has to come from within,” said Shrestha.

Also, discussion on the absence of data about gender disparity in Nepal was also another highlight of the program. Sumana Shrestha, management consultant and executive coach, brought up the issue of absence of data. She said that to address various challenges, we need concrete data.

According to Global Gap Report 2020 by World Economic Forum, gender parity will not be attained for 99.5 years.

“In Nepal’s context, we don’t have any data regarding gender equality,” said Kattel.

Kattel said that the work of home-based workers should be recognised. “Only then, their contribution to the economy will be recognized,” said Kattel.