Opinion: Where Nepalese women, a British nurse and an MEP cross paths

By Cath Nixon

I’m a community health nurse from the north of England and recently returned from a life-changing experience working for a women's organisation called WEAF and at a local hospital in rural Nepal. For more than two years I became a public health volunteer with VSO (Voluntary Services Overseas), leaving my familiar world to work with local communities who showed me what it means to have to fight to claim your rights as a woman. I’ve returned with a commitment to raise their voices in the international sphere where possible which took me to my first meeting with an MEP candidate seeking election in the north-west of England this week.

Globally, women suffer disproportionately from poverty. Although they complete 66% of the worlds work, they earn only 10% of the world's income and 1% of the world's property. When women do earn however, they reinvest 90% of their income into their community and family. This disparity is very evident in Nepal.

While supporting the Women's Empowerment Action Forum (WEAF) in Dailekh in the mid-west of Nepal I met inspiring women who were doing amazing things to tackle gender imbalances in society. When they were given a voice in the decisions that affect their lives, women showed that they made positive changes. They demanded better maternal and contraceptive services, they demanded laws about violence against women that are set at a national level are implemented locally, and they showed they were ready to campaign for girls and boys to have equal education

In Nepal, I saw first-hand the difference that development aid can make to the lives of people living in poverty.  In the 12 years that the WEAF has been funded, the members have succeeded in challenging some social norms in a patriarchal society. They’ve significantly reduced rates of uterine prolapse in the area (that can affect 50% of women) and cut back traditional practices like Chau Padi (keeping women in the cow shed for their menstrual period). Funding from international donors like the EU has significantly helped with this.

Back in the UK, I arranged a meeting with the MEP candidate for the North West, Mr Afzal Khan. I wanted to inspire Mr Khan to be a development champion in the next European Parliament. Mr Khan is  the former Mayor of Manchester and has a strong history of charity work and says that International Development is something he feels passionately about. If elected, he hopes to sit on the parliament’s Development (DEVE) committee where he can hold the European Commissioner responsible for ensuring that development aid is targeted to where it is most needed. In light of discussions globally about what follows the UN Millennium Development Goals, the Post-2015 agenda, Khan assured me that if elected he will advocate for a stand-alone gender goal with a focus on increasing women's participation in public and political life as well as gender mainstreaming across all goals.

I hope that the European Parliament elections on Thursday (22 May) will deliver a parliament that will support International Development and continue to ensure that organisations such as WEAF can fight for women's voice to be heard, and ultimately for all women's human rights to be realised.

Video and first-hand account from Cath Nixon for VSO.

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