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Awakenings
June 2003
In this issue:
Copyright © 2001-2002
Jagriti International.
All rights reserved.
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June
2003
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A Letter of Peace from Nepal Women's Organizations
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Introduction and Background |
Since 1996 the Government of Nepal has been fighting against
groups of Maoist rebels who aim to overthrow the Himalayan
nation's constitutional monarchy. During seven years of
continual warfare, more than 7,000 people have died, the
majority since 2001 when the Royal Nepalese Army was brought
in to battle the rebels after peace talks failed. On January
29, 2003, as our Bridging Worlds Workshop concluded, a
cease fire was negotiated between the Maoists and an emissary
of King Gyanendra.
As Era Shrestha states in the letter below, "During these
seven odd years of political turmoil it is the rural grassroots
women and children who have been silent witnesses to the
atrocities of both warring factions." Due to the instability
of the nation, it has been difficult for grassroots women's
organizations to continue their empowerment of women.
This letter is the outcome of our Jagriti Bridging Worlds
Workshop held in Kathmandu in January 2003. With this
collective statement, the views of 18 Nepal women's organizations,
each representing from 20 to 1,000+ women, share their
hope for equality and their belief in the work of their
respective organizations. Whether or not there is peace
in the country, these women's groups promise to endure
and to continue their mission of changing the reality
of third world women into something that is stable, enriching
and equitable.
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THE LETTER
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Thanks to the cease-fire, our days pass
without news of casualties or loss of lives. As we women struggle
with our lives in a society where women have traditionally been
assigned the role of "silence," a breath of fresh air seems
to have entered into our tired hearts with hope of life of peace
and human security. Let us all pray that this time the government
and the Maoists have finally come to resolve their differences
without any prejudices and with honest dedication for both peace
and prosperity for the Nepali people whose lives speak of unrelenting
suffering, both physical and mental.
And during these seven odd years of political turmoil it is
the rural grassroots women and children that have been almost
silent witnesses to the atrocities of both warring factions.
The recent declaration of the cease-fire allows us to share
our happiness and convey gratitude to everyone who has made
this possible.
Whatever the reason behind the Maoist war, be it rampant corruption,
political instability, nepotism, power politics, lack of law
and order situation, fiscal indiscipline, judicial unjust, undemocratic
norms, values and ideas and social inequalities, the fact is,
the ones hit the hardest are the grassroots women of Nepal,
who have been left behind to serve as head of households while
men have migrated in search of employment or to fight the war.
An example of such a reality is a village in the far western
region of Nepal, which has been left behind without a single
adult male in a population of 265 households where old men and
women have had to await the news of the loss of dear ones. Struck
by the war, poverty and despair is written on the faces of young
girls whose lives have been converted into a state of nothingness.
The harsh realities of the lives of these brave women may find
but little space in the pages of history of this era but their
stories shall live on.
The challenge to be faced is the need for gender awareness and
the need to incorporate gender in the process of conflict reduction
including the peace process. Women are peacemakers by nature.
Women need to be involved from the beginning of the peace process
and their voices need to be heard properly and honestly. Issues
that violate the fundamental rights of women during conflict
must be agendas for the peace process.
There can be no doubt that, women's groups like Jagriti International
can collaborate to play a crucial role in the present peace
building process and to ensure that women's voices are heard.
While the peace process has been initiated, the conflict has
left thousands dislocated and in suffering. They need our immediate
attention and care. To restore peace and tranquility might be
a lengthy course and it might take decades.
Will the woes of such misery of hunger, rape, and injustice
ever be retold? Yes, there is hope. Women's organizations in
Nepal are being increasingly aware of their limits to access
justice. Women are mobilizing for a positive change in their
lives, and are seeking to address gender discrimination. Women
themselves are being advocates of women's rights, gender justice
and social\economic redress.
But the seven years of struggle have also created vested interests
amidst politicians who remain reluctant to welcome the peace
process and reconciliation. And in this web of political vested
interest, the critical question remains - How long will the
innocent grassroots women of Nepal be subjected to the dictates
of a war that drives them deeper into poverty and domestic violence?
These issues remain fragile in the midst of hope.
The voices of these invisible women must be heard as they struggle
to keep their fragile individual lives and that of their families,
afloat in the turbulent seas, poisoned by political strife and
continuing vested interests to block the peace process.
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Jagriti International thanks our Nepal
partners for their efforts to make the voices of grassroots
women heard around the world.
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