Eight women from WAWCAS were candidates at the Local Election on May 14th

Two of them were elected!

Devi Meretha has been a member of WAWCAS since 2011 – the first WAWCAS group. She has a buffalo raising business. She is fighting for women’s rights through being a candidate for the Congress Party.
Dhana Maya Gurung has been a member of WAWCAS since March 2013.  She is running a pig cooperative farm.  She is also a candidate of the Congress Party and hence competing with Devi. She was one of the shy members in her group. After four years in WAWCAS she is strong, outspoken and capable of fighting with candidates from strong parties such as UML and Maoist parties to win the election.
Saraswoti Pariyar has been a member of WAWCAS since 2014. She is a member and candidate of the Congress Party.
Gyanu Nepali has been a member of WAWCAS since 2013. She has run her business since 2013. She is also a leading person in her community, Salphedi, to build a community hall in cooperation with district authorities. She is a candidate of the UML party.

Nirmala Chiluwal has been a member of WAWCAS since April 2013. She is a candidate of the Congress Party and competing with her friend Kamala Chiluwal from the same group, but she is from another political party. Her business is goat farming.

Kamala Chiluwal has been a member of WAWCAS since April 2013. She is the candidate of Rastrya Prajtantra party and a competitor to her friend Nirmala Chiluwal from the same WAWCAS-group, but from a different political party. Her business is also goat farming.
Ramita BK joined WAWCAS in 2014 and started her business, which is a grocery. Now she is a  candidate of UML Ramita from the Dalit community, which is the lowest cast.
Sharmila Pariyar joined WAWCAS in 2012. In the beginning, she was shy, and most of the time she was sick. She started her tailoring business. Once she started earning, her illness decreased day by day. Today she is the candidate of Kapan for the local election. She has shared with us that United Maoist gave a ticket for the candidates since she is from Dalit (untouchable cast) group. She feels so proud to be a candidate at the local election, which she has never dreamed about before.

Nepal held its first local election in 20 years on May 14th. A minister said that it is an important milestone in the long and difficult transition to democracy, which the government hopes will culminate in a general election.

Gianu Nepali and Nirmali Chiluwal got elected.

On behalf of the WAWCAS-team we wish the women all the best of luck and tonnes of congratulations to take this step. We are looking forward to follow them.

The local election is a significant step toward implementation of the new constitution that aims at mandating a restructured nation state reflecting for the first time in Nepal’s history a federal, secular republic with a plural political order and inclusive social character. If successfully concluded, the elections will engender confidence and ownership of the constitution in the general public and rebuild trust in the country’s choice of system of political representation.

It is fantastic to see these women as candidates for political parties. They have changed so much since they started in WAWCAS, and now they feel ready to be a candidate and to involve in political work. It shows huge empowerment that reaches much further than into their own life.

They are ready to take responsibility and the time to work, for the rights and conditions for people in general in the local society.

The women will, for the coming five years, be involved in local planning, budgets, women’s rights, development etc. What a journey they have been, and are, on.  And from WAWCAS we are so happy to see how the training, we offer the women, can support such a big change.