Gender and social inclusion is mainstreamed in all components of UNDP/LRP Project. This is mainly because women have been at the receiving end of making decisions at home, in society and the country as a whole. Though some very positive initiatives have started in Nepal with the constitution guaranteeing at least 33% of representation in Parliament and several policies championing the cause of positive discrimination in favour of women, much is yet to be done at the grass-roots level to turn the tide in favour of women. Ensuring gender equality through women's empowerment is much needed to relieve women from the drudgery of work and hardship and provide equal, if not more, opportunities for their all round development.
 

In the wake of the fact that much needs to be done to empower women, politically, economically and socially as they lag far behind in all development indicators and in their access to and control over resources within and outside the household, the training aimed at providing the platform for the key stakeholders of Mahottari and Sarlahi districts to share ideas on the implementation of exisiting policies for women's development. More importantly the training provided an ideal environment for the participants to have enhanced awareness, knowledge and skills on gender equality, social inclusion, especially concepts and theories, corporate policies and tools and reporting requirements, with emphasis on GESI responsive planning. The training also provided the participants to incorporate their learning outcomes into GESI Action Plan.
Altogether, 60 participants, 40 of them male, turned up for active participants during the training.
"The learning on GESI principles and perspectives from UNDP/LRP has been so great to me. I dearly thank LRP facilitator Baijanti Giri Singh and Usha Baniya of UNFPA. I shall do utmost to plan, design and implement all health related activities thorugh GESI pespective at the District Health Office."
-Girendra Jha
Official of District Health Office
Women Development Officer of Mahottari, Mira Mishra said the first joint programme with UNDP on GESI theme had been very productive and her office was keen to have such training organised jointly in the future for greater effectiveness.