BRIEFING NOTE - GENDER NORMS IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT: HOW THEY SHAPE ENGAGEMENT FOR

Quantitative representation and gender norms The difference in results between the 1992 elections where there were no quotas and the results of the 2017 election suggests that the representation of women in LG increased as a result of the mandatory reservation of seats. [...] The Asia Foundation (2018) states that elected male representatives in Janakpur, the capital city of Madhes province, questioned the intent and efficacy of the government’s policy that led to the election of uneducated Dalit members and of women. [...] However, all the levers of power remain in the hands of men and the decisions that are made by male leaders and by the male relatives of women leaders impose limits on what women can do. [...] Similarly, men leaders’ reluctance to allocate budgets to programmes proposed by women leaders, the lack of opportunities for women to improve their leadership skills, the favouring of relatives by senior political leaders, and the dismissal of women's opinions, limit the performance of women leaders. [...] In the first stage, a list of all the elected women leaders in the local election of 2017 was accessed through the website of the Election Commission of Nepal.2 The team of researchers sampled and selected the name of 49 elected women leaders, seven from each province.