Dhruba Pasad Ghimire founded the Rural Women’s Network of Nepal at the age of 24 to ensure that rural women across the country could voice their priorities and needs, as well as organize and mobilize themselves to achieve greater economic and social empowerment.
It hasn’t been easy to be a feminist man in the country, he told Devex, as women’s empowerment can often be seen as a threat to men’s power.
He pointed to the United Nations’ HeForShe campaign, a solidarity movement for gender equality, as the kind of progress he would like to see in Nepal. First, the group is advocating for small wins, like policy language that would allow a single mother to gain citizenship for her child.
“We are in the world because of our mothers. ... We should respect our mothers, our daughters, our sisters, bringing their voice, bringing them into decision-making…” he said.
About the author
Kelli Rogers@kellierin
Kelli Rogers is a global development reporter for Devex. Based in Bangkok, she covers disaster and crisis response, innovation, women’s rights, and development trends throughout Asia. Prior to her current post, she covered leadership, careers, and the USAID implementer community from Washington, D.C. Previously, she reported on social and environmental issues from Nairobi, Kenya. Kelli holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri, and has since reported from more than 20 countries.