UNI Nepal Women rising together with the young against gender-based violence

The Women’s Committee of the UNI Nepal Liaison Council marked this year’s 16 Days of Activism with a very meaningful campaign to raise awareness of gender-based violence (GBV) among young students in Kathmandu, Nepal.

The campaign kicked off at one of the oldest all-girls schools in Nepal, the Padmakanya Bidhyashram Secondary School. Girls from classes 7 to 10 actively participated in discussions on defining GBV, identifying its various forms, understanding its impact, and cyberbullying perpetrated over social media.

At the Co-Ed Viswa Niketan Secondary School, students from classes 9-10 discussed the role of boys in minimizing gender disparity and violence. The students also learned how to seek help in case they experience or witness abuse, discrimination and violence.

Resource persons for the campaign, comprising the current and former UNI NLC Women and the UNI NLC Youth committee members, complimented the students for their exceptional interest and maturity. Students from Padmakanya, for instance, wanted to include a discussion about the type of discrimination third-gender people face. 

UNI Nepal Women Committee President Bhagwati Khadka said,

“The UNI NLC Women’s Committee is committed to continuing our awareness campaign at other schools in Kathmandu. We believe that creating awareness at the school level is instrumental to changing the traditional mindset at an early stage to mitigate gender disparity, gender violence and discrimination eventually making our society truly inclusive and safe.”

UNI Apro Equal Opportunity & Women Activities Director Anjali Bedekar praising the UNI NLC Women’s Committee, said,

“It is a laudable effort by UNI NLC Women and Youth to inculcate values like equality and respect among the students from the schools. Notably, they have included adolescent boys in this campaign which is extremely important and will go a long way to help change attitudes in society and will help make the world a safer place from violence. Heartiest congratulations to UNI NLC Women for this marvellous initiative!”