Empowering Women 4 Women (W4W): Access to Land for Sustainable Peace in Nepal

This project was built upon the main findings and gaps identified by the ‘Catalytic Support on Land Issues’ (2013-2015) project by including women who were previously almost absent and/or unable to make their voices heard in the land reform discussion process. The project aimed to support the processes associated with land reform in Nepal by enabling women to play an active role as agents of change. In doing so, the project contributed to ensuring gender equality in land policy discussions and enabled women to influence policy decisions.

The project promoted a W4W approach, where qualified women teachers used contextualized modules to enhance the capacities of other women on land rights and systems, as well as advocacy and negotiation skills. The W4W approach ensured a constructive environment for learning, along with participatory and long-lasting impacts. In this way, the project unpacked land issues pertinent to women in small steps and introduced components related to women's empowerment and rights over land and property. This facilitated catalytic changes that supported the future land reform process, including changes in attitudes, perspectives, and social mores in Nepalese society, while giving due consideration to women’s specific needs and ideas at the policy level.