Understanding Key Capability Domains of Adolescent Girls and Gender Justice Findings from Nepal Anita Ghimire and Fiona Samuels, with Sanju Wagle
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September 2013 Report Understanding key capability domains of adolescent girls and gender justice Findings from Nepal Anita Ghimire and Fiona Samuels, with Sanju Wagle Human development reports of the past few years show that, despite the conflict, Nepal has made admirable progress in terms of the wellbeing of its people. However, these developments are unevenly distributed, and adolescent girls and women are among those in a disadvantaged position. In addition, adolescents have received limited attention, with the focus on them only in relation to sexuality and reproductive health (Harper et al., 2012). In the belief that there are other, equally important, issues that have an impact on wellbeing and that discriminatory social institutions such as formal and informal laws, norms and practices play a critical role in enhancing or limiting human capabilities, this study looks at their role in influencing the educational, economic, physical, psychosocial and political capability of adolescent girls and young women in Nepal. Shaping policy for development odi.org Acknowledgements The team is very grateful to all the adolescent girls, young women and men of Doti and Ilam who shared their insights and experiences patiently with us. To make this possible, several people and institutions played a key role. We express our gratitude to the District Administration Office and District Education Office in Ilam, CARE Nepal, SDC, IOM, World Education and SAFHR in Kathmandu. In addition, we would like to give special thanks to Mr Baburam Khatiwada, Chief District Officer, Ilam; Mr Suman Ghimire, Local Development Officer, Ilam; and Mr Dil Nath Puri, District Education Officer, Ilam, for their time and for providing materials, giving access to their database and helping us reach other relevant government offices. We would also like to thank Mr Man Bahadur Kathayat, Principal of Soojung School, Doti; Mr Min Rana, Principal of Shree Saraswoti Boarding School, Doti; Ms Darshana Gurung; Mr Kumar Gurung; Mr Krishna Khatiwada; and Ms Champa Adhikari and their family members as well as local community leaders in Ilam for their enthusiasm and support in the fieldwork. Most importantly, we would like to express our heartfelt acknowledgement of Ms Rewati Gurung, Member of the Project Team, for her comments and her hard work on formatting and shaping the report; without her help it would not have been possible to produce it. We also thank Mr Siddhi Manandhar of NCCR for taking care of logistics throughout the project and Gitta Thapa, NCCR Gender Expert, for her inputs and her help in critically analysing post-conflict gender dimensions. Table of contents Acknowledgements ii Abbreviations iii Executive summary iv 1 Introduction 1 2 Conceptual framework 3 1.1 Capabilities and entitlements 3 2.2 Capabilities and social norms 4 3 Methodology 7 3.1 Study design and process 7 3.2 Data collection and tools technique 7 3.3 Data collection: Study population, sampling strategy and size 9 3.4 Data management and analysis 11 3.5 Ethical Considerations 11 4 Country context by capability domain 12 4.1 Education capability 13 4.2 Economic capability 14 4.3 Physical capability 15 4.4 Psychosocial capability 19 4.5 Political and civic capability 20 5 Description of the study sites 21 5.1 Site selection and justification 21 5.2 Ilam 24 5.3 Doti 27 6 Overview of adolescent girls’ capabilities 30 6.1 Educational domain 31 6.2 Economic domain 37 6.3 Physical domain 40 6.4 Psychosocial domain 48 6.5 Political/participation domain 52 7 Conclusion and potential policy and research implications 55 7.1 Conclusions 55 7.2 Policy recommendations 57 References 60 Annexes 65 ODI Report i Understanding key capability domains of adolescent girls and gender justice i Figures Figure 1: Conceptual framework 5 Figure 2: Literacy rate by age group and rural urban area 13 Figure 3: Map of Nepal showing study sites 22 Figure 4: Map of Ilam showing study sites 24 Figure 5: Map of Doti with study sites 27 Tables Table 1: Capabilities framework and gender justice for adolescent girls 6 Table 2: The study process 7 Table 3: Data collection tools and techniques 9 Table 4: Respondent type and size 10 Table 5: Projected adolescent male and female population 12 Table 6: Female adolescents as a proportion of the female population, by development region 12 Table 7: Reason for dropout from school, by gender (%) 14 Table 8: Perceptions of rights and gender roles among adolescents, by different background characteristics (%) 18 Table 9: Perceptions of mobility (%) 19 Table 10: Participation of adolescents and youths (15-24 years) in civic organisations 20 Table 11: Ilam and Doti – comparing indicators 23 Table 12: Most favoured policy responses 58 Table 13: Five main worries among in-school and out-of-school adolescent girls 58 Table 14: Five main wishes and aspirations among in-school and out-of-school adolescent girls 59 ODI Report ii Understanding key capability domains of adolescent girls and gender justice ii Abbreviations ADB Asian Development Bank AIDS Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome CBO Community-Based Organisation CBS Central Bureau of Statistics CERID Research Centre for Educational Innovation and Development CREHPA Centre for Research on Environment, Health and Population Activities DFID Department for International Development FCHV Female Community Health Volunteer FGD Focus Group Discussion GBV Gender-Based Violence GDI Gender-related Development Index HDI Human Development Index HIV Human Immunodeficiency Virus ICRC International Committee of the Red Cross ICRW International Center for Research on Women IDI In-Depth Interview International IDEA International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance IRIN Integrated Regional Information Networks KII Key Informant Interview MDG Millennium Development Goal MoHP Ministry of Health and Population NCASC National Centre for AIDS and STD Control NCCR National Centre for Contemporary Research NER Net Enrolment Ratio NGO Non-Governmental Organisation NIDS Nepal Institute of Development Studies NLSS Nepal Living Standards Survey NPC National Planning Commission ODI Overseas Development Institute OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development SIGI Social Institutions and Gender Index STD Sexually Transmitted Disease UN United Nations UNCT UN Country Team UNDP UN Development Programme UNFPA UN Population Fund UNICEF UN Children’s Fund UNIFEM UN Development Fund for Women US United States USAID US Agency for International Development VDC Village Development Committee WEF World Economic Forum WHO World Health Organization ODI Report iii Understanding key capability domains of adolescent girls and gender justice iii Executive summary Overview Human development reports of the past few years show that, despite the conflict, Nepal has made admirable progress in terms of the wellbeing of its people. However, these developments are unevenly distributed, and adolescent girls and women are among those in a disadvantaged position. In addition, adolescents have received limited attention, with the focus on them only in relation to sexuality and reproductive health (Harper et al., 2012). In the belief that there are other, equally important, issues that have an impact on wellbeing and that discriminatory social institutions such as formal and informal laws, norms and practices play a critical role in enhancing or limiting human capabilities, this study looks at their role in influencing the educational, economic, physical, psychosocial and political capability of adolescent girls and young women in Nepal. Methodology Integrating capabilities into both entitlements and rights provides a useful analytical entry point to understand how the development of capabilities is restricted and how discrimination functions. This study takes an entitlement and gender justice approach as its conceptual framework and employs the idea of capabilities and justice first put forward by Amartya Sen (1999). Methodologically, the study takes a qualitative approach. Field work took place in two sites: Ilam, where gender norms are not as discriminatory, which represents a more developed part of Nepal and which has diverse ethnic and religious groups and less presence of international and national non-governmental organisations (NGOs); and Doti, where gender norms are very discriminatory and which represents the least developed part of Nepal, with high NGO presence and less ethnic and religious diversity. The sites were purposely chosen for the study to bring out a more complete picture of the situation of adolescent girls and young women in Nepal. A rural and an urban community were selected in each site. Methods of inquiry consisted of qualitative methods such as in-depth interviews (IDIs), key informant interviews (KIIs) (at national, district and local levels), focus group discussions (FGDs) and observation. Tools such as life history questions, historical timeline mapping, community mapping exercises, generational pairings, time-use diaries, social network mapping and policy response kits were used with adolescent girls and boys, young women, older women and other people who play critical role in their lives, such as fathers, mothers and teachers and other service providers. In total, the study involved four community mappings, thirteen FGDs, thirty-two IDIs, four case studies and sixteen life histories and generational pairings. The data collected were analysed and interpreted using the conceptual framework on capability. Capability deprivations The sections