How Nepal’s ‘gender responsive’ budget fails the women it claims to serve

Dil Kumari BK, a Dalit woman from Madi Municipality, recognized the need for self-sufficiency among women whose husbands had left for foreign employment. She founded Mili Juli Samuha, a group of 22 Dalit women from her neighborhood, to create a space for shared experiences and collective action. Their initiative gained traction when Madi Municipality introduced a Panche Baaja music training program targeting Dalits.

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She had first joined Sunaulo Mahila Samuha, a women’s group in the area. But the group was far from her settlement and there were no Dalit women there. She realised in time that Dalit women needed their own space, built on proximity and shared experience.

Initially, the five-day training was deemed insufficient to build confidence. Dil Kumari and her group successfully petitioned the municipality for an extension, which was granted, along with a full set of instruments. This response marked a rare instance where the government actively heard and supported the community's needs. The women have since performed at one wedding, earning Rs15,000, which they shared. However, the long-term market viability of Panche Baaja in a region with diverse cultural practices remains uncertain, as the program lacked market mismatch reports or follow-up assessments.

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So she went door to door in her own tole and formed Mili Juli Samuha, which included 22 members, all Dalit, all from the same tole, most of them wives and mothers whose husbands were abroad.

A recent study by ActionAid International Nepal exposes a systemic issue within Nepal's budgeting process. For three consecutive fiscal years, the Ministry of Women, Children, Gender and Social Security has classified 100 percent of its budget as "directly gender responsive." This classification, however, is often based on a simple dropdown selection in a government software system rather than any actual assessment of program impact on women. Consequently, between 44 and 59 percent of this "perfectly-classified" budget goes unspent annually, returning to the treasury while women like Dil Kumari await meaningful support.

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However, five days of training was not enough to build confidence, so the women went back to the municipality and asked for more. The municipality then listened.

The study, conducted by Himal Innovative Development and Research Pvt. Ltd. in collaboration with ActionAid International Nepal and other foundations, analyzed budget data from 2022-23 to 2024-25. It involved extensive interviews with government officials, policy stakeholders, and community groups, alongside in-depth case studies. The research underscores a critical gap between the intention of gender-responsive budgeting and its practical implementation, revealing that budget lines are often ticked and coded without proper analysis or measurable outcomes for the intended beneficiaries.

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For the women of Mili Juli Samuha, it was a rare moment: the government had actually heard them.