Strengthening Action against Violence and Harassment with Focus on Sexual Harassment in the World of Work in Nepal

The project aims to strengthen the capacity of the key stakeholders (government, employers’ and workers’ organizations) promoting the world of work free from violence and harassment in the world of work in Nepal, while having the ILO Convention No. 190 on Violence and Harassment as the key guiding standard. Nepal has made progress in improving the national legislative framework to address sexual harassment by enacting the Sexual Harassment at the Workplace (Elimination) Act (SH Act) in 2015. However, effective implementation remains a serious challenge in the country. Awareness on the contents of the Act is generally limited among the general public as well as the key stakeholders and the government is yet to issue rules, regulations and code of conduct, despite its mandate to do so to support the implementation of the Act. There have been no or limited actions to establish the complaint hearing body at the district level as prescribed in the Act. There is no coordination among the relevant entities. Further, there is limited data on the prevalence of violence and harassment, and no reporting related to the implementation of the SH Act. At the meeting held with the government, employers’ and workers’ organizations and other relevant stakeholders in December 2019, the participants agreed and reiterated the need to strengthen national action to prevent violence and harassment, especially gender-based violence in Nepal. The recent adoption of the new ILO convention and recommendation on violence and harassment in the world of work offers a great opportunity for Nepal to strengthen its laws and their implementation to prevent and address violence and harassment. In this context, in order to support the national efforts, the project will work mainly with the government, employers’ and workers’ organizations in Nepal to improve their awareness and strengthen their institutional capacity in preventing and addressing violence and harassment, particularly gender-based violence including sexual harassment in the world of work in Nepal. The key activities include training and technical support in developing and finalizing rules, regulations and code of conduct to enhance the implementation of the SH Act.

Project symbol

NPL/20/50/JPN

Admin unit

CO-Kathmandu

Start date

01/07/2020

End date

31/12/2021

Total allocation

105934

Total expenditure

Status

Closed

105934

Development Partners

Japan, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare

Country/Countries

Nepal

Outcomes

Outcome 6: Gender equality and equal opportunities and treatment for all in the world of work