APWLD

National Indigenous Women Forum (NIWF) is one of the partner organizations in the Migration (MUAH) program of the Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law, and Development (APWLD) for the year 2022-2024. With the help of this program, NIWF worked with the Indigenous Returnee Migrant Women (IRMW) of Chautara Sangachokgadhi Municipality, Bagmati Province. This was a Feminist Participatory Action Research that worked directly with the IRMW to work on the issue that is most important to them. This project helped to combat structural injustices and give grassroots IRMW the tools they need to improve their ability to gather evidence, increase their bargaining power, plan campaigns and advocacy efforts, and form movements to demand structural changes. This project worked directly with the IRMW to bring their narrative to the forefront and work alongside them to lobby for a structural change. It also gave them a platform to enhance their leadership skills while working together to challenge the negative stereotypes against Indigenous Women and Migrant Women. In 2024, National Indigenous Women Forum (NIWF) together with Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD) and the Center for Economic and Social Rights (CESR) conducted Women Human Rights Impact Assessment (WHRIA) Pilot Test: Addressing Gendered Impacts of Development Projects. The impact assessment was conducted in the Majhi Communities in Manthali to determine the status of the hydropower dam project and assess the human rights situation of the Indigenous Women, particularly in exercising their right for participation, access to information and self-determination. The groups also looked at the potential impacts of the development project that threatens the very existence of the Mahji people and endangers their culture and lives. WHRIA aims to serve as a tool for Grassroots Women’s organisations in their advocacy against development projects that can harm their lives and livelihoods. Through Community visits, dialogues, and media actions, the pilot test aimed to gather vital information, document community narratives, identify human rights violations, and chart pathways for advocacy and action.

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