One National Campaign Launch

The constitution of Nepal prohibits gender-based discrimination with respect to remuneration and work-related benefits; which means equal wage for equal work must be ensured. But according to ILO, women are paid almost half the wages compared to their male counterparts. Further, more than 64% of the economically active population in Nepal is involved in informal sector (CBS 2019) with no/less social protection, occupational health safety and security. In terms of Unpaid Care Work, ActionAid's Time Diary Analysis 2013 states that Nepalese women work 1.4 hours for every one hour worked by Nepalese men. However, their work has neither been recognised nor paid.

In this backdrop, on the occasion of International Labour Day 2019, ActionAid Nepal launched One National Campaign from local to national level with a slogan, ‘Respect Women’s Labour, Development with Social Justice Forever’. The campaign was launched by women labourers working in informal sector. They drafted 5 key demands on issues related to wages, social protection, unpaid care work, occupational health safety and security and handed over to the like-minded government stakeholders followed by their commitments to address them.