Kathmandu, March 21:

The Women Development Programme, which covers 1,624 village development committees and 31 municipalities, needs to be extended throughout the country, said a proposed paper titled ‘Towards Gender-responsive Health Care: A MDG Position paper’ prepared by the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare (MoWCSW) and the Department of Women Development (DWD).

DWD director Keshab Prasad Regmi said: “Though there are representations of women development officers in all districts, programme limitation to certain districts and inadequate resources are hindering their activities.”

Ritu Raj Bhandari, under secretary at MoWCSW, said that gender friendly policies need to be translated into practice.