Kathmandu, August 24

The Nepal Women’s Association, a sister wing of the Nepali Congress, has decided to hold its third national general convention from September 14 in Kathmandu. The event will be inaugurated by NC President Sher Bahadur Deuba.

At a press conference today, NWA said the three-day convention would be held at Bhrikutimandap with the theme “Women’s empowerment: equal participation, peace, prosperity and constitutional development.” The convention will also elect new NWA leadership.

Dila Sangraula, president of NWA, expressed dissatisfaction with the new constitution, saying it had failed to grant equal rights to women who comprise 50 per cent of the country’s total population.

“The government should have at least ensured women 35 per cent representation at the central, 40 per cent at the provincial and 50 per cent at the local levels,” said Sangraula, adding, “We will raise this issue in the upcoming convention.”

She further reiterated that NWA convention would not be delayed on any pretext. “We have elected convention representatives from the local to central level without any dispute. Hence, we are confident that our convention would not be marred by any kind of dispute.”

According to Nirmala Chhetri, central committee member of NWA, preparations for the convention were in full swing.

Earlier, on Monday, the Nepali Congress had formed a five-member NWA general convention directive committee headed by party’s Central Working Committee member NP Saud to ensure that the convention is held in an organised manner. NC CWC members Nabindra Raj Joshi, Chandra Bhandari, Kamala Panta and Pradeep Paudel are members of the panel.