Gender and Waste Nexus: Experiences from Bhutan, Mongolia and Nepal

Annex 4: Summary of feedback during the stakeholder consultation in Nepal, April 2019

UNEP-IETC, together with the national partner, LEAD Nepal, carried out stakeholder consultations in April 2019, as part of a stakeholder workshop on mainstreaming gender in waste management.

The main comments received from the stakeholders as issues that could be further studied include:

1) Awareness-raising on the issue of waste burning on the street in Kathmandu and any gender aspect

2) Awareness-raising campaigns, particularly in schools, to share practical knowledge, such as the health and safety issues of disposing sanitary pads

3) Respect for waste workers and de-stigmatization (including through raising awareness on gender and/or cultural stereotypes as well as roles and responsibilities, and the creation of “blue jobs” by providing social security, for example) 4) Plastic waste management practices by women’s groups and individual women, and the need to further encourage women to be entrepreneurs or engaged in the business as alternative livelihood options (e.g. start- up businesses that produce plastic alternatives, such as cotton/paper bags)

5) Emphasis on health and safety issues associated with handling waste (especially of workers at the transfer stations and landfills)

6) Encouragement of women to be agents of change not only at the household level, but also at every sphere (such as the community, local and/or national governments and the private sector).

101 Gender and waste nexus