Despite Nepal’s constitutional and policy commitments to gender equality, women, youth, and marginalized groups face persistent barriers to meaningful participation in local governance. These barriers are especially visible in planning and budgeting processes, accountability mechanisms, and decision-making spaces, where women’s leadership is often questioned, women’s rights organizations (WROs) are sidelined, and gender-responsive practices remain uneven. Digital harassment and social backlash further constrain women’s public engagement

Tourism experts from the public and private sectors, as well as academia, are supporting this research initiative. Their input informs discussions and engagement activities, supporting evidence-based analysis for improving governance, safety, and sector performance.

A meaningful and gainful integration of youths in the labour market is often indicated to play a critical role in the social and economic development of the country. However, lower-income countries including Nepal face an overwhelming challenge to fulfil the demands of the labour market to provide employment opportunities to the working age group or youth population that continues to dominate the demographic structure. Nepal’s National Youth Policy 2010 defines youths as ‘women, men and third gender of 16-40 age groups’.

Testing an evidence-based approach for adaptive programming and portfolio-wide learning

Governance Lab in partnership with researchers at Yale University, London School of Economics and EPoD India at LEAD at KREA University uses rigorous evidence to address challenging questions at the intersection of economic development and public policy. Our cutting-edge research examines questions related to governance, financial inclusion, skills, gender, and sustainable development, and draws from a network of academics with the expertise of working in Nepal and around the world. We work with policy and program partners, engaging with stakeholders in all three spheres of government and Nepali academia to move this research agenda forward.