Ep 12: Strengthening Women’s Economic Leadership

Join us for a special episode celebrating International Women's Month as we engage in a compelling conversation with Rita Thapa, a prominent feminist, women's rights activist, and the Founder of Tewa and Nagarik Aawaz. Rita has been a key contributor to the Inter-generational Feminist Forum hosted by these organizations. In this podcast, we address critical themes including the need to invest in women, particularly emphasizing the importance of enabling meaningful participation among marginalized groups.

The discussion also highlights the significance of collective action and encouraging women to assume leadership roles while challenging existing societal norms that perpetuate inequality. Thapa candidly addresses the social structures and systems that often exclude and marginalize women and girls. Despite these challenges, she remains optimistic and believes that finding allies and working collectively is the way forward towards a more equitable society.

Join us for an enlightening discussion on empowering women and fostering inclusivity in all spheres of life. Don't forget to like, share, and subscribe for more inspiring content!

Time codes:
00:08 - Introduction to the Podcast
01:39 - Who is Rita Thapa? Why is she in this world?
02:44 - What is your guiding star? What is the change you want to see in this world?
05:36 - Why did you pick this journey?
08:10 - Despite my privileges there are challenges, so that made me realize how it must be more difficult to those without and thus it was influential in guiding me
09:38 - Tell us something we need to learn more about you - the failures, the breaking points. Would you be able to share about a difficult challenge that you’ve had to face in the course of this journey? How did you (or try to) overcome this challenge?
13:50 - Why are we so behind on achieving gender parity?
17:53 - How systems and institutions endanger young women and girls.
20:27 - Do you think there is still a long way to go for progress? What are the things that are being done?
22:56 - We have to learn to step away from donor-driven/foreign aid-driven development.
24:44 - We as a system need to do something different. Are we stuck?
29:50 - The strength of community - the feeling of community and passion to share and contribute towards society is what sustains Tewa
31:55 - In what ways does Tewa invest in women?
33:31 - Example of the successful investment in women - a woman official who got elected whose journey started with Tewa
37:40 - Navigating acquisition of resources as a first generation is a difficult balance. 40:00 - Is our society ready to invest in women (migration, remittance, education, agriculture and investing in female entrepreneurship)
42:04 - Anupam Yatra (bus tour) - Women that joined that tour were people who have shown leadership in their fields, and tewa’s grantees.
43:57 - What was the aim of this tour? What was the thought process?
44:07 - Since the establishment of the Intergenerational Feminist Forum (IGFF), from the last election it gave us a path to move forward.
49:30 - उपको राजनीति -. It's essential to reform this system to enable their success in primary leadership roles. We want to shake the system.
50:44-. Election needs to be won with their own capacity and not be bought.
55:39 - How do these 'anupam' ideas come from? How are you able to bring ideas ahead of their time?
1:02:07 - Overall, where is our civil society?
1:04:55 - “I will come into your life to help you and make your life better” is something that is not something another person has the power to do without walking and living that person’s life.
1:07:13 - There was an awareness among the women that joined the Anupam Yatra.
1:08:31 - We do not see many leaders wanting to hand over their position of leadership in organizations. Why do you think this is?
1:09:00 - I am not sure why this is generally the case, but I was certain when I took a leadership position in Tewa that I would only hold that office for five years and pass it on. I decided to do this because I did not see space for the second generation of leaders.
1:13:45- Is there a sustainable way of running organizations in this innovative way? Are there enough resources?
1:15:11 - The journey of leadership gets lonely at times. How have you been staying alive doing the dangers of leading?
1:20:19 - Where do you see hope?
11:20:34- Hope lies within us.




Special Thanks

Guest: Rita Thapa
Host: Dr. Pukar Malla

Production Team: Spacebar Studio

Producer: Ms. Rakshya Silwal
Assistant Producer: Ms. Sirapa Chitrakar

Communication and Outreach Team:
Ms. Dilasha KC
Mr. Gaurav D. Bhatt

Advisory Team:
Dr. Nisha Onta
Ms. Pratigya Adhikary
Mr. Susit Dhakal
Ms.Salina Bhattarai


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