The NEW Leadership (On the Process of being updated...)

>“The freedom of women is going to be the freedom of men too. The day the woman is accepted as equal, given equal opportunity to grow, man will find himself suddenly free from the bitchiness that he used to feel from the woman. It is time…We can create a world together, with men and women sharing their insights, their visions, their dreams. Because they are different, their dreams are different, their contributions to the society will be different. And if a society can be created in which men and women have participated equally, that will be first time the richest society in the world.”

--Osho

The Situation of Women Although over a period of time women have attained education, more economic and political freedom, yet her existential problem is still the same: she is till not free from within-free from fear and insecurity, free from jealousy and anxiety. Osho has given her this inner freedom by introducing her to meditation—through the science and technology of inner transformation. Meditation has given her inner strength. Meditation makes her free from her conditionings, social and psychological trappings, low self-esteem and lack of self-confidence.

“While women represent sixty percent of the world population, they perform nearly two third of all working hours, receive only one third of the world income and own less than one percent of world property.” (Statement from program of Action U N, 1980).

Although the statement was made about the general status of women in the world a little more than two decades ago, it holds truth even today as women seem to be more or less in the same status as mentioned above. Need for Women Development The development of a country mainly requires the efficient mobilization of its human resource. The production of goods and services is made possible through skills and efforts of human beings including knowledge, capability and commitment. When we talk of effort of human being naturally it is the effort of both men as well as women. The contribution of women in development process could be immense. In order to ensure their commitment their upliftment is crucial. There is a growing realization of the importance of the participation of women in the developmental process. In spite of such realization there is still hesitation to accept women as co-partner of men in the developing countries. Despite all the views to improve the situation of women, discussions, lobbying, dialogue including legal and policy measures at the national, regional and international level, very little change has occurred.

Women in Politics

Women’s participation in the regular political process and their access to positions of power has been found very low. After 1990, with the adoption of a new Constitution (1990), women’s political movement has gained new momentum. A number of politically active women’s associations, affiliated with political parties, have been reactivated and are engaging in intra-party as well as national dialogues on improving the political, legal, economic and cultural status of women. The Constitution provides for equal rights for every citizen without discrimination on grounds of sex, race, language, and religion; this includes the right to vote, contest in elections, and affiliate with political parties, and hold diverse political positions. The Constitution also states that 5% of all candidates running for parliament from each party should be women, and there is a provision for the nomination of three women to the Upper House. However, this percentage is being geared up to 33% in the offing, while women still demanding 50% seats as they comprise fifty percent of the population. Also, their participation in politics, government and administration, national development and planning is very much limited due to constraints like high level of illiteracy and poverty, economic dependence, lack of access to property, heavy work burdens and patriarchal norms and values.

An Enlightened View on Women

We bring to you and share a more enlightened view of Osho (Acharya Shree Rajaneesh) who is the first visionary of the contemporary world to recognize women in her own right—not just as someone’s daughter, wife or mother, but simply as a women independent of all identifying labels. He has restored her lost dignity and has given her individuality. In a forthright manner he points out, “Women can never be free unless she drops artificial conditionings. It is difficult to drop them because the society respects you for those qualities. It is very ego-fulfilling, so to drop them seems to be very difficult.”

Comprehensive studies on the situation of women have found that wide spread discrimination takes place against women in the vital areas of life like socio-cultural and economic aspects.

The NEW (National Education for Women’s) Leadership is a program exclusively designed to encourage college women to take on public leadership roles in Nepal. Women who are out of college and university also aspiring for leadership positions within their organizations, jobs or political parties are equally eligible to attend this 5-day residential program that offers a unique and holistic approach to educate and learn about leadership and politics from successful women speakers and leaders.

This program is an initiative to educate and empower the next generation of women leaders in Nepal to lead the people and the country into the 21st century. Arrangement is also being made for our student participants to meet women leaders serving in a variety of political roles, learn from women and political scholars, participate in skill building workshops, and discuss and refine their own concepts of leadership. After the five day intensive program participants develop leadership projects on their campuses or in their communities to put their ideas about leadership into action. Participants in NEW Leadership are usually undergraduate women from a variety of backgrounds and academic majors. National Institute for Leadership Development (NILD) is committed to including women from diverse socioeconomic, ethnic, racial and educational backgrounds in each NEW Leadership program. NILD encourages support from foundations, corporations, and individual donors so that we can create learning opportunities for women who have the calling for public leadership but lack the necessary funds. The idea is to create the NEW Leadership Development Network across the country and to bring this program to college women in every region of the country.

The NEW Leadership residential program is based on a five part curriculum designed to educate college women about opportunities in politics and public life, and empower them to assume leadership positions. The residential requirement is a central component of NILD ‘s leadership programs which creates an intensive learning experience that is impossible to replicate in a series of one day programs. Students live together for five days and have the opportunity to get to know one another, share ideas and opinions, and reflect on the day’s program together over meals and in the dorm. The curriculum uses a variety of teaching tools to motivate college women to think about politics in new and interesting ways.

Our Five Part Curriculum

1. Women\'s historical political participation Many college women today know little about women’s role in politics and policy making beyond the feminist movement of the 1970’s. This due to the traditional definition of politics and the existing biases in historical reporting. To combat the misconception that women have only recently become politically active we look for several issues:

 The number of women participating in electoral politics at various levels,

 The barriers to women entering electoral politics,

 The particular problems facing women of marginalized groups and ethnicity, race, caste, etc.,

 And the historical participation of women in grass roots activism and the formation of social welfare policy. Through discussions and interactive games we encourage the students to examine the connection between community service and policy making and share information about the important civic contributions women have made to Nepalese politics and abroad throughout history.

2. Connecting students with women leaders Strong role models can serve as one of most powerful sources of inspiration. During the residential program, political women with a variety of leadership roles and experiences come to speak and interact with the students. Our political leaders include not only elected women and governmental officials, but also grassroots activists, issue advocates, lobbyists, campaign managers, political analysts and more. Speakers are encouraged to talk with students, rather than at them, and are invited to stay after the panel to join the students for a meal or informal discussion. The political women at each program are diverse in age, race, ethnicity, lifestyle and political ideology. We strive to insure that each student sees at least one speaker they can personally identify with. A special feature of the residential program is to encourage Faculty in Residence (FIR), political women leaders who agree to stay for the duration of the program, eating meals and living in the dorm with the students. This arrangement serves to break down formal barriers and encourages a more cordial relationship between FIRs and students. During evening and meals, FIRs answer questions, encourage discussion, and expose students to different leadership styles as well as the private and personal aspect being a political leader. Arrangement for FIRs will be made as far as practicable, of course, at the convenience of the women leaders available then.

3. Leadership in a diverse society A NEW leadership, because the groups are small and the experience is intense, students are continually challenged by difference. During the program students will interact with the people who have different ideas, different backgrounds, and different life experiences. Despite the apparent diversity of many college campuses, most students spent their social time with the people who look and think like them. |the curriculum included a formal diversity session, where students explore and discuss their experiences of race, class, gender, sexuality discrimination and oppression. They work on strategies to overcome the ideas and attitudes which divide them, and examine the importance of building alliances and coalitions across differences. The speakers, FIRs and NEW Leadership Staff also reflect a range of races, ethnicities, ideological perspectives and lifestyles. We encourage students to get to know others who they can identify with as well as those who challenge their world view.

4. Students participate in workshops and hands-on projects to develop their leadership skills. At NEW Leadership programs, students participate in a training session on effective communication. They get advice on overcoming the fear of public speaking, and tips on making an introduction and how to organize a good speech. They have the opportunity to practice these skills throughout the program as each student is assigned to introduce one of the program speakers. Other skills building workshops include conflict resolution, networking and advocacy training. Preparing the next generation of women leaders and shaping leadership that breaks the mold of \\\"politics as usual\\\" is central to the mission of NILD. Although women are 51% of the voting population, they are significantly under represented in our nation\\\'s policy making bodies. In the General Elections of 1986, out of 1,548 candidates, 71 (4.6 percent) were women, out of which three women were elected and five others were nominated, meaning that out of a total of 140 members, eight (5.7 percent) were women. From 1975 to 1990, there was mandatory representation , either by election or nomination, at the village and district levels also. At any point of time, there was at least 4,200 women in political leadership at the village level and 75 women at the district level. In 1991 general elections to the Lower House, 81 women contested (6 percent) out of a total of 1,345 candidates elected 7 (3.4 percent) were women and three more were nominated to the Upper House. Of the total membership of 256 in (Upper House and Lower House) 10 (3.8 percent) were women. These numbers are indicative of the problems that women face in all levels of political involvement. Our insight based on our personal research and studies indicates that women bring different perspectives, experiences and priorities to public life. Equality, justice and a commitment to democracy dictate that more women should be present when and where important political decisions are being made. NEW Leadership is designed to increase the representation of women in our national, regional and local decision making bodies, by educating and empowering college women to take on public leadership roles.

5. Leadership through action Students are encouraged to build on their NEW Leadership experience by developing leadership projects on their home campuses and in their communities after the residential program. During the program, students spend time brainstorming project ideas and giving each other feedback. Students develop an action plan based on their own leadership abilities, what they have learned about political leadership and issues that are important to them. We also encourage students to do research, organize information and make presentation to the rest of the participants at the end of the program.