Neglect over the issue of female combatants in the arms management process

In the remote village of Dasrathpur in Surkhet district, nearly 700 km west of the capital, Kathmandu, senior Maoist commander Dipak has the tough task of ensuring the well-being of his battle-hardened soldiers confined in the cantonment camps.

Since November, following the signing of a historic peace agreement to end a decade-long conflict between the Maoist rebels and the Nepalese government, the process for the management of the Maoist combatants and their weapons has been under way.

Around 30,000 of the male and female soldiers are being confined in seven main cantonments and 21 satellite cantonment sites in both west and east Nepal, according to Maoist leaders. However, a lack of adequate health services and low quality housing is increasingly proving a source of concern.

“Many soldiers are already sick due to the cold and they need special care since half of them are trying to recover from their past injuries,” said Dipak, who is vice commander of the Sixth Division of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of the Maoists. Around 1,500 soldiers of this division are being kept at the cantonment site in Dasrathpur village.

Dipak and other senior PLA personnel here are also concerned about the lack of special care and provisions for the female soldiers, especially the young mothers and also their children.

He added that there is a need to establish well equipped medical care services and proper housing mostly for the female soldiers, most of whom have no choice but to stay in civilian houses in nearby villages. He added that there were nearly 80 to 100 children - including infants to two year old babies.

Until now, most of the cantonment camps have ordinary health units with not enough doctors and medical supplies, according to the Maoist soldiers camped in the village.

The neglect over the lack of focus on the welfare of female combatants has been worrying both local and international women's rights activists and organisations.

“We are concerned over the neglect towards the issue of female combatants in the process of management of arms and armies in Nepal,” said Junko Sazaki, Nepal representative for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

Sazaki explained that there should be more careful planning now so as not to marginalise women combatants as that would make any reintegration process unsustainable.

Local gender experts also claimed that the same mistake of other post conflict countries is being repeated in Nepal where female combatants seem to be excluded from the process of disarmament and reintegration.

“Is anyone even talking to the women combatants at all to know what their needs and aspirations are?” asked Sanam Anderlini, UNFPA gender expert on peace and security.

Anderlini also expressed concern about the lack of any plans on the future of the female combatants. "What will life be like for these female soldiers after the cantonments?” she asked.

NN/DS