Nepal’s newly elected female president has just won the title of our Queen Sheva of the Week. Read on to see how Bidhya Devi Bandari, a longtime campaigner for female equality, is drastically changing women’s lives.
Bidhya was born in Bhojpur, in eastern Nepal, and was heavily involved in politics as a student. In 1994 and 1999, she won the parliamentary elections and later became Minister of Defense in 2008. During her time in parliament, Bidhya helped shape the new constitution after Nepal transitioned from a monarchy to a democratic republic.
During this period, she realized that she could single-handedly transform the role of women in Nepal by ensuring that they held a more prominent place in the political realm. Thanks to Bidhya’s efforts, the Nepalese constitution now requires the president or vice president to be female, as well as at least one-third of Nepal’s Parliament. Today, a little over 30% of Nepal’s parliament is female, proving the tremendous impact of Bidhya’s efforts.
Less than a week ago, Bidhya went one step further in her quest to improve Nepal and gender equality in her country and was elected president. A feminist at heart, Bidhya will surely use her new position not only to improve an underdeveloped nation, but also to champion minority and women’s rights.
A fun fact for all you SHEVA readers: Even though politics is still largely a male-dominated realm, the percentage of women in parliament worldwide has nearly doubled in the last 20 years. It’s thanks to women like Bidhya, who are not only brave enough to take on such important roles, but also strive to improve the lives of others, that gender equality is slowly becoming a reality. Kudos to the people of Nepal as well— despite only being a democratic republic for six years, they’ve already elected a female president! Times are clearly changing, one Queen Sheva at a time.
