The government has signed USD 10 million loan with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for empowerment of rural women in Nepal.

Finance secretary Bhoj Raj Ghimire and ADB country director Sultan H. Rahman signed the agreement at the Finance Ministry Friday.

The loan, for the Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women Project, aims to reduce poverty through empowering poor rural woman and disadvantaged groups, such as ethnic and low caste women in 15 poorest and most disadvantaged districts in the mid-western and far-western regions and central region, where gender discrimination is pervasive, a press statement issued by the ADB said.

The project covers economic, legal, socio-cultural, and institutional empowerment of disadvantaged rural women.

“As long as women remain disadvantaged, half of Nepal’s human resources will not realize its full potential. This is detrimental for the country’s social and economic development,” the release quoted Rahman as saying. “Women’s poverty is exacerbated by caste- and ethnicity-based discrimination, as these define access to resources and opportunities, leaving women more disadvantaged and vulnerable at every level,” the ADB country director further said.

Women have unequal access to food, education, and health care, limited opportunities to earn incomes, less access to and control over productive resources, and few effective legal rights and they are further disadvantaged by a lack of awareness of their legal rights and opportunities, the ADB observed.

The project will benefit 207,000 women and 80 village development committees in the 15 core districts. The micro-enterprise program is expected to reach 30,000 women, the community-based water supply systems will benefit 12,600 women and 100,000 women will benefit from the legal component.

The total cost of the project is about USD15.5 million, of which the government is providing USD3.4 million and the households and communities benefiting will contribute USD.1 million while the ADB will provide a loan of USD10 million, which accounts for 65 percent of the total project cost.

The loan comes from its concessional Asian Development Fund and has a 32-year term, including a grace period of eight years. Interest is charged at 1.0 percent per annum during the grace period and 1.5 percent per annum for the rest of the term, the ADB said.

The Department of Women Development of the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare has been selected as the executing agency for the project.