Documentation Centre as the Backbone for Asmita Women's Publication House, Media and Resource Organization in Nepal By Robertine Romeny ©

The dissemination of information is the most important activity of Asmita Women's Publication House, Media and Resource Organization (Asmita) in Katmandu, Nepal. This is not surprising in a country where few women are able to read and write. After starting a feminist magazine and establishing a documentation section, the enthusiastic team of Asmita initiated various projects aimed at informing and sensitizing illiterate and semiliterate women.

This article is based on information from Anju Chhetri, co-founder and editor-in-chief, June 1998.

Asmita ('identity') was established in 1988. Although there were more than 400 newspapers and magazines published in Nepal at that time, there was nothing that met the needs of literate women. Asmita was started by two journalists who invested their own money in order to fill this vacuum. They now have an enthusiastic team of 16 staff members, two of whom work at the documentation section. Asmita is the only women's publishing and documentation centre in Nepal. Its main goal is to produce various publications on women's issues and to promote the active participation of more women in the media. Asmita issues two magazines: Asmita, a monthly magazine for educated women, and Sahachari, a bi-monthly magazine for neo-literate and semi-literate women.

Political and economic situation

In Nepal, the proportion of women involved in social activities is extremely low. Women are underprivileged, under-represented, and exploited in all spheres of society. Political, economical, socio-cultural and educational factors have forced them to live a life of subjugation. Illiteracy is very high and the fact that the adult literacy rate for men (39.4%) is three times as high as that for women (13.0%), bears witness to the inequality between men and women (statistics over 1996/97 for the 15-49 age group). In Nepal, the cost of educating a female child is considered an unnecessary expense or even a net loss. Nepalese reason that their daughters will later marry and move to other households, so that the fruits of investment will be enjoyed by the in-laws.

History

Asmita holds the opinion that women themselves, consciously or unconsciously, confirm their own exploitation by accepting and internalizing degrading values learned through society, culture and tradition. 'It is therefore not enough to eliminate all kinds of discrimination against women', says Anju Chhetri, 'it is also imperative to empower women by creating and developing new values. This conviction made Susan Maskey and myself realize the need to portray Nepali women in the media the way they really are, and we started the organization Asmita.'

One of the most serious problems faced by Asmita in the initial stage was how to locate and collect the documentation it needed from the scattered resources of the various GOs, NGOs and INGOs involved in women's developmental activities. To overcome this problem, the information documentation section was established in 1991. It is now one of Asmita's most vital sections, also functioning as a resource organization on women's studies. The section's main objective is to cater for the information needs of the Asmita family, as well as other women experts, specialists, development professionals (ie policy makers, planners, researchers), media professionals, teachers and the general public. Through its systematic documentation of information, it has proved itself as the backbone of both Asmita's magazine and Asmita itself. In addition, it is widely used by individual women and organizations with an interest in following and staying informed on women related issues. The publications of Asmita and the documentation centre are supplementary to each other. Asmita has conducted surveys on various women's topics, including 'A married women's approach to the husband-wife relationship', 'Nepali women voters', 'opinions on the 1994 by-election', and 'the role of the family in the development of women's talent'. The results were published in Asmita's magazine.

Collection

The documentation section houses more than 3,000 items including books, documents, periodicals, reports, case studies, government and UN-documents, posters, photos, audiovisual cassettes and newspaper clippings. Asmita is proud of its huge and unique collection on violence against women, especially the trafficking of women for prostitution. It is also in possession of a large book collection on feminism and human rights. Among the most requested subjects are women's rights and access to education; equal economic rights; access, participation and presentation in the media; violence; right and access to health care; reproductive and sexual rights, and the national and international women's movement. The one and only criteria employed by Asmita in acquiring and selecting material is women and women related issues or fields.

Literacy support

Illiteracy in Nepal is widespread, especially amongst women. Lack of information, exclusion from partnership in social, economic, political and other types of decision making, and low income are some of the indirect effects. There is a great need for education aimed at helping people understand and absorb information. To this end, Asmita initiated several projects aimed at improving the literacy skills of semi-literate rural women. Amongst other things, it produced simple reading materials and colorful posters aimed at raising aware¬ness on gender issues. In addition, Asmita published 90 thousand copies of a booklet titled Law for Women's Empowerment, intended to inform grass roots women on their legal rights.
In 1997, in an attempt to reach semi-literate and completely illiterate women, Asmita published four issues of the monthly magazine Sahachari (Friend). The magazine provides women with information on their fundamental rights by the coverage of subjects such as health, education, family planning and domestic violence. Chhetri: 'We collect the information from the women themselves and repackage it in such a way that it is a source of inspiration for others. In this way, there is two-way communication traffic; from rural women to Asmita and vice versa'.
Sahachari was given a warm welcome from many local and national organizations which hold literacy classes for rural women, and Asmita received bulks of readers' mail. In spite of its obvious success, Chhetri is nevertheless pessimistic about Sahachari's future. 'At the moment, it looks as if our project will die a premature death.' It was initially agreed that Sahachari would receive financing for four issues. At the time of writing, however, funding for continuing the project is a major problem.

Communication

Although Asmita supports all nine existing women's alliances and networks, it has no formal or structural connections with any of them. 'As a media agent, we feel we should maintain a certain distance from women's organizations. This helps us to critically observe and analyze their activities and work', explains Chhetri. 'In this sense, Asmita's role regarding women and developmental activities in Nepal, is that of a watchdog'. On a regional level, Asmita participates in the Asian Network of Women in Communication.

Funding and personnel

Some of the major publications are purchased, but most of the existing collection was sent to Asmita as complimentary copies. Asmita employs 16 paid staff members and several volunteers. The biggest threat faced by the documentation centre is insufficient financing.

Awards

Asmita has received various awards for its work. In 1994 it won the Pandora Award, from the international organization 'Women in Publishing', and in 1997 an award from the Nepali National Social Service. Chhetri proudly remarks: 'Asmita has succeeded in making gender issues a matter of public debate. The organization has played an important role in providing authentic and accurate information on women.'

Asmita Women's Publication House, Nepal
Contact person: Anju Chhetri
Tel: # 977 227629/252445
Fax: # 977 430035
E-mail: asmita@npl.healthnet.org

For questions or more information please contact: mapping@iiav.nl
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