completed· Education

Supporting the Education of Marginalised Girls in Kailali (STEM)

Over fifty-five percent of Nepalese live below the $1.25/£0.78 daily poverty line clustered by geography, caste, and gender. Some of the most marginalised and disadvantaged, in terms of access to education, social and economic life opportunities, are Dalit and Janajati girls and their subcastes living in the Kailali District of the Far West Region. These subcastes include the Tharu people who were previously indentured servants to higher castes , and the Badi people who are the most marginalised of the ‘untouchables’ with adolescent Badi girls socialised and defined by their caste as commercial sex workers at puberty. Dalit and Janajati girls in Kailali District face a triple disadvantage of (1) living in a rural location where education is a low priority, (2) belonging to the lowest of castes and therefore forced to perform undesirable work and social tasks, and (3) being devalued by society for being female. Supporting The Education of Marginalised Girls of Kailali (STEM) will begin to erode the cultural and financial barriers to education and work these marginalised girls face by supporting them to Enrol in school, Learn and pass exams, and begin to Earn their way from school to work. ;