Kathmandu, Feb. 16 -- While government offices in Singha Durbar start buzzing with activity starting 10am, Bina (here identified with a pseudonym for privacy concerns) begins her day much earlier at 8:30am. She often works long past the official 5pm closing time.

For the past four years, she has worked as a contractual employee, cleaning offices, making and delivering tea, and handling odd jobs. She toils at the centre of Nepal's power, yet remains at the margins when it comes to workplace benefits.

Nowhere is this exclusion more painful than in the government-run daycare inside Singha Durbar, a facility she can see but not access.

When Bina was three months pregnant, she would pause outside the daycare, picturing a future where she co...