Nepal, April 4 -- At a public function a couple of days ago, former vice-chair at the National Planning Commission, Biswo Poudel, reminisced on his time in office to note the inertia that generally afflicts governments. He was reflecting on resistance within our bureaucracy towards initiatives aimed at supporting women in the multifarious ways that only a government can. What was astounding, but not wholly surprising, was what a male official reportedly told him "man-to-man", and I use Poudel's words here: "Women have too much power."

Such attitudes are only indicative of how much more needs to be done-to change the mind-set of those in positions of authority. It was only after the 2007 amendment to the Civil Service Act and near-concurr...