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Achievements

• WHR has succeeded in organizing single women in 1050 Village Development Committee and municipality of 73 districts of Nepal with total membership of 84,000 single women to be the agents of change in their respective communities.
• WHR received Special Consultative Status in ECOSOC (Economic and Social Council) in the United Nations  in 2011
• Collection of statistics of widows in the Census 2011(Now Nepal is the second country in the South Asian Region after India to have the proper statistics of widows at the National level)
• The issues of single women has also been incorporated in NAP 1325 and 1820
• The Government of Nepal drafted separate National Policy and Programme for the single women.
• WHR played an important role in highlighting the plight of single women of Nepal at the CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women) and United Nations Commission of Status of Women (CSW).
• WHR has been able to incorporate the issues of single women in 10th and 11th five-year plan and also in 3 year interim plan of Nepal. The inclusion of single women into government agenda has helped to promote the issues of single women at national and international levels.
• WHR has formed the National Network for Single Women which includes the Ministry of Women and other national & international organizations.
• WHR has succeeded in changing some discriminatory laws against single women which are:
  1. Property of deceased husband which the wife inherits no longer needs to be returned to husband’s family after remarriage.
  2. There is no longer the need to reach the age of 35 to inherit deceased husband’s property.
  3. No male consent is required while acquiring a passport as previously needed.
  4. Women no longer require the consent of their adult sons and unmarried daughters to sell or hand over property ownership.
  5. Single women from their name have the right to get citizenship certificate for their children.
• Aadhar saving credit program of WHR has provided loans to many single women to start small scale businesses which has been found as a supportive mechanism to sustain themselves and their family.
• Over 1000 children of single women and many young single women have received scholarship support for their education from the Opportunity Fund.
• WHR has trained and mobilized over 200 “Shahayogi Saathis” (Social Mobilizers), Para Legal Volunteers and Para Counselors in 38 districts.
• WHR organized the “International Conference on Capacity Building of Single Women (widows) which declared “The Kathmandu Widows Charter” on the basis of human rights instruments like CEDAW, CSW, UN Security Council Resolution 1325 & Beijing Platform of Action. The conference was the initial step towards setting up the platform for the voice of widows to be heard at the international level.
• WHR is the secretariat for South Asian Network for Widow’s Empowerment in Development (SANWED). SANWED is a new initiative in the South Asian region to uphold widows’ human rights in all aspects of their lives; end to their poverty and marginalization; and the elimination of all forms of discrimination against them – legal, social, cultural and economic.
• WHR has managed to raise issues concerning the need for social security schemes for single women at the national level, and this has been reflected in the Directive Principles and Policies of the Interim Constitution 2006.
• The Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare (MoWCSW) announced its decision to set up an Emergency Trust Fund solely for the single women (widows) in Nepal. This is the first time such an allocation of funds has taken place in the history of the country for single women. During the announcement, the Ministry also shared its decision to set up a committee under the secretary of the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare to ensure the effective working of this trust fund. Two representatives from WHR will also be in the committee.
• The Ministry has also declared its decision to develop a National Action Plan for Widows in Nepal, which is, again, a first in the history of Nepal. MoWCSW has stated that the Ministry along with other concerned Ministries, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), National Women Commission and other stakeholders and concerned bodies including WHR will form a committee to draft, prepare and enforce this action plan.
• Single women's issues addressed in National Policies and Programmes
  - Nepalese Government allocated budget for the social security allowance to all the single women regardless of age in the 2068/069 National Policy and Programme
  - Arrangement has been made to provide concessional loan without collateral to the cooperatives operated by single women
  - Provisions have been made for the tax deduction for the single women
  - Provisions have been made in receiving skill development trainings for 21,000 single women
  - Provisions have been made in involving single women in every empowerment activities through the local government
• WHR and its founder Lily Thapa has received following awards from esteemed organizations in and out of Nepal.
  1. Awarded as Best Social Worker of the Year by “Karma Badri Bikram Smriti Sewa Guthi” in 2008
  2. Recognition from “Mahilaka Lagi Manachitra Sanchar Samuha” in 2008
  3. Awarded by “Rastriya Puraskar Pratisthan” in 2008.
  4. Awarded as Best Entrepreneur by Boss Magazine (2007).
  5. American Biographical Institute recognized Lily Thapa as great women of 21st century in 2006.
  6. Awarded as Best Women Manager of the Year (2006) by Management Association of Nepal (MAN)
  7. Awarded by Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare in 2006
  8. Awarded as Champions of Change by FNCCI (2004)
  9. Awarded as Social Worker of the Year 2003 by Gorkha Samaj Kendra
  10. Awarded as Ashoka Fellow (2001) by Ashoka International, USA