WOW - Women of the World aims to raise awareness regarding gender and equality, build capacity and provide a voice and platform to women and girls and help them build allies.

WOW is a place where hundreds of women’s stories are shared, feelings vented and minds influenced. The festival is for everyone. It brings people together from all corners of society - both speakers and audience members - to energise and provide the inspiration and tools to make change.

WOW first came to Kathmandu in 2017, convened by Jude Kelly, founder of WOW in partnership with the British Council. Since then it returned to Kathmandu in 2018, and Janakpur in 2019. Two virtual editions were hosted in 2020 and 2021, before being hosted at the historic Lumbini Park in 2022.

British Council, the UK’s cultural relations organisation, builds connections, understanding and trust between people in the UK and other countries through arts and culture, education and the English language. They have been working in Nepal since 1959.

The British Council has a long history of supporting creative professionals develop practice in Nepal. More recently, the organisation has created a strong network across artforms and sectors. Through a mix of capacity building and resources British Council has reached more than 500 artists and over 100 organisations in the past five years.

Through their Culture Responds programme, they support under-represented groups from across Nepal to participate in culture life and increase the diversity of contributions and narratives in cultural production. Similarly, they support the art/culture sectors’ response to climate emergency by improving sustainable practices within the sector and raised awareness and strengthen engagement of national audiences.

Stay up to date with WOW in Nepal here. You can also follow the British Council in Nepal on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.