Who We Are
Tarangini Foundation is a feminist organization committed to recognizing the invaluable contributions of feminists and advancing women's rights across Nepal.
About Tarangini Foundation
Tarangini Mahila Adhikar Prashikshyen Kendra (Tarangini Foundation), established in 2017, is a feminist organisation dedicated to advancing gender justice through advocacy, documentation and movement-building. Our work is rooted in the belief that women's bodies, identity and work are central pillars of their agency and autonomy for realising their rights, as well as for social transformation. We aim to make women's work visible, challenge structural inequalities, and strengthen the feminist movement in Nepal.
Since its establishment, Tarangini has worked at the intersection of advocacy, documentation, feminist mentoring, and collective care to strengthen the feminist movement. Our work with women workers (particularly in domestic and agricultural sectors), women human rights defenders (WHRDs), elected women representatives, youth and grassroots feminists have contributed to building leadership, visibility, and political consciousness.
Tarangini's core approach integrates feminist documentation, self-care and integrated security, and intergenerational leadership as the theory of change. We support women human rights defenders and grassroots leaders to sustain their activism and movements through care, mentorship, and collective organising. In a context of shrinking and shifting civic space and persistent patriarchy, Tarangini stands as a space for feminist resistance, reflection, and renewal by reimagining and transforming power relationships for justice from the ground up.
Feminism is not just a movement; it is a way of seeing the world and striving for justice in all its forms.
Tarangini Foundation
Feminist NGO · Nepal · Est. 2017
Feminism is not just a movement; it is a way of seeing the world and striving for justice in all its forms.
Tarangini Foundation
Feminist NGO · Nepal · Est. 2017
The History Behind Our Work
The history of Nepal's feminist movement is one of courage, resilience, and collective struggle. For more than a century, women across the country, particularly those at the grassroots, have challenged inequality, demanded justice, defended bodily autonomy, and transformed communities through their leadership. Their contributions have shaped Nepal's social and political landscape, yet many of these stories and struggles remain undocumented, unrecognized, and undervalued.
Tarangini Mahila Adhikar Prashikshyen Kendra (Tarangini Foundation), established in 2017, believes that every story matters. From its establishment, Tarangini was envisioned as a platform to strengthen and support women human rights defenders and feminist leaders. Our work was built around four interconnected pillars that continue to guide us today: Documentation and Knowledge Building, Feminist Mentoring, Self-care and Well-being, and Advocacy. These pillars reflect our understanding that feminist movements require knowledge, leadership, well-being, and collective action.
As our journey evolved, we realized that one of the most persistent forms of inequality is the invisibility and undervaluation of women's work. Whether in homes, farms, communities, or social movements, women's work continues to sustain society while remaining largely unrecognized. This realization led us to place the right to work, dignity of labour, and recognition of women's work at the center of our interventions.
Today, Tarangini works to create an environment where women strengthen their leadership, organize collectively, advocate for their rights, and build movements that challenge unequal power relations. We believe that when women organize, their voices become stronger, their leadership becomes visible, and meaningful social transformation becomes possible.
At Tarangini, we believe that transformation is built through trust, solidarity, relationships, and collective action. Our journey continues with the women, communities, networks, and allies who inspire us every day. Together, we are documenting our histories, strengthening feminist leadership, amplifying women's voices, and building a future where every woman's work, identity, and contribution are valued, respected, and celebrated.
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Dr. Renu Rajbhandari (Adhikari)
Founder, Tarangini Foundation
“The strength of feminist movements lies not only in our advocacy and resistance but in our capacity to care for one another. Collective care is not separate from our activism — it is one of its most political forms, because it refuses the depletion on which patriarchy depends.”
Dear Friends, Partners and Supporters,
It gives me great pleasure to welcome you all to Tarangini Foundation. The journey towards justice is neither simple nor short. It is harder still for those of us who have been marginalised for generations on the basis of class, caste and gender, and who nonetheless insist on justice for ourselves and for others. I began this journey thirty-seven years ago as a young woman who wanted to stand with those abused and ostracised for who they were.
Despite this, confronting unequal power relations at every level, in the family, in society and in the state, exhausted me. Patriarchy does not permit women to work on our own terms or to claim the recognition our work deserves. It wears us down, tempts us to give up, and pushes many of us into deep distress.
I knew this was not my story alone. It is the reality of every Woman Human Rights Defender (WHRD) who dares to imagine justice and works for social change. Exhaustion is how the system defends itself.
Yet Women Human Rights Defenders continue to resist, to organise, and to imagine a world grounded in equality, dignity and justice. Our connectedness and solidarity have always been our greatest strength. Around 2015, I reached a point where I felt I could not continue. The emotional and physical toll had become overwhelming. However, my feminist sisters did not let me face that moment alone. The support I received from the Urgent Action Fund, together with the steadfast presence of my feminist friends, helped me reclaim my strength.
That experience taught me a lesson I carry every day. The strength of feminist movements lies not only in our advocacy and resistance but in our capacity to care for one another. Collective care is not separate from our activism — it is one of its most political forms, because it refuses the depletion on which patriarchy depends.
That experience led me to build a durable mechanism of support for the thousands of WHRDs alongside whom I was working. Tarangini Mahila Adhikar Prashikshyan Kendra (Tarangini Foundation) was therefore established, and formally registered on 10 April 2017.
Since its establishment, Tarangini has worked to strengthen and sustain WHRDs through four pillars: feminist mentoring, self-care, documentation and knowledge building, and advocacy. These pillars rest on a simple understanding: movements endure when women have the tools, support systems and spaces to lead and sustain change.
At Tarangini, we believe that every woman has the right to work with dignity, to make decisions about her body and her life, and to express her identity freely. We believe that meaningful change happens when women themselves stand at the centre of decision-making and advocacy.
Transformation does not happen overnight. It emerges through relationships, trust, solidarity and collective action. I am deeply grateful to the women who have trusted us with their stories, to our staff and board members, to our partners and supporters, and to every individual who believes in the power of collective action.
Together, we will keep working towards a world where equality, justice, dignity and care are not aspirations but realities.
In solidarity,
Dr. Renu Rajbhandari (Adhikari)
Founder, Tarangini Foundation
Vision & Mission
Our Vision
“Tarangini Foundation envisions a just, equal and inclusive society structurally transformed through an intergenerational feminist movement.”
Our Mission
“Tarangini Mahila Adhikar Prashikshyan Kendra (Tarangini Foundation), established in 2017, is a non-profit organization working on women’s rights. The Sanskrit word ‘Tarangini’ means person (feminine) creating waves. It is derived from the word “tarang” which means wave in English. This term is chosen for the institute as it best represents feminists and their movement in Nepal, which always created and is creating waves within all spheres of socio-political existence in the country.”
Overall Goal
“Tarangini Foundation aims to foster an empowered and inclusive feminist movement capable of driving transformative social change in Nepal.”
Our Values
Feminist Justice and Equality
Actively challenging patriarchy, caste, class, capitalism, and all systems that sustain structural inequality.
Intersectionality and Inclusion
Centering the leadership, knowledge, and realities of women facing multiple and overlapping forms of marginalisation.
Collective Care and Accountability
Practicing care, safety, transparency, and shared responsibility as organisational ethics.
Self-Representation and Voice
Ensuring women and communities speak for themselves, define priorities, and shape feminist narratives.
Learning, Reflection, and Adaptability
Sustaining a culture of feminist learning, unlearning, reflection, and evolution in response to context.
Strategic Priorities
Feminist Mentoring and Intergenerational Leadership
Tarangini Foundation continues to nurture intergenerational feminist leadership through mentoring that emphasises political consciousness, solidarity practices, and accountability. This mentoring intentionally includes Dalit, Janajati, Madhesi, Muslim, LGBTQIA+ and informal women workers ensuring leadership that represents the full spectrum of feminist experience in Nepal. Mentoring is reimagined as a two-way process: where experienced feminists learn from youth-led, digital and creative activism, and young feminists inherit histories of struggle, movement-building, and resistance. Through this, Tarangini strengthens a new wave of feminist leadership.
Feminist Self-Care and Integrated Security
Tarangini embeds self-care and collective care into every layer of its strategy. Our holistic integrated security model combines physical safety, psychosocial well-being, digital protection, and political resilience. The approach is rooted in feminist ethics as care is not a retreat from activism but a vital precondition for sustainable resistance. This includes building safe and accessible spaces for reflection, rest, and healing, particularly for WHRDs and grassroots feminists exposed to constant precarity and violence.
Feminist Documentation and Knowledge Production
Tarangini deepens its commitment to feminist knowledge production by documenting the voices, stories, and strategies of women workers, activists, and leaders whose experiences often go unrecorded. This documentation evolves beyond publication into Feminist Participatory Action Research (FPAR), community-led data collection, and creative storytelling through art, film, and digital platforms. The goal is to transform documentation into a tool of resistance that strengthens advocacy, informs policy change, and ensures that the feminist knowledge is preserved.
Cross-Movement Solidarity and Collective Advocacy
Our partners have also called for stronger, more intentional solidarity across movements by bridging divides of caste, class, sexuality, disability, and profession. Tarangini responds by investing in movement infrastructure: shared learning platforms, joint advocacy campaigns, and feminist resource centers where organisations can co-create agendas and campaigns. This includes collaborative efforts with networks of informal sector workers, queer and trans groups, indigenous women's collectives, and rural feminist organisations. Through co-created advocacy agendas and pooled resources, Tarangini aims to counter fragmentation and build sustained advocacy.
Organisational Strengthening and Resource Sustainability
Tarangini Foundation prioritises long-term resource diversification, feminist philanthropy, and community-led funding models. Institutional development focuses on building transparent governance systems, strengthening feminist HR and care policies, and enhancing staff capacities through regular reflection and training. The organisation experiments with creative funding models that align with feminist principles and reduce dependence on restrictive donor agendas.
Across Nepal
Click any pin or location below to explore our projects and programs in that area.
Meet Our Team
Get to know the passionate individuals behind Tarangini Foundation.