UN side-event highlights Dalit women’s leadership in the fight for justice

IDSN brought together #DalitVoicesForJustice, UN experts, civil society and Member States for our HRC62 side-event, Caste, Gender and Power: #DalitVoicesForJustice on 2 July at the UN Human Rights Council. The event highlighted the urgent need to explicitly address caste and gender discrimination as a root cause of widespread human rights violations across South Asia. This was underscored by powerful […]

|Categories: Access to justice, Bangladesh, Caste-hate speech, Dalit Women, Human Rights Defenders, India, Manual Scavenging, Nepal, Pakistan, Political Participation, South Asia, Sri Lanka, United Nations, Violence and atrocities, Water and Sanitation|Tags: |

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Dalit human rights defender Manjula Pradeep honoured with inclusive children’s park in Spain

The City Council of Alcorcón, Madrid, has named a new inclusive children’s park after Manjula Pradeep, a Dalit human rights defender and long-standing collaborator of  IDSN. The “Manjula Pradeep Children’s Park” was formally named by municipal decree on 25 February 2026. The decree recognises Manjula Pradeep’s lifelong work against discrimination based on caste and gender and her […]

|Categories: Dalit Women, Diaspora, Human Rights Defenders|Tags: |

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UN HRC62 side-event: Caste, Gender and Power — #DalitVoicesForJustice Invitation

IDSN is delighted to welcome two UN Special Rapporteurs, Ashwini K.P. and Prof. Nicolas Levrat, alongside a powerful panel of Dalit human rights defenders from across South Asia, for a UN Human Rights Council side-event in Geneva on caste, gender, power and justice. Caste, Gender and Power: #DalitVoicesForJustice will take place on 2 July at 14:00 CET in Room XI, […]

|Categories: Access to justice, Dalit Women, India, Nepal, Pakistan, South Asia, Sri Lanka, United Nations|Tags: |

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European Parliament hearing calls for stronger EU action on caste discrimination in South Asia

On 14 April 2026, the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights held a public hearing on caste discrimination in South Asia, bringing renewed attention to caste as a structural human rights issue and to the need for stronger and more explicit European Union action. The hearing brought together the United Nations, the European External Action Service (EEAS), […]

|Categories: Access to justice, Business, Dalit Children, Dalit Women, European Union, Political Participation, Violence and atrocities|Tags: |

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Historic appointment and state apology put caste justice on Nepal’s agenda

Nepal’s March 2026 election has created a new opening for addressing caste discrimination and stepping up action to ensure caste and gender justice, with a formal state apology to Dalits and the appointment of Hon. Sita Badi as the first Dalit woman to serve in Nepal’s federal cabinet, as Minister for Women, Children and Senior Citizens. IDSN’s […]

|Categories: Access to justice, Dalit Women, Nepal, Political Participation|Tags: |

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Nepal: UN Special Rapporteur urges action on caste discrimination and Dalit rights

The UN Special Rapporteur on minority issues, Professor Nicolas Levrat, has urged Nepal to take stronger action to ensure that Dalits and minority communities can fully enjoy their rights. Following his country visit to Nepal in December 2025, the Special Rapporteur highlighted the urgent need to close the gap between Nepal’s progressive legal framework and the […]

|Categories: United Nations|Tags: |

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OECD side session addressed caste discrimination in global supply chains

At an OECD side session on 10 February, speakers highlighted caste-based discrimination as a serious and often overlooked human rights risk in global supply chains and called for stronger action to address it through human rights due diligence. The virtual session, From Principles to Practice: Addressing Caste and Advancing Nondiscrimination in Supply Chains, was hosted by […]

|Categories: Uncategorized|Tags: |

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States urge Nepal to strengthen action against caste discrimination in 2026 UN rights review outcome

During Nepal’s fourth-cycle Universal Periodic Review (UPR), UN Member States’ recommendations called for stronger action against caste-based discrimination, “untouchability”, and related patterns of exclusion and violence affecting Dalits, including Dalit women and Dalit children. Nepal’s review took place on 21 January 2026

|Categories: Access to justice, Dalit Women, Nepal, Political Participation, United Nations, Violence and atrocities|Tags: |

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Dalit human rights defenders engage with EU institutions in Brussels

IDSN facilitated a series of advocacy meetings and outreach activities in Brussels involving Dalit human rights defenders that took place in December 2025. The visit created an important opportunity to bring first-hand perspectives from South Asia into exchanges with EU institutions on caste-based discrimination, human rights and democratic governance and contribute to ongoing strategy work on discrimination […]

|Categories: European Union|Tags: |

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IDSN highlights milestone and the need to address caste discrimination at ICERD 60th Anniversary

On 4 December 2025, the International Dalit Solidarity Network (IDSN) joined global human rights leaders at United Nations HQ in Geneva for the High-Level Commemoration of the 60th Anniversary of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD). IDSN Executive Director Meena Varma spoke on Panel 2: “Realizing the Promise of Equality Without Distinction as […]

|Categories: Access to justice, Caste-based slavery, Caste-hate speech, Dalit Children, Dalit Women, Human Rights Defenders, Political Participation, South Asia, United Nations, Violence and atrocities|Tags: |

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