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Archive | South Asia

UN experts raise concern over caste-based slavery

UN experts spoke out about the links between discrimination and slavery at the webinar “Contemporary Slavery & Racial Discrimination: Civil Society Support to Survivors during the Pandemic” organised by the International Day for the […]
December 4th, 2020|Caste-based slavery, India, Manual Scavenging, Nepal, South Asia, United Nations|
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EU Human Rights chief discusses caste violence with Dalit women activists

EU Special Representative for Human Rights, Eamon Gilmore and India and Nepal desk representatives of the European External Action Service (EEAS) met with IDSN and Dalit women activists from the Feminist Dalit Organisation – […]
December 3rd, 2020|Dalit Women, European Union, Human Rights Defenders, India, Nepal, South Asia, Violence and atrocities|
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Caste-hate speech highlighted at the 2020 UN Minority Forum

IDSN delivered strong statements at the UN Forum on Minority Issues on the theme “Hate Speech, Social Media and Minorities” highlighting the need to address caste-hate speech. The Forum was held in Geneva and […]
December 2nd, 2020|Dalit Women, Human Rights Defenders, India, Nepal, Political Participation, South Asia, United Nations, Violence and atrocities|
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Petition: UN – Act now and hold member states accountable for elimination of caste-based discrimination

The Dalit Human Rights Defenders Network has launched a petition to call for the United Nations to build forward better on descent and caste-based discrimination. The petition includes concrete recommendations for civil society, UN human […]
November 23rd, 2020|Human Rights Defenders, South Asia, United Nations|
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IDSN co-organises global OHCHR webinar “When language excludes and discriminates”

The webinar highlighted the need to move away from using the stigmatising concept of “social distancing”, which has been commonplace across UN agencies during the Covid-19 pandemic, and replace this with the term “safe […]
October 28th, 2020|Health, South Asia, United Nations|
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Statement: Rapes of Dalit women and impunity for dominant caste perpetrators must end now

IDSN Statement, October 7, 2020 IDSN strongly condemns the rapes and murders of Dalit girls and women in South Asia. The recent case of gang rape and murder of a 19-year old Dalit woman in […]
October 7th, 2020|Dalit Women, Human Rights Defenders, India, Nepal, South Asia, Violence and atrocities|
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Dalit women activists highlight caste and gender discrimination at UN hearing

The need for more attention to be paid to intersectional caste and gender discrimination and for transforming mindsets through human rights education and awareness raising, was highlighted at the UN multi-stakeholder hearing ‘Accelerating the […]
July 28th, 2020|Dalit Women, Human Rights Defenders, India, Nepal, South Asia, United Nations|
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Nepal: Bachelet condemns Dalit killings, calls for independent investigation

See the statement below from UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet:   Nepal: Bachelet condemns Dalit killings, calls for independent investigation   GENEVA (29 May 2020) – UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet expressed […]
May 29th, 2020|Access to justice, Bangladesh, Human Rights Defenders, India, Japan, Nepal, Pakistan, South Asia, Sri Lanka, UK, United Nations, Violence and atrocities, Yemen|
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Call to action to respond to the suspension of fundamental labour rights in India

IDSN fully endorses the Call to action on Labour Law changes in India, issued by the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI). The statement calls on businesses sourcing in India to respond to the news that […]
May 27th, 2020|Access to justice, Business, Caste-based slavery, India, South Asia|
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IDSN members and associates support Dalits affected by the impact of Covid-19

IDSN members in South Asia and international associates have been quick to offer immediate response and assistance, as the ramifications for Dalits of Covid-19 measures have become clear. While IDSN has issued two general […]
May 6th, 2020|Access to justice, Caste-based slavery, Health, Health, Human Rights Defenders, Humanitarian Aid, India, Living conditions, Nepal, Political Participation, South Asia, Water and Sanitation|
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