The UN Committee on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) examined Nepal on 20 July, and recommended the Government to take specific measures to increase the “very low” political representation of Dalit and indigenous women at national and local level.
In a bold speech on the 17 June at the Conference of the State Welfare and Social Justice Ministers in New Delhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh urged ministers to be more vigilant and do everything in their power to implement the SC/ST act that is meant to protect the human rights of Dalits and Adivasis. The PM paid particular attention to the on-going issue of manual scavenging which he called, “One of the darkest blots on our development process” saying,
The National Conference of Dalit Women organised by the Feminist Dalit Organisation (FEDO) took place in Kathmandu from the 11-13th May. The conference brought together Dalit women activists from 75 districts of Nepal; Human Rights activists, constitutional assembly members, researchers, representatives from UN and bilateral agencies and I/NGOs, members of the media; and international delegates from, India, Bangladesh, UK, Sweden, Hongkong, and Denmark.
Press Release - Copenhagen, May 30, 2011 (IDSN) --- The Caste-based Discrimination and Untouchability Crime Elimination and Punishment Act, which was adopted unanimously by Nepal’s interim Parliament on May 24, prohibits the practices of ‘untouchability’ both in the public and private sphere. Dalit groups have advocated for two years to ensure that the law did not only extend to the public sphere, but also to the private. It is the first time that a law, which criminalises ‘untouchability’ practices in the private sphere, has ever been introduced.
Multinational clothing brands are sourcing from cotton spinning mills in Tamil Nadu that exploit teenage girls, subjecting them to what the ILO terms the ‘worst forms of child labour’.
India is failing to address its farmer suicide crisis, says the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice (CHRGJ), in a report released yesterday that has indentified an agrarian crisis in India where farmer suicides are on the rise and caste discrimination only exacerbates the problem.
IDSN have launched a YouTube Channel on www.youtube.com/IDSNVideo
March was a very active month for Dalit women in Nepal who have been busy with activities to mark the International Women’s Day, the Social Women’s Forum and the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The many active participants at the events confirmed that there are plenty of women ready to ensure discrimination against women in Nepal is a thing of the past.
The IDSN 2010 Annual Report is now published and ready for download.
In a statement concluding her January visit to India, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Margaret Sekaggya, raised particular concern for the situation of Dalit human rights defenders and noted widespread deficiencies in implementation of laws to protect human rights defenders.
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