The Working Group on the UPR reviewed India in November 2022 and the outcome report was adopted at the Human Rights Council 52 March session in 2023. This report includes recommendations on Dalits, caste, hate speech, racism, water and sanitation, women and girls' rights and many more.
UPR India 4th Cycle, list of recommendations on caste and related topics
The Sexual Rights Initiative, National Council of Women Leaders (NCWL), Dalit Human Rights Defenders Network (DHRDNet), AWID, Her Rights Initiative (HRI) and IDSN have worked together to create a submission to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination to inform the elaboration of its General Recommendation n°37 on racial discrimination and the right to health. The report recommends that a tripartite approach is necessary in order for states to meet their obligations under CERD Article 5.
FEDO newsletter
Following his visit to Nepal that started on 29 November, the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty, Olivier De Schutter, released a statement highlighting the persistent interconnections between caste and poverty in Nepal. The Rapporteur also raised issues of caste violence and the need to do more to ensure meaningful political representation of Dalit women in Nepal.
In a controversial move, which runs contrary to the current Modi government policy, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), which falls under the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), in a new report has asked the Government of India (GoI) to ensure that the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act 2015 – called anti-atrocities Act – should be applied to not just those Dalits which are supposed to part of Hindu religion.
Dalits and members of India’s other marginalised communities are lagging behind more privileged groups in terms of health and access to healthcare, Oxfam India reports. The gap has been exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Over 30 Buddhist families in Rohi Pimpalgaon village in Modkhed taluka of Nanded district faced social boycott for close to a week for raising slogans in praise of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar in the village.
In connection with their participation in the 44th Human Rights Council session, states are encouraged to consider the ongoing and systemic practice of discrimination based on work and descent, also known as caste-based discrimination, affecting more than 260 million people globally.
In connection with their participation in the 43rd Human Rights Council session, States are encouraged to consider the ongoing and systemic practice of discrimination based on work and descent, also known as caste-based discrimination, affecting more than 260 million people globally.
Therapeutic techniques work on the assumption that the cause of distress is only within the individual. However, an individual’s mental health is also affected by various forms of systemic discrimination. So for Dalits, therapy involves narrating trauma from one therapist to another, in the hope that they will eventually find a caste-sensitive professional.
The Dalit Solidarity Network – Finland (DSNFi) celebrated its tenth anniversary as an online celebration on 16 November 2020. The celebration brought together more than thirty participants from Nepal, India, UK and many parts of Finland.
A survey of domestic workers revealed across six northeastern Indian states, a large majority of maids, cooks and other domestic staff worked seven days a week and were not given a single day of annual leave without having their pay docked.
An initiative to bring together various important resources on the issues of manual scavenging and sanitation work
India’s Sanitation Workers seek immediate help from the government, as they fight for better safety gears and equal treatment.
Sanitation workers’ vital roles put them on the frontline – often forgotten – during COVID-19 lockdowns. Already marginalised in many societies, how has the pandemic affected their safety and wellbeing? Shahrukh Mirza and Andrés Hueso discuss our research with sanitation workers across South Asia, highlighting how to support them through the pandemic and beyond.
DSN Statement – We strongly urge governments and companies with supply chains in South Asia, to take measures to urgently protect migrant and informal workers, including Dalits, against a loss of income, social benefits, shelter and a means to feed themselves and their families, as Covid-19 measures and repercussions threaten their lives and livelihoods.
The Government have announced a rise in budgets allocated for the welfare of Dalits (Scheduled Castes) and Adivasis (Scheduled Tribes) in India. However, human rights activists are saying that the rise is irrelevant as the allocations are not in fact benefitting those they are supposed to be aimed at. Speaking at the India Today Conclave on 1-2 March, Paul Divakar, of the National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR), commented that, "It is all a mirage. While funds are being allocated on paper, only about 2 per cent of this is actually being spent on Dalit issues." IDSN Board Member, Beena Pallical (NCDHR), also spoke at the Conclave.
Transparency International have released a comprehensive report analyising the specific challenges of Dalits in Bangladesh. The report offers key recommendations for the fulfilment of rights and inclusive public service provisions for Dalits in Bangladesh.
The government’s decision to build houses for Dalit families of Arnaha Rural Municipality, Saptari, under the People’s Residence Programme has fallen flat. Dalit families of the locality are disappointed as construction work has yet to begin though the current fiscal year is coming to an end. Local Lalaku Sada said, “The government’s false promise has disheartened our impoverished Dalit community.” The government’s apathy in constructing the residences has let down Dalit families of around 50 Village Development Committees across the district.