Joint NGO statement for meeting between the ECOSOC Committee on NGOs and accredited NGOs.

Please find the full statement below Joint NGO statement for meeting between the ECOSOC Committee on NGOs and accredited NGOs         (Delivered 22 June 2018 – New York)                                                                                                                                                                                         Thank you Mr. Chair I am delivering this statement in the name of 258 NGOs.  We welcome that the ECOSOC Committee on NGOs has convened this meeting with ECOSOC-accredited NGOs, […]

|Categories: Human Rights Defenders, Political Participation, United Nations|Tags: |

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Invitation to the #DalitWomenFight side-event at the UN human rights council – 21 June

IDSN is supporting the side-event #DalitWomenFight against Caste-Based Violence taking place on 21 June in Geneva, in connection with the 38th session of the UN Human Rights Council. The side-event will explore and discuss aggravated caste-based violence faced by women and girls in India, often with little recourse to justice. Dalit women activists will present witness accounts of […]

|Categories: Access to justice, Dalit Women, Human Rights Defenders, India, United Nations, Violence and atrocities|Tags: |

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UN rights chief references the unjust 10-year deferral of IDSN’s application for UN accreditation in his annual report to the UN Human Rights council

IDSN has issued a factsheet covering all the details of IDSN’s case, including over 80 questions received from India over the past 10 years and statements of UN experts addressing IDSN’s case. In 2017, a UN side-event was held in New York, where prominent speakers addressed the fact that the NGO committee was not fulfilling its mandate and […]

|Categories: Human Rights Defenders, India, Political Participation, United Nations|Tags: |

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The need to address caste-based violence highlighted in international annual human rights reports

Failure of state authorities to protect the rights of Dalits In the India chapter of the Amnesty International 2018 report it is noted that, “Adivasi communities continue to be displaced by industrial projects, and hate crimes against Dalits remain widespread.” Amnesty International The Nepal chapter of the same report highlight the disproportionate affect on ´Dalits, and other caste-based and ethnic minorities´ in the […]

|Categories: Access to justice, Caste-based slavery, Dalit Children, Dalit Women, Education, Humanitarian Aid, India, Manual Scavenging, Nepal, Violence and atrocities|Tags: |

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Dalit women participate in the European Development days

An IDSN delegation took part in the European Development Days in Brussels from 5-6 June 2018, organized by the European Commission. The delegation included Asha Kowtal from the National Dalit Women’s movement –the All India Dalit Mahila Adhikar Manch (AIDMAM), in India, and Renu Sijapati from the Feminist Dalit Organisation (FEDO) […]

|Categories: Dalit Women, European Union, India, Nepal|Tags: |

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Dalit rights inadequately addressed at the UN rights review of Bangladesh

The recommendation stating that the state must “Step up efforts in order for indigenous peoples, especially the jumma as well as the dalit fully enjoy their human rights,” was issued by Peru, but not accepted by Bangladesh. On a positive note, a number of recommendations that relate indirectly to Dalit rights were accepted and many of them related directly to […]

|Categories: Access to justice, Bangladesh, United Nations|Tags: |

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Declaration for the Elimination of Descent-Based Discrimination – 2018

Declaration for the Elimination of Descent-Based Discrimination (2018) Date : 2018.04.13 Prior to the International Symposium on UN Guidance Tool on Descent-Based Discrimination in Tokyo on 12 April 2018, IMADR and the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) held the International Consultation for the Elimination of Descent- Based Discrimination in Osaka on […]

|Categories: Solidarity Networks, South Asia, United Nations|Tags: |

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UN anti-racism committee issues strong recommendations on fighting caste discrimination in Nepal

The Concluding Observations of the May 2018 review of Nepal, by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), include dozens of remarks relating to caste-based discrimination and several strongly worded recommendations on fighting it. The concerns raised by the Committee include the lack of adequate implementation of the laws prohibiting caste-based discrimination, caste-based slavery, […]

|Categories: Human Rights Defenders, Nepal, United Nations|Tags: |

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Survey of Caste in the United States finds discrimination persists

Equality Labs has released a survey report on Caste in the United States. The report came out of a community driven survey conducted in 2016 and has now emerged as a crucial document that both presents the first evidence of Caste discrimination in the US and helps to map the internal hegemonies within our communities. The author write, […]

|Categories: Diaspora|Tags: |

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Report: Dalit men, women and children enslaved in India’s brick making industry

A new report by Anti-Slavery International documents widespread slavery in India’s brick making industry and finds that the majority of workers are Dalits. Whole families, including small children, work 9-12 hour days in debt-bondage with little recourse to justice. The report finds that discrimination and exclusion, along with the way brick kiln moulders are recruited and paid, underpins the […]

|Categories: Caste-based slavery, India|Tags: |

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