Press Release
National level virtual interaction program on 'Universal Periodic Review (UPR) recommendation and women's issues in Nepal'
The Universal Periodic Review is a unique process that involves a periodic review of the human rights records of all 193 UN Member States. Since its first meeting in April 2008, all 193 UN member States have been reviewed twice within the first and second Universal Periodic Review cycles. Nepal's first and second Universal Periodic Reviews took place in January 2011 and November 2015, respectively. Nepal's human rights record has been recently examined by the UN Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group for the third time on Thursday, 21 January 2021. Nepal was one of the 14 states reviewed by the UPR Working Group from 18 to 29 January during the session.
In this context, on 19 August 2021, WOREC organized a National level virtual interaction program on 'Universal Periodic Review (UPR) recommendation and women's issues in Nepal' to share the recommendations of the third periodic review related to women's issues, which the Nepal government accepted and noted. The discussion session, conducted on the occasion of the 2021 Nepal People's Forum on the SDG 16+, also revolved around determining the follow-up actions to implement recommendations and devising the advocacy action plan.
The program featured Murari Prasad Kharel, Secretary of National Human Rights Commission, Jitram Lama, President of NGO Federation, Laxmi Acharya Parajuli, Deputy Secretary of the National Women Commission, Shradha Rijal from Office of Prime Minister and Council of Ministers (OPMCM), Department of Human Rights and International Conventions, Meera Sherchan, Director of Department of Women and Children, Nanimaya Nepal, Board Member of Social Welfare Council, Sabitra Shah, Women Development Officer of Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizen, along with the members of different political and civil societies from provincial and national levels.
Lubha Raj Neupane, Executive Director of WOREC, presented the key points from the third UPR cycle recommendations on women in Nepal and follow-up action. In contrast, Laxmi Aryal, senior program coordinator of WOREC, facilitated the program.
From the information presented by Lubha Raj Neupane, it was found that in the 3rd cycle of review, Nepal has received a total of 233 recommendations, of which Nepal has accepted 196 recommendations. The review group consisting of experts, civil society organizations and National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) and regional mechanisms highlighted the discriminatory laws and practices for women, especially in rights to mobility, decent work, dignified social inclusion, and provided over 30 recommendations to ratify the international human rights conventions, protocols and state party of treaties. Thus, Nepal received around 57 recommendations specifically related to women by over 60 countries.
WOREC, a member of the National Women coalition, a group of 44 women organizations, had jointly submitted a report covering diverse issues of women's rights for the third cycle of universal periodic review through the Human Rights Treaty Monitoring Coordination Center (HRTMCC).
Along with the presentation on Nepal's recommendations at the third UPR cycle on women's issues in Nepal, the program also focused on discussion on actions required to implement those recommendations.
Speaking at the program, Murari Prasad Kharel, Secretary of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), stated NHRC is committed to bridging the gap between civil society and the government to implement the recommendations received in the third cycle of UPR.
"Women in Nepal constitute more than 50% of the total population yet lag in meaningful participation and representation in political, social, economic life. To promote gender equality in both private and public sphere and embrace the UPR recommendations, concerned stakeholders including government and the civil society should implement awareness programs and capacity building programs for women in the society," said Kharel.
Kharel also shared that NHRC is working on the report based on the study that was carried out to determine post strategy to implement and monitor UPR recommendations. "Once the report is prepared, we will be able to formulate policies and plans to work further in the implementation part," said Kharel.
Based on the national report, the information contained in the reports of independent human rights experts and groups, and information provided by other stakeholders, including national human rights institutions, regional organizations, and civil society groups, one of the recommendations that Nepal received was to "ensure full equality between men and women concerning conferring citizenship on their children and spouse, including by amending provisions in the Constitution and Citizenship Act amendment bill 2020."
Similarly, regarding the issue of Transitional Justice, Nepal has received recommendations to "ensure that the transitional justice process takes a gender-sensitive approach and upholds international standards, with the transparent and timely conclusion of cases by commissions of inquiry, ensuring the rights of all victims to truth, justice, and reparation."
Laxmi Acharya Parajuli, Deputy Secretary of the National Women Commission, stated that it is high time that the government consider the UPR recommendations and start working towards the implementation whereas, the Civil society organizations and NHRIs should form a solid coalition to monitor and held government accountable.
Addressing the issue of survivors of conflict and referring to Nepal's recommendation regarding transitional justice, Parajuli stated that the government should immediately work on the reintegration of women survivors of conflict and provide them with livelihood supports.
Addressing the overall issues, Shradha Rijal from the Office of Prime Minister and Council of Ministers (OPMCM), Department of Human Rights and International Conventions, said that OPMCM has already started working on developing the action plan to implement the recommendations in consultation with CSOs, and concerned stakeholders.
"OPMCM had implemented recommendations from 1st and 2nd UPR by developing an action plan. This time too, we are working on the action plan. Once the action plan is developed, OPMCM will form a monitoring committee in the leadership of the chief secretary and other secretaries of the concerned ministry to develop monitoring indicators," said Rijal.
In the programs, most of the participants expressed that for the implementation of the third periodic review recommendations, CSOs should collaborate with NHRIs and engage with government mechanisms, including OPMCM and concerned government departments. Along with that, there should be continuous monitoring of the accepted recommendation and the formulation and implementation of the indicator-based action plan and the mid-term evaluation.
A total of 100 participants attended the program.