Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu, May 26

With an aim to tie up development programmes with human rights, Nepal is formulating the national human rights action plan that will be integrated into the 10th Five Year Plan.

The meeting of the steering and advisory committee ended today, which discussed on ways to integrate human rights perspective to the five year plan. The national action plan aims to address all the rights in the human rights framework – civil, cultural, economic, political and social.

“We worked on identifying steps that have to be taken by all actors to ensure that human rights is respected and protected by all,” said Henning Karcher, resident representative of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Nepal would be the first South Asian nation to take up a national action plan on human rights, when it announces the same on December 10, the International Human Rights day.

The first of the two national consultation meetings is going to start on Tuesday. Representatives from all sectors and regions of the country will participate in the consultation meetings.

The action plan would impel the government in adhering to human rights norms. The action plan and its implementation are also expected to enhance knowledge of the people at the local level on human rights related issues.

Of others, the national action plan will take up human rights issues concerning women, children, health, education, language, disabled, ethnic and backward groups. National Human Rights Commission, district based human rights organisations and NGOs, bar association, among others will partake in the affair.

The national action plan is a follow-up to the UN World Conference on Human Rights which called on the governments to develop national plans of action to enhance the observance of human rights.

The government and UNDP embarked to formulate the plans of action to enhance the observance of human rights and to make a positive contribution to the evolution of human rights culture.

The initial formulation and subsequent implementation of the national plan will lead to better human rights observance and directly contribute, by creating public awareness through various means, to the protection and promotion of human rights, said a press release issued at the end of the meeting on Sunday.

“The monitoring mechanism will be worked out later,” said Tirtha Man Shakya, former chief secretary.