Kathmandu, October 25

Minister of Women, Children and Senior Citizens Tham Maya Thapa, who is leading a Nepali delegation to the 71st Session of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women for consideration of Nepal’s Sixth Periodic Report made a statement at the committee in Geneva on Tuesday.

On the occasion, she presented updates and highlights on the steps taken by the Government of Nepal towards protecting and promoting the rights of women, ending discrimination against women and carrying out effective measures for their empowerment.

In her statement, Minister Thapa stated that the constitution promulgated in 2015 culminated in the conclusion of the peace process. The constitution has incorporated progressive provisions for empowerment of women while broadening the scope of fundamental rights,

ensuring social justice and institutionalising the socio-economic transformation of the country. She also informed the committee that 16 laws had already been enacted to give effect to the provisions of fundamental rights and freedoms contained in the constitution.

Dalia Leinarte, chair of the CEDAW Committee, moderated the session over the course of Nepal’s presentation. During the dialogue, Ambassador/Permanent Representative Deepak Dhital highlighted initiatives taken by the Government of Nepal for ensuring equality and non-discrimination, social and economic empowerment and improvement of the status of women in an inclusive manner. The ambassador also expressed the view that the Government of Nepal was taking the process of review and revision of the existing laws as well as developing new legal frameworks in the context of the federal governance set-up.

A broad  array of issues in the domestication and implementation of CEDAW in Nepal, with achievements, gaps and challenges as well as potential new initiatives in this direction were discussed. These included definition of discrimination, the status and level of participation of women in political and public life, implementation of special measures to promote women’s rights, elimination of gender stereotypes, access to justice, overall status of women in education, health, employment, as well as

the situation of rural women and poverty, among others, said a press release issued by Permanent Mission of Nepal to the United Nations Office in Geneva

Members of the Nepali delegation Joint Secretary Radhika Aryal from the MoWCSC and Joint Secretary Phanindra Gautam from the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs also took part in the interactive discussions. Members of the CEDAW Committee posed questions and comments to the Nepali delegation regarding Nepal’s report and presentations before the committee.