KATHMANDU: Bandana Rana has been re-elected to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) for the second term, in the elections held during the 21st Meeting of the States Parties to the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women in New York today.

Issuing a press release on Tuesday, Permanent Mission of Nepal to the United Nations said that Rana obtained 137 votes, the third-highest among 19 candidates contesting the election for her re-election. She was one of the eleven candidates elected for the term of 2021-2024. Experts from the Netherlands, Bahamas, Lithuania, Ghana, Australia, Mexico, Lebanon, France, Philippines and China were also elected.

Currently the Vice-chair of the CEDAW, Rana is the first Nepali national serving in the Committee. She has over three-decade-long experiences of working in the field of gender equality and women rights.

Following the elections, Leader of Nepali delegation to the 21st Meeting of the States Parties to the Convention and Permanent Representative of Nepal to the United Nations, Amrit Bahadur Rai stated that Rana’s re-election was a recognition of her proven expertise and experiences.

This is also an acknowledgement by the international community of Nepal’s sincere efforts in implementing the Convention and its Optional Protocol as well as an appreciation of the achievements we have made in promotion of women rights in particular and human rights in general, Rai added in the statement while thanking all States Parties for their continued trust and confidence in Nepal’s candidate Rana’s capabilities.

Upon being re-elected, Bandana Rana expressed gratitude to the Government of Nepal and all States Parties for their support and cooperation. She pledged to continue working to the best of her ability and adding value to the work of the Committee.

The Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination Against Women was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1979 and came into force in 1981. The number of its States Parties today stands at 189. Nepal became a State Party to the Convention in 1991, and also acceded to its Optional Protocol in 2007.

The CEDAW Committee is a UN Human Rights Treaty Body consisting of 23 independent experts elected by the States Parties to the Convention. The experts serve in their personal capacities.

The Committee monitors the implementation of the Convention including through consideration of the reports submitted by the States Parties to the Convention.