Lalitpur, November 25:

Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedom of indigenous people Prof James Anaya interacted with several indigenous groups, intellects and activists today.

A visit scheduled from November 24 to December 2 will allow dialogue and in-depth consultations between Prof Anaya and relevant stakeholders. Prof Anaya would meet and interact with the government representatives, indigenous communities, national human rights mechanisms, civil society representatives, and several UN organisations in Nepal.

Pro Anaya intends to explore issues such as representation and participation of indigenous representatives in the government and inclusion of indigenous issues in the

Constitution, land and resources issues, implementation of ILO Convention 169 and rights of indigenous women, among others.

Prof Anaya was briefed about the issues and problems of Nepali indigenous people during a function jointly organised by the major representative organisations of the indigenous people and Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Prof Anaya stated his happiness in receiving the opportunity to hear directly from the indigenous people of Nepal whether their lives are respected or not. “This function will help me understand what kind of recommendations need to be made both to the Government of Nepal and the UN,” he said.

Referring to a few diplomats’ recent remark that federalism was not possible in Nepal, Indigenous rights activist and sociologist Krishna Bhattachan urged the diplomats residing in Nepal to respect the rights of Indigenous people to choose any kind of governance system they like. Dr Sumitra Manandhar Gurung Dr Chaitanya Subba and Malla K Sundar presented papers and spoke about issues of indigenous women in Nepal, and human development status. Prof Anaya would also visit different parts of the country to acquire first hand information on the status of Nepali indigenous people.