SURKHET: Minister for Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali has said violence against women (VAW) is becoming a global challenge.

He said this at an interaction programme ‘Responsibility and role of stakeholders for ending gender-based violence’ organised by the Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizen on Tuesday.

Nepal is moving ahead keeping its constitution and sustainable development goals (SDGs) at the centre towards eliminating VAW, he noted.

“The State has granted 33 per cent rights to women to level up their status at par with men”, Minister Gyawali said, adding that the government is formulating different laws to implement fundamental rights enshrined in the constitution.

Making it clear that there is 41 per cent women participation in federal, province and local governments, he added the achievements made so far in the women rights movement are something glorious.

He also underlined the need for solid resolution from all three tiers of governments to end social anomalies such as rape, killings, violence and abduction.

The violence against women would go down only when women’s economic, social, cultural and property rights were established, he added.

Karnali Province Chief Minister Mahendra Bahadur Shahi said the peace, development and prosperity are the prime agendas of the incumbent government. “It is civilisation which builds well-cultured society”, he said, adding that the Province government has floated its plan towards building a society free of gender-based violence and discrimination.

Likewise, Minister for Women, Children and Senior Citizen Yama Maya Thapa said that the government has taken headways with a concrete plan to end violence against women.

“The incident of Nirmala Pant has made the government more sensitive. However, the local governments should hold more responsibility for the occurrence of such incidents in society’, she added.

Speaker of Karnali State Assembly Raj Bahadur Shahi said there has been substantial progress in the consumption of women's rights of late.