The National Consultation on Girls Rights in Nepal UPR-3rd cycle was successfully organized by National Coalition for Girls’ Rights (NCGR), a coalition established in 2076(2019), a network of 25 member organizations dedicated to bringing practical changes in the lives of girl children and recognition of their rights at three tier federal structure and sector in Nepal. The program was supported by Jagriti Child and Youth Concern Nepal (JCYCN), Swatantrata Abhiyan Nepal (SAN), Global March, and Girls Advocacy Alliance in collaboration with National Child Friendly Local Governance (NCFLG) Forum , Social Protection Civil Society Network, Consortium Nepal, Destination Unknown, National Child Protection Alliance (NCPA), National Action and Coordination Group (NACG), Children as Zone of Peace (CZOP), Human Rights Treaty Monitoring Coordination Committee (HRTMCC) CRC Committee, Education Watch Group, Asian Girl Campaign, and Ratify OP3 CRC Coalition Nepal. 50 participants representing 8 INGOs, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), 15 NGOs, 12 Networks, and Media were present in the program.
The consultation program was chaired by Tilottam Paudel, Chairperson of NCGR, and the welcome remarks were given by Gobinda Shahi from KIRDARC, also the core team member of NCGR. Babita Pariyar, girl representative and girls’ rights activist talked about how while she is advocating for girls’ rights, her peers are victims of child marriage and teen motherhood. Similarly, Krishna Chandra Acharya from NACG highlighted the importance of coordination between civil society, constitutional bodies, and the government and stated that if that is possible, the next UPR reporting cycle can be an integrated report, with voices from all 753 local government units.
Director of NHRC, Murari Prasad Kharel presented on International Human Rights Mechanisms, the entire process of Universal Periodic Review (UPR) and the NHRC’s role in ensuring the rights and reporting process so far. Writtu Bhatta Rai, Co-Chair of NCGR, presented the actual status of girls in Nepal, gathered through the information collected from field, and explained the UPR Recommendations Nepal received in the 2nd UPR cycle, relevant to girls, and its implementation status.
Krishna Subedi, representing HRTMCC CRC Committee, emphasized on the balance between criticism and praise of the positive steps taken by the government in treaty based reporting. This was followed by an open floor discussion where Civil Society members, and the representatives of like INGOs like Plan International, Good Neighbors International Nepal, World Vision International Nepal, and so on mentioned important issues that they requested to be included in the report like the intersection, participation, social protection, harmful practices, child friendly local governance, and reformation of the school curriculum.
Rabin Nepal from C-Net emphasized on the need to advocate for the rights of girls living in alternative care homes and need of policies on alternative care along with the rights of severely disabled girls. Manju Khatiwada, Deputy Director of NHRC, mentioned the need for specific mechanisms for implementation of UN treaty body Recommendations, and mechanisms to ensure the discrepancy between federal laws and its implementation in local level.
Tilottam Paudel, the Chairperson of the program and of NCGR highlighted various issues of girls, shared his gratitude of having a large coalition of organizations for UPR reporting in comparison to 2015 when JCYCN was the sole organization to prepare girl centric UPR report. The report that reflects the status of girls in Nepal since the last UPR Reporting cycle in 2015 will be submitted to the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) by 26th of March.
