Kathmandu, Aug 8: The United States Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken will give the first annual Secretary’s Global Anti-Racism Champions Awards, including Nepal’s Sarswati Nepali.
This group of global civil society leaders has courageously advanced the human rights of members of marginalized racial, ethnic, and Indigenous communities and combatted systemic racism, discrimination, and xenophobia worldwide, the State Dept said in a statement.
Sarswati Nepali is an acclaimed social activist and President of the Dalit Society Development Forum, and a lifelong defender of the human rights of marginalized castes, the disabled, and the poor. For over twenty years, Sarswati has demonstrated sustained leadership in advancing the human rights of members of the most marginalized ethnic communities in Nepal.
Born into a Dalit – or so called “untouchable” caste – family in Nepal’s underdeveloped far-western region, Sarswati played a crucial role in Dalit social justice movements to acquire land rights, gain access to education, and obtain equal justice from the courts. Sarswati’s decades of advocacy on behalf of those in the most need and her demonstrated success in attaining justice and providing a voice to the marginalized are a model of courage in the pursuit of dignity and human rights.
The award will be presented to Kari Guajajara (Brazil), Oswaldo Bilbao Lobatón (Peru), Rani Yan Yan (Bangladesh), Saadia Mosbah (Tunisia) and Victorina Luca (Moldova) as well.
