We have travelled many miles to be here today to reaffirm our commitment to human rights at this very challenging juncture of human history. This morning in this very room, there was strong resonance about the human rights challenges the world is currently facing.
Nepalese people’s desire for democracy and human rights was realized in 1990 through the change in regime and establishment of a multiparty democratic system in the country. The Constitution of Nepal further institutionalized our unflinching commitment to protecting human rights for all irrespective of gender, ethnicity, religion or any other grounds in 2015.
Nepal’s current Constitution provides the total range of economic, social, cultural, civil, and political rights as fundamental human rights. Further, the constitution provides extraordinary jurisdiction to the courts in enforcing these Fundamental Rights. Thus, Nepal is one of the trailblazer in the protection and promotion of human rights.
Despite all these guarantees the people of Nepal now increasingly face additional human rights challenges posed by anthropogenic climate change and the invasion of the private sphere by digital technology.
The current Government of Nepal is comprised of two experienced political parties with a long history of struggle for the establishment of democracy and human rights of the Nepali people. Nepal continues to uphold the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and remains constructively engaged with human rights instruments and mechanisms. Nepal is also committed to ensuring the independence of the National Human Rights Commission, which enjoys an ‘A’ category accreditation since its establishment. Nepal upholds press freedom and has a vibrant civil society with community groups, human right defenders and the media as key partners in advancing human rights and inclusive development.
A significant leap forward for human rights in Nepal has been the Constitutional guarantee for one-third representation of women in the federal and provincial Parliament and forty percent in the local government. Additionally, access to justice has increased at the local level by the agency of judicial committees which are led by elected deputy mayors, mostly women. Similarly, the mandatory inclusion of minority groups in political bodies at all levels has ensured human rights for all.
In our attempt to scale up commitments, we have initiated the ratification process for the ILO Convention on Freedom of Association. Early this month, Nepal presented its 7th periodic report to CEDAW Committee. Nepal is also implementing the recommendations received in the third cycle of Universal Periodic Review (UPR). Nepal has been travelling the extra mile in fulfilling its human rights obligations by adopting periodic national human rights action plans since the last two decades. Currently, we are preparing our Sixth human rights action plan.
Nepal’s reputation in the global arena is also defined by its nationally led peace process which brought to an end a decade long conflict (1996-2006) and also taught Nepalese leaders and people the value of human rights and peace.
The Government of Nepal is committed to concluding the last mile works of transitional justice. Nepal passed laws to this end in August 2024 with a victim centric approach in line with international standards.
Nepal’s experience in upholding human rights, democracy and peace building can serve as a good reference to countries in similar situations. We are also serious about taking a lead in ensuring climate justice and are going to organize a dialogue entitled Sagarmatha Sambad on the topic “Climate Change, Mountains, and the Future of Humanity”. We would like to invite you to participate in this event in Kathmandu this May.
At the very end, Excellencies, I would like to announce our candidacy for membership of this esteemed Council for the term 2027 to 2029 and would like to humbly request all eminent members to kindly support our candidacy.
Statement by Hon’ble Dr. Arzu Rana Deuba, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Head of the Nepali Delegation to the 58th Session of Human Rights Council (HRC) High-Level Segment on February 24, 202 at Palais des Nations, Geneva.
