More ‘Can & Must be Done ’ to Eradicate Caste-Based Discrimination, Says UN Rights Chief

People walk down a street of shops in Kathmandu, Nepal. Credit: World Bank/Peter KapuscinskiBy Simone GalimbertiKATHMANDU, Nepal, Mar 11 2021 (IPS) There is hardly a better way to promote human rights in Nepal than celebrating Muskan Khatun for being one of the winners of the prestigious International Women of Courage (IWOC) Award, released on the International Women’s Day by the Government of the United States of America. As an acid attack survivor, Khatun, despite her young age, turned herself into a courageous advocate. Her work, together with many of her peers, themselves victims, was instrumental, in pressing the Government of Nepal to enact tougher regulations against the perpetrators of acid and burn violence. With Kathun being rightly celebrated as an icon, will now the government be able to match the same level of commitment shown by her and many others victims of human rights abuses? It should be the case as Nepal has been recently re-elected to the United Nations Human Rights Council, UNHRC, a prestigious position that the country could leverage to become a global trendsetter in upholding and promoting human rights. In occasion to the recently held 2nd cycle of the Universal Periodic Review, UPR the only human rights accountability mechanism at global level, the Government has projected a very confident self-image, depicting a fairly positive picture on status of human rights in the country. While it is unsurprising for a Government to push forward such narr...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Asia-Pacific Featured Global Headlines Health Human Rights IPS UN: Inside the Glasshouse Population TerraViva United Nations Source Type: news