5 March 2009 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today reiterated his urgent call to bring an end to violence against women, a scourge whose impact is devastating and immeasurable, as the United Nations began a series of events to mark International Women’s Day. “It is sometimes said that women are weavers and men are too often warriors,” Mr. Ban said in an address to the commemoration of the Day, observed annually on 8 March, in New York. In the address, which…

24 February- Edah Maina, Jia Yang, Mohammed Al-Tarawneh and Ron McCallum are among the 12 experts elected to the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The Committee, which meets for the first time from 23 to 27 February in Geneva, promotes and monitors the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. “The disabled have suffered in ignorance and silence. They are the people without any voice. Stigma and high levels of poverty have affected the voice…

8 January 2009 – The peace process in Nepal remains a fragile one, with critical agreements on the reintegration of former Maoist combatants still lacking, and will continue to need United Nations assistance, according to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who proposes an extension of the UN presence there, albeit at a slightly reduced capacity. In a new report released today, Mr. Ban recommends that the Security Council extend the UN Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) for another six months, with the Mission…

7 January 2009 – The United Nations has urged Nepal to end the practice of sending young girls from indigenous families to work in private homes, where they risk being exploited, and to ensure justice for those who have been abused as well as search for those who have gone missing. The practice – known as Kamalari – is outlawed in Nepal, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Nepal (OHCHR-Nepal) noted in a news release…

19 December 2008-The Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances welcomes the report on Conflict-related Disappearances in Bardiya District, presented today by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Nepal (OHCHR-Nepal) The report documents the patterns of enforced disappearances in Bardiya, in the mid-western region of the country, between 2001 and 2003, characterized mainly by the arrest of men and women by the Royal Nepalese Army. It also addresses the socio-economic impact of disappearances on…

19 December 2008 – A United Nations investigation into a series of disappearances during the decade-long civil war in Nepal has uncovered eyewitnesses accusing former Government forces of killing a number of its captives, according to a report released by the world body today. Some 170 men and women disappeared in the Bardiya district of the South Asian country between 2001 and 2003 during the national conflict, which claimed an estimated 13,000 lives and ended in 2006 with the Government…

18 December 2008 – The United Nations today launched a year-long advocacy campaign to help scores of millions of internally displaced persons (IDPs), focusing on mitigating the impact of conflict and natural disasters that drive so many people from their homes within their own country in what Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called “one of the greatest humanitarian challenges we face.” The numbers speak starkly for themselves: 1 per cent of the world’s population, or 67 million people, internally displaced within…

December 2008 - – The Prime Minister of Nepal Mr. Pushpa Kamal Dahal today agreed to move forward on the discharge of nearly 3,000 Maoist army elements disqualified as minors remaining in Maoist army cantonments, in cooperation with UNMIN and the UN Country Team in Nepal.  This was announced by Ms. Radhika Coomaraswamy, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, during her press conference, which concluded her six-day visit to the country.   The commitment of the…

19 November 2008: While commemorating the International Children's Day on 20 November, Informal Sector Service Centre is seriously concerned about the situation of thousands of child soldiers in Maoist camps in the Country. The United Nations in 2007 revealed that the United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) and UNICEF identified 2,973 children under the age of 18 years being involved in various ranks of Maoist Army till 25 May 2006. These children are still in the Maoist cantonments, so, there…

24 November 2008: The Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people, S. James Anaya, will visit Nepal, 24 November to 2 December, at the invitation of the Government. During the nine-day mission, the Special Rapporteur will travel to Kathmandu and to the Eastern, Central and Far Western regions to hold discussions with government representatives, indigenous communities and civil society groups on the human rights of indigenous peoples. A press conference will be held…