UN Committee to review Nepal’s record on children’s rights

GENEVA (13 May 2016) – Children’s rights in Nepal will be reviewed by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child on 19 and 20 May in sessions that will be webcast live. Nepal is one of the 196 States that have ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child and so is required to be reviewed regularly by the Committee of 18 independent experts.

Committee members will hold discussions with a government delegation from Nepal on how the Convention is being implemented.  Members will also examine how Nepal is doing with regard to another important legal instrument - the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict (OPAC). Members will base their evaluation on the delegation’s replies, as well as information from civil society groups.

Among the possible issues to be discussed by members and a Nepali delegation regarding the Convention:
·    Discrimination against girls, children belonging to minorities, children with disabilities and Tibetan children;
·    Steps to end sex-selective abortions;
·    Steps to eradicate harmful practices, including child and forced marriage;
·    Measures to reduce child mortality;
·    Legislation to protect children from worst forms of child labour.
Regarding the OPAC: 
·    Measures to ensure accountability for violations and abuse against children during and after the 1996-2006 armed conflict;
·    Children left orphaned, injured, forcibly separated from families or displaced;
·    Reparation, rehabilitation and reintegration for children affected by armed conflict;
·    Situation of children whose parents were killed or forcibly disappeared during the armed conflict.

The full list of issues and Nepal’s submitted written report can be found here: http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/SessionDetails1.aspx?SessionID=987&Lang=en

The discussions will take place at Palais Wilson in Geneva:
19 May from 15:00-18:00 (18:45-21:45 in Kathmandu)
20 May from 10:00-13:00 (13:34-16:45) and from 15:00-18:00 (18:45- 21:45). The meetings are public and will be webcast here:  http://www.treatybodywebcast.org/.

The Committee will hold a news conference at 12:00 on 9 June at the Palais des Nations in Geneva to discuss its findings on Nepal and the other countries being reviewed – Samoa, UK, Slovakia, Pakistan, Gabon , Bulgaria and Luxembourg. The findings, officially known as concluding observations, will be published on 9 June here:
http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/SessionDetails1.aspx?SessionID=987&Lang=en

ENDS

For more information and media requests, please contact Liz Throssell +41 (0) 22 917 9466/ +41 79 752 0488 ethrossell@ohchr.org

Media accreditation:   
http://unog.ch/80256EDD006B9C2E/(httpPages)/70991F6887C73B2280256EE700379C58?OpenDocument

Background:

Members of the CRC are independent human rights experts drawn from around the world, who serve in their personal capacity and not as representatives of States parties. The Committee’s concluding observations are an independent assessment of States’ compliance with their human rights obligations under the treaty. To learn more about the Committee on the Rights of the Child: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/CRC/Pages/CRCIndex.aspx

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