Nepal: UN rights expert to assess violence against women

GENEVA/KATHMANDU (16 November 2018) – The United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women, Dubravka Šimonović, will visit Nepal from 19 to 29 November 2018.

“During my visit, I will consider the systemic causes of gender-based violence against women, and the situation faced by those who encounter multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination and violence, such as indigenous women, women with disabilities, migrant and refugee women and women from remote or rural communities,” Šimonović said.

During the Special Rapporteur’s 10-day visit – the first to Nepal by an independent expert on violence against women assigned by the UN Human Rights Council – she will evaluate laws, policies and preventative services, and meet with senior Government officials. Šimonović will also speak with representatives from the UN system, international agencies, civil society, the National Human Rights Commission, survivors of violence, and individual communities.

A news conference to share preliminary findings from her visit will be held at 12p.m. on Thursday 29 November 2018, in Kathmandu (venue to be advised). Access is strictly limited to journalists.

The Special Rapporteur will present a final report to the UN Human Rights Council in June 2019.

ENDS

Ms. Dubravka Šimonović (Croatia) was appointed as Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences by the UN Human Rights Council in June 2015, to recommend measures, ways and means, at the national, regional and international levels, to eliminate violence against women and its causes, and to remedy its consequences. Ms. Šimonović has been member of the CEDAW Committee from 2002 to 2014. She headed the Human Rights Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Croatia and was the Minister Plenipotentiary at the Permanent Mission of Croatia to the UN in New York. She was also Ambassador to the OSCE and UN in Vienna. She co-chaired the Ad hoc Committee (CAHVIO) of the Council of Europe that elaborated the Convention on Preventing and Combatting Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention).She has a PhD in Family Law and published books and articles on human rights and women’s rights.

The Special Rapporteurs are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures’ experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.

UN Human Rights, country page: Nepal

For more information and media requests, please contact Orlagh McCann in Geneva (+41 22 917 9902 / omccann@ohchr.org) 

For media inquiries related to other UN independent experts please contact: 
Mr. Jeremy Laurence, UN Human Rights – Media Unit (+41 22 917 9383 / jlaurence@ohchr.org) 

This year is the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the UN on 10 December 1948. The Universal Declaration – translated into a world record 500 languages – is rooted in the principle that “all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” It remains relevant to everyone, every day. In honour of the 70th anniversary of this extraordinarily influential document, and to prevent its vital principles from being eroded, we are urging people everywhere to Stand Up for Human Rights: www.standup4humanrights.org