Kathmandu, Mar. 9:The participants of a workshop seminar organised here today pointed out the need to amend the discriminatory laws after reviewing it so as to provide equal rights to both men and women.
The speakers at the workshop seminar on national action plan prepared to implement the convention on elimination of all kinds of discrimination against women organised jointly by His Majesty’s Government and the united nations systems, said the laws on sharing of property, marriage, nationality, birth registration, and abortion should be amended by giving top priority.
Although hmg has made a commitment by signing the convention on elimination of all kinds of discrimination against women ten years ago, the discriminatory laws still exists and it has received continuity on the basis of gender without the women being guaranteed equality, they said, adding that this is contrary to the spirit of the Constitution of Nepal as well as the conventions on elimination of all kinds of discrimination against women.
Addressing the workshop, Deputy Speaker Mrs Chitralekha Yadav opined that although the constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal has guaranteed the rights of equality to women, the women who constitute half the population of the country are deprived of economic, social and political rights.
Deputy Speaker Mrs Yadav emphasised on the need to accept women rights as human rights and added that as the representation of women in the parliament is low, it has been difficult for formulating new laws in the interest of women.
Minister of State for Women and Social Welfare Mrs Kamala Devi Pant expressed the confidence that the inequality of women in the economic, social and political sectors will come to an end once the 22 points mentioned in the action plan on the convention on eliminating all kinds of discrimination against women are put into action on the basis of priority.
The problems of the women should be considered as the problems of the nation, she said, adding that as the nation will only develop if the women are developed, every one should work with utmost commitment.
Supreme Court Judge Laxman Prasad Aryal said unless the mentality and outlook on women is changed there will be no improvement in the economic, social and political sectors by merely formulating laws at the national level and by signing the international conventions. He pointed out the need to implement the laws and conventions.
He also stressed on the need to constitute a committee with the chiefs of the the executive, the legislative and the judiciary in order to implement and evaluate the action plan on convention on the elimination of all kinds of discrimination against women.
Resident coordinator of the un systems Dr. Henning Karcher said the major challenge of Nepal is to alleviate poverty by the year 2000 A.D. and to guarantee the rights of equality to women, adding that a political commitment is essential for the empowerment of women.
Former vice chairman of the National Planning Commission (npc) Dr. Mohan Man Sainju said as economic, social and political development is impossible without gender equality, all the organs of the state, the citizens and the media should be sensitive towards this.
Earlier, at the beginning of the workshop member of National Planning Commission Dr. Nirmal Prasad Pandey said a separate policy should be formulated so as to implement the action plan, the role of the local bodies should be made clear, emphasis should be laid on women’s awareness, the role of women in the economic sector be clarified, and the programmes launched for the development of women be evaluated properly.
At the workshop secretary at the Ministry of Women and Social Welfare Mrs. Urmila Shrestha, secretary at the Ministry of Law and Justice Udaya Nepali Shrestha, advocate Sapana Pradhan Malla, resident representative of the World Food Programme (wfp) Douglas C. Coutts and other speakers expressed the view that considerable progress will be made through implementation of the action plan in the field of women’s rights.