Media Advisory

On August 7 and 8, some of the best legal minds in Nepal will meet for the first time to look for remedies to human rights violations in women’s reproductive health. Speakers, including Nepal’s Minister of Health, the chair of the Nepal Human Rights Commission, and a former Justice of the Supreme Court, will tackle issues ranging from gender inequality to child marriage and sexual violence.

"Reproductive rights violations in Nepal have reached such alarming proportions that they are no longer issues of national concern but have become global concerns, " said Melissa Upreti of the New York - based Center for Reproductive Rights, a sponsor of the conference.

Nepal has some of the world’s highest rates of unplanned pregnancies, maternal deaths, unsafe abortions, child marriages, and sexual trafficking and violence.

• Up to 50 percent of maternal deaths in Nepal are due to unsafe abortions.
• 60,000 Nepalese girls under 18 have been sold into sexual slavery in India.
• 43 percent of Nepalese girls are married between the ages of 15 and 19, even though child marriage is illegal.
• More Nepalese women die during pregnancy and childbirth than women in any other country in the region.

A groundbreaking study, Women of the World: Laws and Policies Affecting their Reproductive Lives – South Asia, first reported the scope of the problems in Nepal.

The first extensive examination of the laws and policies that influence women’s reproductive health in Nepal, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, the report found that although governments in all five countries have agreed to uphold reproductive rights in international agreements, they are not keeping their promises: current laws make women in the region among the worst off in the world.

The report was written by the Center for Reproductive Rights, in collaboration with Nepal’s Legal Aid and Consultancy Center, sponsors of the conference.

"We hope this meeting will underscore the importance of including a human rights perspective in any discussion of the challenges to women’s reproductive health. The link between gender discrimination and the poor status of women’s reproductive health is frequently overlooked in Nepal, "said Melissa Upreti of the Center for Reproductive Rights.

Chief Guest: Hon'ble Minister of Heatlh, Mr. Ashok Rai
Special Guests: Hon'ble Shri. Shankar Sharma, Vice chairperson, National Planning Commission;
Hon'ble Shri. Nayan Bahadur Khatri, Chairperson, NHRC
Prof. Kanak Birkram Thapa, Dean, Faculty of Law
Hon'ble Shri Laxman Aryal, Former Justice of the Supreme Court
Dr. Nimal Bista, Executive Director, Family Planning Association of Nepal
Dr. Shanta Thapaliya, Legal Aid and Consultancy Center
Melissa Upreti, Center for Reproductive Rights

Launch:
Women of the World: Laws and Policies Affecting their Reproductive Lives- South Asia
Saturday, August 7, 2004
9:00 -11:00 a. m.
Radisson Hotel
Lazimpat

Roundtable: Saturday, August 7, 2004
11:00a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Sunday, August 8, 2004
9:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Radisson Hotel
Lazimpat

For additional information contact, Guari Bohara at lacc@wlink.com.np

Learn more about the Center's work in Nepal.