Nepal submits seventh periodic report to CEDAW Committee

GENEVA – Nepal has submitted its seventh periodic report to the CEDAW Committee. On behalf of Nepal, Minister of Women, Children and Senior Citizens Naval Kishore Shah Sudhi presented the report at the 90th session of the CID held in Geneva, Switzerland.

Nepal presented its periodic report to the CEDAW Committee in Geneva, with the live broadcast of the event in Nepal being watched by the Forum for Women, Law and Development (FWLD). Nepal submitted its new Common Core Document to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on 9 January 2025, which states that Nepal has made significant progress in promoting human rights in line with international standards.

Nepal is fully committed to implementing the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and has been strengthening the legal and policy framework for this. The report reaffirms the Government of Nepal’s commitment to promoting equal opportunities, rights and legal protection. While we have made significant progress towards achieving gender equality, challenges remain, particularly in rural and marginalized communities. The report states, “Nepal is determined to address these challenges through targeted policies, programmes and collaboration with international partners, civil society and women’s rights organisations.”

Nepal’s seventh periodic report covers both the progress and challenges in the journey towards gender equality. The report states, “While the legal and policy framework has improved, the effective implementation of those policies and laws is our primary concern. Therefore, we look forward to the valuable suggestions of this Committee.”

The report states, “Nepal has incorporated the suggestions received from previous dialogues with the CEDAW Committee into national policies. Our Constitution has passed 16 laws ensuring the fundamental rights of women. In addition, citizenship and other civil laws have been amended in line with the principle of equality.’

Similarly, Lily Thapa presented the report on behalf of the National Human Rights Commission. She noted that despite the guarantees provided by the Constitution, there are still some gaps in Nepal’s legal framework, especially the lack of a comprehensive definition of various forms of direct, indirect and situated discrimination.

She mentioned that although the Nepalese government has taken some active steps in the formulation of laws, the implementation is still unorganized. She noted that the government’s commitment to establish provincial offices and give legally binding powers to the National Women’s Commission has not yet been fulfilled. The absence of a National Commission for Women at the provincial level is particularly affecting the backward communities, as a result of which they have not been able to access services and security, according to the report presented by Thapa.

In that meeting, last Monday, FWLD presented a shadow report on behalf of the civil society network. Yesterday, Tuesday, 6 people from the civil society gave their presentation about Nepal in different categories.