(Bangkok/Kathmandu – 13 December 2022) – The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) expresses deep concern over the violent confrontation between the protestors and over 200 security forces during the recent landless squatter protests in Nepal on the banks of the Bagmati River at Thapathali. The landless squatters have been protesting against being [ Read more ]

(Bangkok/Kathmandu – 8 November 2022) – The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) is deeply concerned over Nepal’s Election Commission’s policy to monitor social media content for the upcoming nationwide elections on 20 November 2022. Mobilising security forces to regulate the content on social media is a disturbing precedent since it heavily tramples [ Read more ]

(Kathmandu/Bangkok, 22 July 2022) – ‘We welcome the special message of the Prime Minister of Nepal to fully implement the Kamaya Labour (Prohibition) Act of 2001 and call on government agencies to implement inclusive and non-discriminatory social protection programmes to ensure the rehabilitation of the Harawa-Charawa,’ said the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development [ Read more ]

50th regular session of the UN Human Rights Council Item 3: Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights Delivered by Rabina G. Rasaily On behalf of Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)  24 June 2022   Mr. President, We welcome the report of the Special Rapporteur’s official visit [ Read more ]

Civic space is under attack in South Asia. Across the region, increasingly authoritarian governments are relying on a wide range of repressive laws and other tactics to silence criticism, a trend that only intensified in 2021. While the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan is the starkest example of this, almost all other countries saw alarming restrictions [ Read more ]

(Kathmandu, 25 February 2022) — We, the undersigned human rights organisations, express deep concern over the recent police crackdown on protests in Nepal. On 20 February, demonstrators convened in Kathmandu to protest against the Millennium Challenge Compact (MCC) tabled in the Federal Parliament of Nepal. We are gravely alarmed by the police’s disproportionate use of [ Read more ]

The Asian NGO Network on National Human Rights Institutions (ANNI) launched the ANNI Report 2020 on the Performance of National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs), that critically assesses the performance of NHRIs against the Paris Principles in 2020. The Paris Principles are the minimum international standards for ensuring independent, effective, and credible NHRIs for the promotion [ Read more ]

To mark the International Youth Day 2021, Jagriti Child and Youth Concern Nepal (JCYCN) in joint collaboration with National Youth Council (NYC) and National Coalition for Girls Rights (NCGR) had organized an interaction programme “Discussion on the role of youth in the health and protection of girl child and adolescents’ ‘girls” in support from Kanallan [ Read more ]

This month, FORUM-ASIA talked with Gobinda Bahadur Shahi, Executive Director of Karnali Integrated Rural Development And Research Centre (KIRDARC), Nepal. In the interview, Gobinda talks about his own experienced growing up in a rural community in the mountains and how this motivates him to amplify the voices of left-behind communities in Nepal. How did you [ Read more ]

WOREC, our member from Nepal, in partnership with UNFPA, organised 3-days province-level case management training for the Gender-based violence (GBV) service providers. The training, which was conducted on 18th, 19th and 20th July, aimed to support GBV service providers in improving their understanding of and capacity in case management for survivors of GBV using the [ Read more ]