COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS CONCLUDES CONSIDERATION OF INITIAL REPORT OF NEPAL

CESCR
26th session
23 August 2001
Morning




The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights this morning concluded its consideration of an initial report from Nepal on how that country was implementing the provisions of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

Over the course of the discussion, Committee members raised a number of questions which the members of the delegation responded to. Among other things, an Expert, quoting United Nations sources, said that trafficking in girls to India was apparently conducted with the acquiescence of the relevant Nepalese authorities.

During the debate, a representative of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) stressed the need to change the teaching system in Nepal and to extend educational opportunities to all citizens.

The Committee will release its concluding observations and recommendations on the initial report of Nepal towards the end of its three-week session, which concludes on 31 August. It will adopt its conclusions in a closed meeting.

Nepal is among the 145 States parties to the Covenant, under which periodic reports should be submitted to the Committee on the various activities designed to implement the provisions of the treaty. A three-member Nepalese delegation, headed by Shambhu Ram Simkhada, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Nepal to the United Nations Office at Geneva, was on hand for three meetings to present the report and to answer the Experts' questions.

When the Committee reconvenes at 3 p.m., it will meet in private to discuss reports already considered during the current session.


Discussion

At the beginning of the meeting, Committee Experts raised a number of questions pertaining to the lack of adequate campaigns against illiteracy; the high rate of school dropouts; health services and the use of homeopathic treatment; education; and gender equality, among other things.

Responding to the questions, the delegation said that there were extended hospital services throughout the country as well as traditional therapeutic practices for patients. Such traditional therapeutic services were provided in 25 centres. In addition, homeopathic treatment was widely used in many clinics and health centres.

Foreign assistance was an important ingredient for Nepal's development programmes and other essential services, the delegation said. At least 60 per cent of the country's national budget was allocated to social development. Most of the basic health services were financed through foreign assistance. Because of the geographical situation and the demographic dispersion, full medical services were not yet provided; however, the Government was trying its best to expand its services to remote areas.

With regard to mental patients, the delegation said that the Government had attempted to have at least one section in every district hospital for the treatment of mentally deranged persons and those affected psychologically.

In order to encourage girl students, the Government had been providing scholarships and other opportunities through which girls were provided with quality education, the delegation said. In addition, awareness raising campaigns had also been conducted from time to time on the need to send girls to schools.

Moreover, Nepal had continued to review and improve current legislative and administrative measures to improve the status of women in the country, the delegation said. Programmes were aimed at integrating women into the development mainstream through gender equality and women's empowerment.

Asked if the Government was financing private schools, the delegation said it was not. They were independently run without any financial support from the Government.

The public television of Nepal was playing an important role in disseminating educational information to the general public, particularly to the population living on difficult terrain, mostly not reachable by road, the delegation said. The television transmitted programmes with the help of satellite connections.

The delegation said that the Government was trying to make health services accessible to all through a combined approach of preventive and curative treatment.

The Government was conscious that there was gender inequality affecting women and girls, the delegation said. The authorities had been increasing educational resources to allow more girls to pursue their education on equal footing with boys. Nepal, however, realized that it would take a long time correct the situation.

Nepal was also facing a problem of dropouts at the primary level of school, the delegation said. The problem was further compounded by a wide gender gap in education, and the large disparity between the numbers of boys' and girls' in school enrolment. That problem was more serious among girls, and a family's decision not to send children to school was guided by lack of income and employment opportunities at the family level.

Further, the Government was making efforts to improve the educational system so that citizens obtained quality education and trained to achieve better skills, the delegation said. Most of the programmes implemented by the Government were aimed at redressing the situation in education. At present, there were schools in every village, but the improvement of their teaching quality was the concern of the Government.

Nepalese Government was pursuing a far-reaching policy in order to eliminate existing discrimination based on sex or ethnicity, the delegation said. The country's Prime Minister, in his recent policy statement, had confirmed the Government's determination to deal with all aspects of discrimination.

Asked about the country's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), the delegation said that there had been a serious process of consultations in Nepal concerning its admission to that organization. The Government was trying to do all it could to be a member of the WTO.

The Government was accountable for providing economic, social and cultural rights for its people, the delegation affirmed. It aimed at creating a mass civilization of a sound quality. The process of privatization should be a source of wealth to the population, and it should not be a source of marginalization, as seen currently.

The Committee members continued to query the Nepalese delegation on a number of issues. An Expert said that there was no new legislation to deal with domestic violence; and quoting United Nations sources, the Expert said that trafficking in girls to India was apparently conducted with the acquiescence of the relevant Nepalese authorities. Another Expert asked how untrained teachers were capable of assuming their responsibility in teaching in high schools.

In response, the delegation said that the Government was preparing a bill aimed at reducing domestic violence.

The Government did not encourage any wrongdoing by officials, the delegation said, adding that the allegation of collaboration with acts of trafficking would be severely punished if the culprit was apprehended.

Asked if the right to freedom of religion was respected, the delegation said that the law protected every individual to practice his or her own religion. The law prohibited forced conversion of religion.



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