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

CESCR
26th session
22 August 2001
Morning





The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights this morning started its consideration of an initial report from Nepal, hearing a Government delegation say that 42 per cent of the population lived below the poverty line.

Introducing his country's report, Shambhu Ram Simkhada, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Nepal to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said that in a landlocked and least developed country like Nepal, the increasing need to use scarce resources for security and law and order, and away from development, presented a sad commentary on human wisdom.

Mr. Simkhada said that economic performance had remained uneven since 1961, and as a result, 42 per cent of the population today lived below the poverty line. Nepal had undergone a major political transformation as a result of the "people's movement" in 1989, he added.

Committee Experts raised questions on such issues as the power of the Supreme Court; the situation of Bhutanese refugees; the conditions of people under a caste system; the national plan of action; the practice of bribery; and the achievements of the national human rights commission, among other things.

Responding to some of the Experts' questions, the members of the Nepalese delegation affirmed that the promotion and protection of human rights had been accorded a high priority in the country's Constitution.

The Nepalese delegation is also composed of Nabin Bahdur Shrestha, Minister Counsellor and Deputy Chief of Mission at the Permanent Mission of Nepal in Geneva; and Suresh Man Shrestha, Deputy Permanent Representative of Nepal to the United Nations Office at Geneva.

As one of the 145 States parties to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Nepal must submit periodic reports to the Committee on its performance designed to implement the provisions of the treaty.

The Committee will continue its consideration of the report of Nepal when it reconvenes at 3 p.m.

Summary of Nepal's Report

The initial report of Nepal, contained in document E/1990/5/Add.45, enumerates the special measures taken to implement specific articles of the International Covenant and the other provisions on an article-by-article basis. It says the Constitution guarantees the freedom of expression and ideology, movement, organization and profession, employment, industry and trade. Nepal is the only Hindu kingdom in the world; it is a multi-ethnic and multi-lingual country; the per capita income is $ 210, with a population of 18.5 million; because of the high growth rate, per capita income grew by only 1.4 per cent per year during the last 25 years; and about 42 per cent of the population lived below the poverty line, of whom 82.9 per cent are poor and 17.1 per cent are extremely poor. Poverty alleviation has been one of the main objectives of the Ninth Plan (1997-2002).

The report says that due to a lower level of gross domestic products (GDP) growth and higher imports, the trade deficit has risen from 12.6 per cent in 1990 to 27.1 per cent in 1996. Despite some progress in improving the standard of living, poverty alleviation still remains a major challenge for the Government. Chronic unemployment and underemployment, high population growth and low educational and health status still impair the society; and the socially backward communities continue to be especially affected by these problems.

It is noted that substantial progress has been made in different sectors of national life in the past. However, development in the social sector in terms of improving quality and service delivery has remained a challenge for the Government. The living standard survey has determined 2,124 calories as the per capita daily requirement. Due to difficulties in managing physical and logistical facilities and in the retention of manpower in the less developed areas, health service delivery has not been effective in bringing significant improvement in the health status of the rural population.

There has been a significant improvement in education over the years, the report notes; however, the majority of people are illiterate; women constitute more than two thirds of the illiterate; and Nepal is still lagging in technical and vocational education.

Presentation of Nepalese Report

SHAMBHU RAM SIMKHADA, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Nepal to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said that in a landlocked and least developed country like Nepal, the increasing need to use scarce resources for security and law and order, and away from development, presented a sad commentary on human wisdom. As a living example of the prevailing pluralistic political culture, Nepal had experienced different forms of government, including the minority Government of the United Marxists Leninists, until its resignation after losing a vote of confidence in Parliament. Today, in Nepal, people were free to advocate and exercise their political choice.

Mr. Simkhada said that economic performance had remained uneven since 1961, and as a result, almost 42 per cent of the population today lived below the poverty line. Nepal had undergone a major political transformation as a result of the "people's movement" in 1989. While the opportunities were characterized in the new democratic dispensation, the challenges were manifest most strikingly in the lack of technical human and material resources needed to be able to adequately address the growing expectations of the people for a better standard of living. The widespread poverty continued to pose major difficulties in Nepal.

Poverty reduction had emerged as the principal policy priority of the Government's economic development planning, Mr. Simkhada went on to state. As agriculture was the mainstay of the economy, contributing more than half of the household incomes, employing over 80 per cent of the population, agriculture had been identified as a national economy to reduce poverty. A liberal market-oriented economic policy aimed at achieving sustainable economic growth, reduction of poverty and regional imbalance, while maintaining micro economic stability, encouraging foreign direct investment and promoting export, was being pursued.

Mr. Simkhada further said that health was another priority area of the Government's development policy next to education. Greater access to health services through the expansion of preventive, promotional and curative health services were being provided. The national health plan aimed at providing and integrating basic health care down to the village level. With regard to education, the Government had declared primary education free.

Nepal was hosting a large number of refugees, which added a burden to its development problems, Mr. Simkhada said. About 100,000 Bhutanese refugees had been granted asylum and were living in UNHCR-administered camps in eastern Nepal. Those persons had been forced to live as refugees in a foreign land for over a decade now. After several rounds of bilateral negotiations, Bhutan had agreed to a process of joint verification aimed at determining the status of the refugees for voluntary repatriation. But, concern had been expressed at the delay in the verification process. Nepal would seek Bhutan's agreement in expediting the joint verification process so that the refugees were able to return to their country of origin.

Discussion

Responding to written questions prepared by Committee Experts in advance, the members of the Nepalese delegation affirmed that the promotion and protection of human rights had been accorded a high priority in the country's Constitution. The Supreme Court had the extraordinary power to issue necessary and appropriate orders for the enforcement of the fundamental rights of the citizens or the settlement of any constitutional issues involved in any dispute of public interest.

Asked why Nepal did not ratify the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, the 1967 Protocol thereto, the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons or the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness; the delegation said that Nepal had ratified 16 human-rights-related international conventions and optional protocols, including the Second Optional Protocol on the Abolition of Death Penalty. Although not a party to the above mentioned Conventions and Protocols, Nepal had been implementing the provisions of those Conventions and Protocols in all practical terms. Nepal had been providing all possible help to refugees since 1959.

Committee Experts raised oral questions on such issues as the power of the Supreme Court; the situation of Bhutanese refugees; the conditions of people under a caste system; the national plan of action; the practice of bribery; and the achievements of the national human rights commission, among other things.

In response to a question, the delegation said that the Government was not aware of the practice of bribery in Nepal, however, measures would have been taken if the Government had known of the existence of such a practice.

Nepal was negotiating to join the World Trade Organization (TWO), the delegation said, adding that it was not yet known how advanced the negotiations were.

Replying to a question on the Supreme Court, the delegation said that the Court had been reviewing a national laws and in a number of cases had nullified some of them which it found to be anti-constitutional.

With regard to Bhutanese refugees, the Government had been providing assistance, including education, to them for the last ten years, the delegation said.

Concerning the caste system, the delegation said the practice of discrimination against the lower class caste was prohibited and the Government had envisaged to take further actions to improve the living conditions of those people.

Asked about the achievements of the national human rights commission, the delegation said that it only started last year and it was actively engaged in assuming its role as the promoter and protector of human rights.

The delegation said that Nepal was an open society and it had absolute political will to cooperate with international organizations; the Government was endeavouring in its efforts to promote and protect the human rights of its people; and all the necessary institutional arrangements were being made to increase the protection of human rights. The Government had also opened the possibility for the non-governmental organizations and the civil society to pursue their activities.


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