Nine-point Kathmandu Declaration on Gender Inclusion in NHRIs

The conference held from September 3 to 5 has called to ensure pluralistic and equitable representation, and meaningful participation of all genders within NHRIs’, at all levels of operations and functions while promoting accountability for human rights violations, and ensuring the integration of gender transformative approach in all NHRIs’ mandated functions.     

Participated by NHRIs from 19 countries in the Asia Pacific region, the conference has urged the stakeholders to promote gender justice by taking specific actions and allocate resources aimed at achieving gender equality and inclusion, including to accommodate the impact of climate change, and or other current and evolving crisis. "Review domestic legislations to provide policy guidance from gender perspective in compliance with international human rights standards."     

Calling for periodical review of NHRIs’ internal policies, plans, culture and practices from gender perspective in compliance with international human rights standards to ensure NHRIs as gender inclusive human rights mechanism, the participants of the conference urged for adoption of right-based approach to data collection for ensuring systematic compilation of disaggregated data, documentation and dissemination of NHRIs’ interventions on gender and gender diverse people.     

Ensure effective implementation of recommendations related to gender and gender diverse people made by Sub-Committee on Accreditation (SCA), Charter-based and Treaty-based mechanisms, reads the declaration that also calls for establishment of functional coordinating mechanism across NHRIs of Asia Pacific region to collectively raise the common issues of human rights violations related to women and gender diverse people.     

The conference was hosted by the National Human Rights Commission of Nepal (NHRCN) in collaboration with the Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions (APF) and UNDP, UNFPA and UNWOMEN in Nepal. Representatives of NHRIs from 19 countries from the Asia Pacific Region, and members of national, regional, international organizations, and United Nations (UN) agencies, gathered in the conference to discuss the importance of inclusion of gender equality and its intersectionality in the internal and external works of NHRIs, addressing systemic barriers, and to make rights of women and gender diverse people a priority in the face of emerging issues, that may be implemented, nationally, regionally, and globally.     

The participating NHRIs from Asia Pacific region included Australia, Bangladesh, Fiji ,India, Indonesia, Iraq, Jordan ,Malaysia, the Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, the Philippines, Qatar, Samoa, Thailand and Timor-Leste.     

Addressing the concluding session of the conference, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Urban Development Prakashman Singh said that legal mechanism alone is not enough for gender equality and added that everyone should change their behavior for gender equality.     

"I believe that such international conference will play a role in bringing about changes in one's conduct as every individual needs to contribute to women's empowerment and gender mainstreaming," he said.(RSS)