KATHMANDU, Dec 10: Nepal presented its sixth periodic report on 23 October in the 71st session of CEDAW (Committee on Elimination of Discrimination against Women) held in Geneva, Switzerland. The committee released the unedited version of concluding observations based on the shadow reports presented at the session. Elucidating on the report presented on CEDAW and its concluding observations, a press meet was held at Alfa House, New Baneshwor on Sunday.

CEDAW Shadow Report Preparation Committee (SRPC), a coalition of 93 civil society organizations presented 16 reports in the coordination of Forum for Women Law and Development (FWLD). The session highlighted the List of Issues (LOI) concerning women rights and development and held discussion based on the shadow reports. The session further discussed on the implementation status of laws and policies in issues relating to gender budget allocation, citizenship rights, development plans and policies, substantive equality along with the rights of women in prostitution being discussed for the first time.

“The session successfully concluded with a collective leadership of SRPC. We minutely delved on each of the issues adopting micro economic approaches. However, we additionally look forward to over viewing the issues at a macro level in the forthcoming sessions,” said one of the SRPC members, Sharu Joshi.

“The CEDAW session takes place every four year. It is the work performance and development graph of every country that are highly studied, reviewed and assessed in every session,” said Sabin Shrestha, Executive director at FWLD. “We are looking forward to receiving the edited version of concluding observation. We shall  further work towards implementing the CEDAW recommendations with the participation and consultations from seven provinces,” added Shrestha.