With the election of Norway into the UN Human Rights Council, NGOs are urging the Norwegian Government to make the fight against the inhumane practice of caste discrimination one of their main priorities.
Read the May newsletter here with all the latest news on caste-based discrimination from the IDSN network.
In a press release issued by the World Council of Churches and the Lutheran World Federation it is highlighted that the issue of caste discrimination should have been included in the final outcome document of the UN Durban Review Conference.
In statements at the UN Racism Conference yesterday states and NGOs put caste discrimination on the agenda, while India objected
Those, for whom the Racism Conference should have been a platform for dialogue, are being relegated to the margins in the final outcome document
260 million people worldwide suffer from caste discrimination and are being silenced by the Durban Review Conference, which claims to aim at protecting all victims affected by discrimination and contemporary forms of racism. To break this silence, Human Rights Watch, IDSN, NCDHR and other human rights organizations, have issued a joint position paper calling on the conference to address this crucial issue.
At its 10th session in March 2009, the Human Rights Council decided to publish the completed Sub-Commission reports, which means that the finalized reports on discrimination based on work and descent may finally be issued as official UN documents.
Church leaders and human rights advocates seek to further internationalize the struggle to overcome caste-based discrimination, which affects hundreds of millions of people worldwide. The UN anti-racism review conference to take place in Geneva in late April will be the first test of this strategy.
In a report on the EU-India Free Trade Agreement (FTA) the European Parliament (EP) calls on the European Council and Commission to work together with the Indian Government to move towards ending caste based discrimination, which affects more than 166 million Dalits in India. It urges the EU to ensure that the FTA is not harmful to Dalits and that the potential benefits reach all members of society. According to the EP, this should be part of an ‘ambitious sustainable development chapter’ in the FTA.
During her first official visits to Nepal and India from 18-24 March, the High Commissioner for Human Rights delivered two historic speeches urging the Government of India to show global leadership in the fight against caste-based discrimination, and calling upon the Government of Nepal to apply existing laws to end such discriminatory practices.
Gallery
Gallery