New IDSN strategy presented at the General Assembly 2018

Members and associates shared the latest updates from their respective countries and future plans were discussed. A new IDSN 5-year strategy was also adopted, which will be finalised and published in the beginning of 2019. The assembly provided a good platform to network and learn from each other […]

|Categories: Access to justice, Dalit Women, European Union, Human Rights Defenders, Political Participation, Solidarity Networks, United Nations, Violence and atrocities|Tags: |

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European Parliament calls on the EU to step up action at the UN and delegation levels to eliminate caste-based discrimination

PRESS RELEASE December 12th 2018  The International Dalit Solidarity Network (IDSN) welcomes today’s adoption of the European Parliament’s annual report on human rights and democracy in the world 2017 and the European Union’s policy on the matter. Once again Members of the European Parliament have condemned, “the continuing human rights violations committed against people suffering from caste hierarchies and caste-based discrimination, […]

|Categories: European Union, Human Rights Defenders|Tags: |

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We have a dream

In 1948, the year that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was signed, thousands of Dalits gathered outside a temple in India, from which they had been barred entry because of their caste. A bill had been passed making it illegal to forbid entry to temples on the grounds of caste, but as the group approached, the temple priests […]

|Categories: Access to justice, Human Rights Defenders, South Asia, United Nations|Tags: |

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UN Special Rapporteur asks Nepal to act on violence against Dalit women

The UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, Dubravka Šimonović made a preliminary assessment on violence against women in Nepal, after her official visit to the country, which took place from the 19 to the 29 November. On the same occasion, she released an urgent appeal for the Nepalese State to step up efforts to […]

|Categories: Dalit Women, Nepal, United Nations, Violence and atrocities|Tags: |

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EU encouraged to step up action on the issue of caste discrimination in global supply chains

The hearing was chaired by MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri, Chair of the subcommittee on human rights. Ramesh Nathan focused his presentation on caste and contemporary slavery in supply chains with a specific focus on the Sumangali system in Tamil Nadu. During his intervention, he acknowledged that the European Parliament has been at the forefront of the international community in addressing caste discrimination […]

|Categories: Business, Caste-based slavery, European Union, Human Rights Defenders, India, South Asia|Tags: |

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Dalit human rights defenders attend the EU-NGO Forum

The overarching theme for the 2018 Forum was “Defending universality – Making Human Rights Reality”. 2018 marked the 70th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration, the 25th anniversary of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action as well as the 20th anniversary of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders and the Rome Statute. In the margins of the Forum, the IDSN delegation […]

|Categories: European Union, Human Rights Defenders, India, Nepal|Tags: |

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UN women’s committee makes recommendations to Nepal to address discrimination against Dalit women

The Committee on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW Committee) has released its Concluding Observations, after the periodic review of Nepal. The CEDAW Committee took note of a number of concerns regarding Dalit women and made relevant recommendations.   Below is a summary of the recommendations – for more information on IDSN’s participation in the […]

|Categories: Access to justice, Dalit Women, Education, Nepal, Political Participation, United Nations|Tags: |

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UN CEDAW committee voices concern over difficulties faced by Dalit women in Nepal

UN experts on gender discrimination voiced concerns over the difficulties elected Dalit women face in Nepal, the need for proportional inclusion of Dalit women in the Judiciary, and extreme poverty faced by many Dalit women as a result of discrimination and stigmatization. The comments were made by the CEDAW committee members at the review of the 6th periodic […]

|Categories: Dalit Women, Nepal, United Nations|Tags: |

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New Report: Justice Denied – Death of workers engaged in manual scavenging (Rashtriya Garima Abhiyan)

A new report has been released by NGO Rashtriya Garima Abhiyan looking at the caste inequities underpinning manual scavenging in India and the many Dalits dying while cleaning septic tanks and sewers with no proper equipment. The findings, outlined below, point to an urgent need for action to end this practice.

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EU high-representative calls the UN NGO Committee “hostile to civil society interests, particularly … caste discrimination.”

In her answer to MEP Jean Lambert’s question, on what the EU were doing to support IDSN’s application for UN consultative status, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Federica Mogherini, stated that, “A critical mass of members of the NGO Committee is hostile to civil society interests, particularly in sensitive areas such as caste discrimination.” Ms. Mogherini […]

|Categories: Access to justice, Human Rights Defenders, Political Participation, United Nations|Tags: |

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