for employment and access to finance; legally protect Dalit’s rights in the Constitution;
include quotas for Dalit women in public offices, schools and universities; recognise
caste discrimination as a priority when addressing human rights issues and make
discrimination against Dalit a criminal offence.
Ms. Renu Sijapati, representing the Feminist Dalit organisation, made a presentation
on the political participation of Dalit women in Nepal, in which she first gave an
overview of the current situation and the multiple forms of discrimination that they are
facing, both within and outside their community. She underlined the importance to
continue addressing the issues of social exclusion in the current peace-making process
and the fact that the representation of Dalit women in policy-making of political parties
as well as different organs of Governments was still weak. With a view to increase the
political participation for Dalit women she called on the Government to: ensure Dalit
women’s proportional representation in political bodies; ensure meaningful
representation of Dalit women in public policies, planning, project development and
monitoring and evaluation; adopt constitutional provisions for the proportional
representation of Dalit women in all areas of economic, political, administrative,
educational, social and cultural life, with a strong oversight mechanism for monitoring
and implementation; pay particular attention to combating violence against Dalit women
and girls and adopt comprehensive measures to address such violence, including
undertaking wider awareness raising programmes in Dalit communities, specifically
targeting men and boys.
Ms. Sherine Xavier presented on “The Realities of Minority Women’s Political
Participation in Sri Lanka” in which she discussed the impact of war and post-conflict
reconstruction on the situation of minority women in Sri Lanka. She indicated that many
communities were completely displaced during the course of the war, losing their ability
to participate politically and were now in the process of resettlement but were unfamiliar
with, or distrustful of, local governance bodies and unaware of the services available to
them. She pointed to the current opportunity to create a vibrant civil society at regional
and grassroots levels to advocate for democratic participation and respect for human
rights. She deplored the fact that although Sri Lankan women record a high-level of
literacy, social development, participation in local-level of associational engagement,
political representation at local or provincial or national levels continues to remain
dismally low and that the local government reforms currently being discussed, which
include a quota of 25% for women and youth, appeared to be inadequate because it
combined women and youth with no guarantee of an exclusive quota for women, and
with no penalty in case of non-compliance.
Ms. Anastasia Chukhman, member of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples, discussed the work of this mechanism, underlining that in all four
sessions of the Expert Mechanism a considerable place was given to discussions on the
rights of indigenous women. In this regard, she indicated that issues relating to access to
education and participation in decision-making processes had been discussed thoroughly
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