Charter of Demand by the Conflict affected Women of Nepal

PREAMBLE: In Nepal, the issues on rights of the women have been mainstreamed into all sectors but among the women, the issues of conflict affected women have never received proper attention. Although in Nepal, quite recently, there have been some developments leading to the amendments in the laws governing the rights of the women in general, but they grossly overlook the problems of conflict affected women, particularly the sexual abuse and torture meted out to them. Women and children have been the most affected by conflict. Many have lost their husbands, children and family members and many of them are displaced and victims of sexual violence and torture. Many young girls have been displaced and many due to lack of education and skill are forced to work in informal sectors. The overwhelming majorities of victims’ women by conflict never see justice and reparation for what they have endured nor receive the proper compensation and support.

We, the Conflict affected Women of Nepal bound by common intention and purpose:

RECALLING that women's rights have been recognized and guaranteed in all international human rights instruments,

RECALLING further that Nepal has signed and ratified notably the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and its Optional Protocol

RECOGNISING that the Constitution of Nepal as amended guarantees equal rights for men and women and prohibits nondiscrimination.

AFFIRMING that Nepal in 2003, adopted the National Gender Policy with a goal to build a just equitable society

WORRIED that Conflict affected Women in Nepal facing discrimination at all levels, which has continued to hamper women’s development and exclude them from mainstream politics and governance

Hereby the Conflict affected Women’s group in Nepal adopts the Charter of Demand to ensure the justice, reconciliation, reparation and reintegration.

We the Conflict affected Women of Nepal stand irrespective of our ethnicity, religion, age, ability and political background to bring the desire and aspirations of every conflict victim women from the margins to the centre of discussion.

We Demand:

• to have Political Will and Commitment to Gender Equality and access to justice for the victim
• to include conflict affected women from diverse background at all plans and policies of peace building
• to have clear gender indicators showing delivery and tracking of results for diverse women victims in every sector such as victims from Dalit, Indigenous, Madheshi, Muslim, Disabled, and Widowed
• to appoint conflict affected women into existing TRC and Enforced Disappearance Commission to follow the international human rights declarations for the rights of victim’s participation
• to allocate adequate financial and technical support to strengthen the organizations and networks working for the rights of conflict affected women and support victim to participate in political processes at all levels and take leadership positions and responsibilities.
• to strengthen the system of response within the government and other agencies to protect and to provide necessary services.
• to provide immediate shelter, medical and psycho-social support to victims of GBV during conflict
• to ensure accountability, transparency and commitment while providing support mechanism for victims in a fair and just manner.

We are determined to:

• ensure that sexual violence prevention and response efforts are prioritized and adequately funded throughout all responses to conflict and humanitarian emergencies.
• provide better, more timely and comprehensive assistance and care, including health and psychosocial care that addresses the long-term consequences of violence in conflict,
• ensure that all peace, security and conflict mediation processes explicitly recognize the need to prevent, respond and reduce vulnerability and stressed the need to exclude such crimes from amnesty provisions.
• promote conflict affected women’s full participation in all political, governance and security structures, as well as all decision-making processes, including peace building
• encourage, support and protect the efforts of civil society organizations, including women’s groups and networks to improve the monitoring and documentation of cases of sexual violence and torture in conflict