Right Honorable Prime Minister, Mr. Madhav Nepal
Honorable Ministers
UN Resident Coordinator, Mr. Robert Piper
Ladies and Gentlemen
I am honored and very pleased to participate in the launch of the Government of Nepal’s National Plan of Action for 2010 – the Year Against Gender Based Violence. I would like to congratulate the Government with this effort.
There is no doubt that gender based violence is a challenge in Nepal. We experience this when we travel around the country and speak to members of the established para legal committees, child protection committees and child clubs. Nor can we open a daily newspaper without being reminded of gender based violence, even in the police forces which are tasked to establish law and order and take care of the rights and duties of the individual.
Gender based violence represents a serious challenge which in many ways has deep roots, culturally and historically, and which makes it difficult to tackle.
Gender based violence therefore has to be addressed in different ways including at all levels of government from central level to the VDCs, and we have to do so to secure the human rights of individuals.
In this context I would like to mention programs that organizations like UNICEF and Save the Children have established which we are glad to support. The para legal committees among others, are working actively at the local level to address issues of gender based violence. The Child Clubs established at many schools throughout the country have also proven to be very impressive in terms of their ability to change behavior and raise awareness at the local level. Involving boys in particular, -at an early age-, is probably the most effective way of influencing attitudes among boys and men.
Norway shares the commitment of the Government of Nepal to combat Gender Based Violence. My country holds for the time being here in Nepal the chair of a Peace Support Working Group on the UN Security Council Resolutions relating to women, security and peace. This group is working to coordinate efforts of bilateral donors, UN and other international organizations and offers to assist the Government of Nepal in their implementation of the Security Council resolutions 1325, 1820, 1612, 1888 and 1889.
The international community has an obligation to support the implementation of these resolutions relating to protection of women and girls and their participation in peace building activities.
The UN resolutions provide a useful guide in terms of defining effective ways to empower women in situations like these. Special measures may need to be taken to ensure physical security and enabling socio-economic conditions to protect women and girls from gender based violence particularly relating to the conflict situation and the post-conflict situation.
It underscores the need to ensure that measures to address impunity for acts of gender based violence committed during the conflict and post-conflict periode, are in place.
The Norwegian Government’s policy is to work actively and support activities to ensure equality among gender by securing equal rights and opportunities. Norway pledged on Monday support to two global UN funds, managed by UNIFEM, the Fund for Gender Equality and the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women, which will each receive approximately 3,5 million US$ each. Our own experiences form the backdrop for our contribution to the new UN Fund for Gender Equality.
Our contribution is based on the view that the UN plays a key role in mobilising broad and coordinated efforts against all forms of gender-based and sexual violence. Our allocations are being made to support the UN in this important work, among other things in order to combat the use of sexual violence as a weapon in armed conflicts.
The launching of the National Plan of Action here today represents a common platform and a tool that can allow cross-sectoral and collaborative efforts towards a common goal. We support the efforts, either bilaterally or through UN and UNIFEM, but it also depend on the governments own financial commitments to the plan. We, as the Chair of Peace Support Working Group on the Un Security Council Resolutions, and as a bilateral partner, are willing to work closely with the Government to address the issue of combating Gender Based Violence.
Thank you