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Nepal Centers

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Nepal Centers

 

Known Centers based in Nepal

If your center is not in this list and you want to be added, please contact Hurights Osaka and we will assist you.

 

 


 

 

Center for Human Rights and Democratic Studies (CEHURDES)

 

Year Established: 1999

 

Short Historical Background

 

The Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Studies (CEHURDES) is a non-profit, non-partisan non-governmental organization (NGO) working for the protection and promotion of press freedom and freedom of expression in Nepal since its establishment in 1999.

 

Besides publishing annual reports on the status of Freedom of Expression and Press Freedom in the country, CEHURDES organizes training and workshops for journalists and opinion leaders on various issues of freedom of expression, undertakes research and publishes relevant materials to promote the cause.

 

As the first member of IFEX (International Freedom of Expression Exchange, www.ifex.org) -- the Toronto-based network of organizations working in the area of freedom of expression around the world— in Nepal, CEHURDES has been actively monitoring the situation of press freedom and freedom of expression in the country and is engaged in lobbying and advocacy works. CEHURDES has worked with the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ)—another IFEX member in Nepal—and other like-minded organizations for upholding press freedom during the royal rule and continues to liaise and work actively to highlight new threats facing the Nepalese media community and ensure a safe working environment for media personnel and free expression of activists.

 

Objectives

 

CEHURDES aims:

1) To work for the protection and promotion of human rights under the policies and guidelines adopted by the United Nations

2) To carry out human rights awareness activities to raise the level of consciousness of people toward materializing the theme "all human rights for all"

3) To conduct human rights education programs at the grassroots level both in formal and informal education sectors

4) To work to ensure press freedom and freedom of expression, including the rights of media workers and journalists as guaranteed by the country's Constitution and international human rights instruments

5) To conduct research, study, interaction programs, etc. in the areas of human rights, press freedom and freedom of expression, democracy and peace in Nepal in the context of regional experience

6) To advocate for the protection of the rights of women, children, disabled people, disadvantaged communities, refugees and victims of torture

7) To coordinate and monitor the implementation of the international human rights instruments adopted by the United Nations and ratified by Nepal.

 

Programs

 

1) Enhancing people’s participation in the constitution-making process to guarantee fundamental human rights and freedom of expression in particular

2) Mobilizing the media for the education of the people on press freedom and freedom of expression]

3) Training program for journalists on human rights reporting and mainstreaming the issues of marginalized communities

4) Interaction program with civil society activists.

 

 

Activities

 

- Regular monitoring of the status of press freedom and freedom of expression, issuing statements on acute concerns towards protection and safeguarding fundamental human rights

- Campaigns at local and international levels

- Provision of legal support to victim-journalists and activists

- Production of radio programs and airing those in a number of FM radio stations

- Publication and distribution of education materials like posters in various local dialects and others to educate and sensitize people of different communities on various rights issues

- Training to journalists and interaction with civil society people.

 

 

Publications

 

• Annual Reports "Status of Press Freedom and Freedom of Expression in Nepal"

• Training Manual for journalists on Human Rights Reporting

• Practical Handbook for Journalists

• Right to Information

• "Free Expression" Periodical (Nepali and English)

 

 

Address

 

Center for Human Rights and Democratic Studies (CEHURDES)

GPO Box 23809, New Baneshwor, Kathmandu, Nepal

ph/ Fax: (977-1) 4780809, 977 9841 242391

e-mail: cehurdes[a]mos.com.np

www.cehurdes.org.np; www.ifex.org/members/cehurdes

 

 

 

Center for Legal Research and Resource Development (CeLRRd)

 

Year Established: 1998

 

Short Historical Background

 

The Center for Legal Research and Resource Development (CeLRRd) is a non-governmental organization, founded in its present form in 1998. Its fundamental goal is to accelerate the process of systemic change in society, by fostering widespread understanding of the Rule of Law and unrestricted access to free and fair Justice.

 

Objectives

 

CeLRRd aims

1. To promote access to justice for all irrespective of the social, ethnic, religious, and gender-based cleavages

2. To safeguard the rights and interests of disadvantaged segments of Nepalese society

3. To conduct research activities on socio-legal issues that have direct impact on the lives of Nepalese people

4. To foster legal professionalism with an emphasis on "alternative lawyering"

5. To conduct extensive paralegal and general legal awareness programs for the benefit of the grassroots community

6. To provide extended and institutionalized legal aid services to the victims of injustice and human rights violations

7. To lobby for essential and appropriate legislation, providing professional assistance in the drafting process

8. To foster culture of peace and reconciliation in communities

9. To lobby for the reform of existing legislation with the norms of human rights and fair trial.

 

Programs and Activities

 

- Support to Justice Sector Initiatives (Human Rights Orientation for the staffs of Judicial and Quasi-judicial bodies on the basis of the Human Rights Manual developed by CeLRRd)

- Free Legal Aid to Prisoners

- Strengthening of the Fair Trial Situation

- Combating trafficking of women and children through Community Surveillance System Against Trafficking (CSSAT)

- Community Mediation Program in six districts

- Community Peace Building Program

- Developing Rights-based approach for Anti-trafficking actions in South Asia

- Strengthening the Juvenile Justice System

- Coalition for Constituent Assembly Support (CoCAS)

- Victims Legal Aid

- Development and conduct of Orientation on Criminal Procedural Guidelines to Judges, Government Attorney, Police and Bar-members

 

Special Concerns

 

Promotion of Rule of Law, Good Governance, and Human Rights in the nation and in Judiciary in particular

 

Publications

 

1. Human Rights Manual (2004)

2. Gender Equality Report 2006

3. Crime (of trafficking of women and children for sexual exploitation) Investigation Manual (2002)

4. Manual on Prosecution and Legal procedures /Action (2002)

5. Laws of Nepal Incompatible with Fair Trial Standards (2005)

6. Prisoners Legal Aid Manual (2006)

7. Criminal Procedure Guidelines

8. Report on Nepalese Trail Court Research (2002)

9. District court Manual (2003)

10. Analysis and Reform of Nepalese Criminal Justice System

11. Community Mediation Manual & Work Book (2005)

12. A Compilation of Discourse Material for Conflict Transformation and Peace Building

13. Manual on Fair Trial Standards (2005)

14. Baseline Survey on Criminal Justice System of Nepal

15. Analysis of Laws and Policies on Labour Migration & Trafficking (2002)

16. Study on Counter Corruption Legal Framework (2000)

17. National Conference on Community Mediation (2005)

18. Report of Support to Justice Initiative Programs (2005)

19. Social Responsive Human Rights Legal Education

20. Impact of Corruption in Criminal Justice System on Women (Condemned to Exploitation) (2000)

 

It also produces a bi-monthly e-bulletin along with the Kathmandu School of Law.

 

Address

 

Center for Legal Research and Resource Development (CeLRRd)

P.O.Box No. 6618, Tinkune, Kathmandu, Nepal

ph (977-1) 2042268, 4112293 , 6634455, 6634663

fax (977-1) 4112293

e-mail : celrrd[a]wlink.com.np

 

https://celrrd.org/

 

 

 

Child Rights Research and Resource Center at KSL

 

Year Established: 2007

 

Short Historical Background

 

The Kathmandu School of Law (KSL) established in December 2007 the Child Rights Research and Resource Center (KSL Child Rights Center) in order to strengthen research and sharing of information on the issues of child rights at national as well as regional levels. The primary objective of the Center is to build a competent rights regime in Nepal (and in the South Asian region) by establishing a capable institution that generates human and intellectual resources pertaining to child rights, development and psychology.

 

The Center is the outcome of the commitment of different like-minded institutions to work as joint venture to protect and promote child rights and access to justice. Save the Children Norway, Save the Children Sweden, UNICEF, Tdh Nepal, Center for Legal Research and Resource Development (CeLRRd) deserve credit in initiating this important mission. Their moral, financial and logistic support boosted KSL's strength in initiating this challenging yet benign mission.

 

 

Objectives

 

The Center aims

1) To conduct continuous research and impact analysis/study of programs being implemented by various agencies in relation to the child rights, development and psychology

2) To review the child rights enforcement situation in Nepal and other countries

3) To serve as information clearing house by disseminating periodically and annually information on child rights issues

4) To initiate activities to promote and protect child's rights and access to justice

5) To coordinate with agencies engaged in the protection and promotion of child rights, child development and various types of welfare services

6) To conduct interactive seminars, symposiums and conferences, and academic diploma courses on child rights, development and psychology.

 

Programs and Activities

 

1. Documentation and information section – the Center has a documentation and information section at KSL. Reading resources and publications are being collected and documented (including Supreme Court decisions related to child rights).

 

2. Youth Sensitization Program - the Center is organizing a youth sensitization program on the different issues of child rights such as interaction program among youths, documentary presentation on the issues of child rights, to name a few of the major issues.

 

The Center shows documentaries on the child rights issue (and also child psychology and child development issues) every Monday at 2:00 pm at the documentation and information section to the students and faculty of the school and researchers of related areas. In February 2008, Children's Voices Against Violence Against Girls and Boys and Anuttarit Prasna (Unanswered Question) were shown. The first documentary focused on discrimination between girls and boys in school, family and in the law itself. The documentary shows the psychological and physical effects in the children of such discrimination and violence. The second documentary dealt with the situation and status of juvenile delinquency in Nepal.

 

The Center has an interaction program on child rights issues for the secondary and senior secondary school students once a week.

 

3. Law school course on child rights - the Center has started reviewing the curriculum of law schools and other organizations on child rights. Students of LL.B. have been working as interns in the Center.

 

4. The Center established the "CRC-information board" which displays national and international news on child rights every month.

 

 

Future Work Plan:

 

The KSL Child Rights Center plans to undertake the following:

• Establishment of Institutional Framework of Child Rights Research and Resource Center

• Launching of Research and Academic Activities

• Holding Seminars, Interactions and Research at national and regional levels

• Establishment of Legal Aid Support to Children

• Launching of Short Term Diploma and Post Graduate Degree Course on Child Rights

• Launching of Advocacy and Awareness Programs.

 

 

Address

 

Child Rights Research and Resource Center at KSL

Kathmandu School of Law (KSL)

Dadhikot-9, Bhaktapur, Nepal

PO Box: 6618

ph (977-1) 6634455/6634663

fax (977-1) 6634801

e-mail: childrights[a]ksl.edu.np

www.ksl.edu.np

 

 

 

 

 

Forum for Protection of People’s Rights Nepal (PPR Nepal)


Year Established: 2002


Short Historical Background


Forum for Protection of People’s Rights, Nepal (PPR Nepal) is a non-governmental, non-profit organization established in 2002 to advocate and work in the area of human rights and access to justice.
PPR Nepal works for the protection and promotion of human rights, peace-building, access to justice especially for the poor and marginalized section of the society through lobbying, campaigning, capacity-building and research activities. PPR Nepal is established and run by lawyers, human rights activists, health professionals, peace workers and sociologists.
PPR Nepal is registered under Nepal Government/District Administration Office, Kathmandu and is affiliated with the Social Welfare Council (SWC) of Nepal.


Objectives


PPR Nepal aims
1. To promote and protect human rights
2. To increase people’s access to justice
3. To support the development of a just and peaceful society
4. To advocate for torture prevention and the rehabilitation of torture victims
5. To carry out research on the issues related to peace, human rights and justice and disseminate it.

 

Programs and Activities


• Anti-Human Trafficking
PPR Nepal implements anti-human trafficking activities based on three-pronged approach (Prevention, Protection and Prosecution) in three project districts: Kathmandu, Kavrepalanchowk and
Makawanpur. Lawyers, judges, police and public prosecutors are trained on the Trafficking in Persons Act (TIP Act) and psychosocial needs of the victims and witnesses. This training helps the key offices perform their responsibilities through a systematic victimcentered approach. Legal aid and counseling services are provided to the victims of trafficking in the project districts, while the members of the community are made aware on TIP Act with the aim of preventing human trafficking and establishing a more supportive environment in which trafficking victims can reintegrate.
• Anti-Witchcraft
In the absence of effective legal safeguards, scores of widows and women in rural Nepal accused of practicing witchcraft are being ill treated and beaten and even killed in many instances by superstitious relatives, neighbors and villagers. The voices of the victims do not reach the proper state mechanism. To help such victims of witchcraft-related violence, PPR Nepal provides proper legal services to the victims to make them access justice. It also raises awareness against the superstitions to eradicate the problems related to witchcraft.
• Comprehensive Care to Torture Victims
PPR Nepal established in 2006 a rehabilitation center for the comprehensive care of torture victims and their families in Kathmandu. The center provides medical treatment, psychosocial counseling,
physiotherapy, legal aid/counseling services and financial support (a small amount of money for travel and food expenses). Likewise, PPR Nepal operates mobile health clinics in various parts of the
country, through which it provides medical, psychosocial and legal services to torture victims who are not able to visit PPR Nepal’s rehabilitation center in Kathmandu.
• Mediation
In coordination with the Mediation Committee of the Supreme Court of Nepal, concerned district courts and local Bar units, PPR Nepal supports the establishment of a Court Referred Mediation
System in Appellate and District Courts. PPR Nepal conducts series of trainings on court referred mediation across the country. The trained persons are subsequently enlisted as mediators in the concerned courts. By now, more than 500 mediators have been trained.
A national-level network of trained mediators headed by a former judge of the Supreme Court of Nepal was formed with the initiation of PPR Nepal.
• Conflict Transformation and Peace Building
The role of the civil society in the peace process can be made more constructive by building the capacity of the civil society workers. For this, PPR Nepal trains individuals/peace volunteers/
peace workers at the community as well as central level on peacebuilding and conflict transformation knowledge and skills. The trained individuals monitor the peace situation of the district, raise
awareness and organize peace education activities at the local level. Similarly, a mediator’s pool is established in each district to resolve local level conflicts.
• Refugee Rights and Legal Aid Program
PPR Nepal supports refugees facing legal problems and those whose basic human rights have been violated. Many refugees who are detained have been denied fair trial and many of them are arrested
without any valid reason. Refugees suffer from continuous violation of their human rights. And due to the lack of the knowledge about Nepalese legal system, many refugees have been prosecuted.
The legal services provided by PPR Nepal are primarily in relation to the administrative decisions of the state and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) officials concerning refugee status.
• Access to Justice to Vulnerable group
To contribute to increasing the quality, quantity and sustainability of legal services available for vulnerable people; increase the recourse to legal mechanisms, in particular the most vulnerable, for
the management of conflict and the protection of individual and collective rights and to develop and strengthen the normative and institutional framework guaranteeing access to justice for the vulnerable and protection of their fundamental rights PPR Nepal works with the Nepal Bar Associaiton of Makawanpur and Rupandehi. Through this program legal aid is provided to the vulnerable people through mobile and fixed legal clinics, lawyers associated with Bar Association are capacitated and to detention centers are visited.
• Human Rights Documentation/Dissemination
PPR Nepal conducts fact-finding missions to document cases of human rights violations  independently or jointly with other human rights organizations where the incidents of human rights violation took place. These fact-finding missions have a special focus on torture and severe violence against women. The fact-finding team consists of human rights defenders, lawyers, medical doctors, psychosocial counselor and journalists. Reports of human rights violations are disseminated through press meetings that help pressure the concerned parties not to repeat the acts. Safety and security of
victims, their families and witnesses are the prime concerns of PPR Nepal before publicizing the case.
• Research
Since its inception, PPR Nepal has been involved in research on legal, human rights, justice and conflict related issues and has published and disseminated such reports. It has conducted research
on legal aid services, assessment of legal recourse, juvenile justice system, local traditional justice system, and baseline survey on the situation of conflict in Nepal.


Publications


• Conflict Barometer Workshop Report, 2010
• Rehabilitation and Reintegration Denied? A Study on Juvenile Justice System in Nepal, 2008
• Booklet on Anti trafficking, 2011
• Reading Material on Mediation (Nepali), 2007, 2008
• Assessment of Legal Aid Services in Nepal 2011
• Need Assessment of Legal Recourse in Nepal 2012


Address


Forum for Protection of People’s Rights (PPR Nepal)
Min Bhawan, Kathmandu, Nepal
GPO Box 24926
ph (977) 016220874
e-mail: pprnepal[a]pprnepal.org.np
www.pprnepal.org.np

 

 

 

 

 

 

Informal Sector Service Center (INSEC)

 

Year Established:1989

 

Short Historical Background

 

The Informal Sector Service Center (INSEC) has been ardently involved in the protection and promotion of human rights for more than one and a half decades. Founded by inexorable human rights defender, the late Prakash Kaphley, and prominent human rights activist, Sushil Pyakurel, INSEC significantly contributed in institutionalizing the democratic polity in the nation using the rights-based approach, both at the policy and grassroots levels, especially after the restoration of democracy in the 1990/1991 period.

 

Objectives

 

INSEC aims

  1. To make the people, government, law enforcing and other concerned agencies become aware of the issues and incidences of human right violations and act accordingly;
  2. To make the government promulgate and refine its policies and laws to protect and promote the human rights of its people as per international treaties and conventions;
  3. To make the people, their representatives, the law enforcing agencies and other key stakeholders educated and trained on human rights and take action to protect and promote human rights in the country;
  4. To create a vibrant network for peace building in place for advocacy and conflict mitigation;
  5. To make national laws and relative rules and regulations reinforced against social discriminations;
  6. To make people and communities protected against human rights violations and supported for rescue and relief;
  7. To enhance the institutional competence of community-based organizations (CBOs) and other like-minded organizations to work together on human rights, peace building and policy advocacy;
  8. To be recognized as an effective organization in human rights for its effective and transparent management practices.

 

Programs

 

Human Rights Education – primarily aims to make local people become aware of the need for human rights education, strengthen and mobilize district-based human rights non-governmental organizations (NGOs), community-based organizations/civil society organizations (CBOs/CSOs), and to sensitize concerned government authorities like bureaucrats, policymakers and members of political parties on human rights issues specially focused at district level.

 

Human Rights Advocacy - aims to pressure the government to fulfill its obligations under international human rights and humanitarian laws and address major human rights issues through human-rights-based policy formulation and ensure that the human rights of disadvantaged people are protected and the prevailing discrimination based caste, gender and ethnicity effectively addressed.

 

Policy Advocacy - aims to pressure the government to ratify major international human rights and humanitarian treaties as well as make sure that there are mechanisms at the national and international levels that are easily accessible to people seeking justice. The campaign also puts pressure upon the government for the immediate implementation of declarations issued by the legislature and the recommendations made by international community including the United Nations.

 

Human Rights Campaign – focused on specific human rights issues.

 

INSEConline - aims to strengthen the web-based news portal, the INSEConline, in terms of the physical structure, quality of information collected and disseminated, and ultimately to contribute to the broader human rights movement of the country.

 

Victim Assistance - aims to assist those victims of human rights violations who need immediate support and who approach INSEC central and regional offices directly.

 

Human Rights Yearbook - the only primary and reliable source of document for social scientists, human rights activists, journalists and other experts for citing the human rights issues in Nepal.

 

Institutional Development of INSEC Partner Organizations - aims to help the partners become competent in meaningfully contributing to the human rights movement in the country and be able to work towards this end independently.

 

Activities

 

INSEC undertakes the following activities:

  • Literacy/awareness class, human rights education through radio, training, Human Rights Day celebration
  • Collection/documentation/dissemination of information on human rights violation cases, fact-finding missions, assessment and monitoring of the status of implementation of international treaties and conventions, research
  • Lobbying and advocacy on human rights issues at local, national and international levels, campaigns on human rights issues, urgent action, press statement against human rights violation, and public hearings
  • Trauma counselling for human rights victims, emergency rescue and relief to human rights victims, litigation for human rights protection.

 

 

Publications

 

Periodicals

  • Prachi (Nepali, bi-monthly)
  • Informal (English,quarterly)
  • Insec Abhiyan (Nepali, monthly)
  • Nepal Human Rights Yearbook (English/Nepali, annual)
  • Sthiti Suchak (online) (Nepali, quarterly)

Some other publications

  • A Decade of Human Rights Movement in Nepal
  • Bal Adhikar Sambandhi Sachitra Pustak (pictorial book on the rights of the child)
  • Bonded Labour in Nepal: Under Kamaiya System
  • Compilation of UN Conventions Resolutions and Declaration
  • Forced to Plough
  • Geneva Conventions, 1949 & their Additional Protocols, 1977 (Nepali translation) Is There Room Enough? 
  •  Plight of the Kamaiyas
  • Situation of Basic Human Rights
  • South Asia Human Rights in Difficult Circumstances - Solidarity for Peace in Nepa
  • Training Manual for Human Rights Reporters (Nepali)
  • Vote Kasalai Dine Kaslai Nadine (Nepali)
  • Women in Politics

 

Other Information

 

INSEC library

 

Established in 1990, the INSEC library is the first special library on human rights in Nepal. The objectives of the INSEC library are:

a) To collect, maintain and catalogue literature, photographs, video documentaries, video footages, photographs and other documents on human rights.

b) To disseminate literature and information on human rights to researchers, human rights activists, law makers, political leaders, students, government officials and anyone involved and interested in human rights.

 

The INSEC library holds more than six thousand documents, including books, journals, reports, articles, conference papers, news clippings, CDs, photographs (printed & digital), video documentaries and video footages.

 

International Criminal Court (ICC) Campaign

Campaigning and advocating for ratification of international human rights instruments have been core activity for INSEC for considerable amount of time. The more recent campaigning in this regard has been for ratification of the Convention on International Criminal Court (Rome Statute), for which INSEC has been pressurizing the government, sometimes independently and sometimes in close collaboration with other human rights organizations.

Nepal campaign for the International Criminal Court gained more momentum after the formation of the National Coalition for the ICC (NCICC) in 2001. INSEC has been working as the coordinator of the campaign. The campaign aims at facilitating the accession to the Rome Statute by the Nepal Government. The campaign created a momentum for the ICC in Nepal sensitizing all major stakeholders.

For more details visit: www.icc.inseconline.org

 

 

Address

 

Informal Sector Service Center (INSEC)

Syuchatar, Kalanki, Kathmandu, Nepal

P.O. Box 2726, Kathmandu, Nepal

ph (977 1) 4278770

fax (977 1) 4270551

e-mail: insec[a]insec.org.np

www.inseconline.org

 

 

 

 

Jagaran Media Center (JMC)


Year Established: 2000


Short Historical Background


The Jagaran Media Center (JMC) is a non-governmental organization established in 2000 by the youth and committed journalists from the Dalit community in Nepal. Within a relatively short
time span, it has promoted Dalit issues at the local, national and international levels utilizing different forms of media. JMC advocates the elimination of caste-based discrimination, and promotes a more equitable, inclusive and accountable democracy, environmental justice and sustainable disaster risk reduction through media mobilization.
JMC has been promoting Dalit empowerment by giving Dalits the means to create their own media through journalism training, publications, and production of Dalit-focused media. JMC has the
following vision: an equitable society, free from all forms of castebased discrimination.


Objectives


JMC aims
1. To protect and promote the human rights of Dalits using the mass media
2. To monitor, research, document and provide assistance to the Dalit victims of human rights violations
3. To work for the rights of the Dalit community, advocating through social movement and mass media
4. To work on the right to information of the Dalit community of Nepal
5. To advocate for the elimination of the different forms of discrimination through different media programs
6. To advocate for the inclusion of the Dalit community in every sphere of Nepali society
7. To build the capacity of Dalit journalists and contribute to their greater participation in mainstream media
8. To produce Dalit journalists at the community level to support “right to information.”


Programs and Activities


JMC has been actively undertaking activities such as the following:
• Katwal Radio Magazine (KRM) - one of the units of JMC that has been continuously operating since 2003. It is being broadcasted from 15 different FM stations across the country. 646 KRM Listeners
Clubs are active under the KRM program.
• Radio Magazine Bholikalagi Aajai - used by JMC to take up issues relating to environmental justice, climate change, disaster risk reduction and food security. This radio magazine is broadcasted
through 8 different radio stations in the country, and 14 episodes of this program have already been aired.
• JMC Social Media (consisting of website, blog, twitter, and Facebook) - used as alternative media to mainstream the voice of the Dalit community. JMC utilizes the social media to disseminate Dalit news on a daily basis. JMC has more than 20,000 social media members and regularly gets about 1 lakhs (10,000) visitors. It has become the proven tool for JMC to interact with its members.
• JMC Journalism Training - JMC offers basic to advanced levels of journalism training to Dalit and non-Dalit journalists to increase the quantity and quality of media coverage on Dalit issues. More
than 500 youths from Dalit community have been trained on different levels of the training programs.
• Radio Jagaran is one of the most effective ways of disseminating messages to the public. It operates from Butwal (western region of the Nepal) in 93.6 MHz with the capacity of 500 watts
and can be heard as far as Rupandehi, Kapilvastu, Nawalparasi, Palpa, Arghakhanchi, Pyuthan, Dang, Tanahu, Chitwan and Gulmi districts of Nepal.
• Radio Jagaran is one of the most effective ways of disseminating messages to the public. It operates from Butwal (western region of the Nepal) in 93.6 MHz with the capacity of 500 watts
and can be heard as far as Rupandehi, Kapilvastu, Nawalparasi, Palpa, Arghakhanchi, Pyuthan, Dang, Tanahu, Chitwan and Gulmi districts of Nepal.
• Jagaran Information Centers, with the view to maintaining mutual collaboration between Radio Jagaran and community, exist in the 15 Village Development Councils (VDCs) of Rupendehi,
Kapilvastu and Navalparasi.
• Dalit human rights case documentation: JMC records cases of Dalit human rights violations and periodically publishes them efthrough the JMC bulletin. JMC district reporters actively document
the cases at the local level and correspond with the JMC center.


Other Information


The Dalit Research and Resource Center hosts many of the books, articles and research studies linked to the Dalit movement. As JMC documents and follows cases of Dalit rights violations around the country, the Dalit Research and Resource Center as repository of information on the Dalit community has enabled the media to make these human rights violations cases public. JMC carries on different researches on Dalits time to time.


Publications

 

• Books: annual reports and other books
• E-Bulletin: issued on fortnightly basis and sent to more than 6,000 e-mail recipients from around the globe
• Feature Service: called ‘JagaranLekhmala’ and consisting of investigative and resourceful articles, news items, columns, etc. for the mainstream media
• Media watch report: published twice a year as a report that monitors and evaluates all daily newspapers regarding the frequency of published articles on Dalit issues.


Address


Jagaran Media Center (JMC)
Buddha Nagar, Nepal
ph (977-1) 4781216; 4780597
fax (977-1) 4782851
e-mai: info[a]jagaranmedia.org.np
www.jagaranmedia.org.np
www.facebook.com/jagaran.media
https://twitter.com/JagaranMedia

 

Post Box No. 19619
Kathmandu, Nepal

 

 

 

 

South Asia Forum for Human Rights(SAFHR)

 

Year Established: 1990

 

Short Historical Background

 

Human rights, peace and democracy are the main areas of concern of the South Asia Forum for Human Rights (SAFHR). Established in 1990, SAFHR is a regional public forum for the promotion of respect for universal values of human rights, the interdependence of rights, and the indivisibility of rights.

 

In the strife torn region of South Asia, SAFHR is committed to the promotion of the interlinkages between human rights, peace and substantive democracy. SAFHR is a human rights organization with 'peace as value' as its cornerstone. Peace is understood as a space for the enjoyment of the rights of all peoples. It is not simply the absence of war or the management of crisis but a fundamental value to be integrated in all programs for realizing peoples' security - that is, security of food, shelter, health and livelihood in a non-hegemonic democratic regional order. It is this perspective which animates SAFHR's flagship program - Human Rights and Peace Studies Orientation Course.

 

 

Objectives

 

SAFHR aims

 

1. To promote respect for universal standards of human rights with emphasis on universality and interdependence of rights

2. To provide a public regional forum for exchange of ideas and concerns on human rights, peace and substantive democracy

3. To expose human rights abuses in the region. Human rights are abused in dark places and the abused persons are forced into silence in their own country. By organizing regional dialogues, producing research and publications and undertaking advocacy campaigns, SAFHR will provide human rights non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and activists an opportunity to expose abuses

4. To build a communication network of regional human rights and peace activists and NGOs and develop a publications program on peace and human rights issues

5. To undertake programs and campaigns to generate awareness for the rights of the minorities, displaced persons and refugees and work for the reduction of statelessness. SAFHR shall campaign for ratification of United Nations conventions and protocols for the protection of refugees, stateless persons and migrants by the states of the region

6. Through such mechanisms as people-to-people dialogue, to strive to create inter-state and regional-level peoples' forums for intervention in situations of intra- and inter-state conflicts, lobby with governments and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) for the creation of regional conventions and mechanisms to improve the quality and standards of human rights all over the region of South Asia

7. To develop an experimental model of peace education for the region founded on the bedrock of 'peace as value' and the interlinkages between human rights, peace and democracy through its Peace Studies and Human Rights Courses

8. To focus on strengthening the peace-building capacities of two particular constituencies - women and the media.

 

 

Programs and Activities

 

South Asian Orientation Course in Human Rights and Peace Studies – this three-month long course combines distance education and a direct orientation course. The program is held each year.

 

Peace Audit Exercise - deals with what is conventionally known as "internal conflicts" involving the State and the rebels, though external factors are also discussed in adequate measure wherever they are relevant. In a way, these conflicts can be again designated conventionally as, "ethnic conflicts." While there are many more such conflicts in South Asia, four audits (Chittagong Hill Tracts, Naga Peace Process, Peace Process in Sri Lanka, and the Peace Question in Balochistan) can be said to have brought out the general features of such conflict as predicating their peace processes and settlements, the characteristics of the dynamics of the peace accords, the nature of participation of various actors in the peace process, the ways in which the conflict and its concomitant peace efforts develop, and finally the preponderant issues that mark all such peace attempts.

 

Women, Conflict & Peace - seeks to make women's gender differentiated experience of conflict visible and to demonstrate that women's experience is a valuable resource in managing community survival, conflict mitigation and building peace. Programmatic activities encompass research and publications, regional and country dialogues, training workshops, women-n-peace network, advocacy campaigns.

 

Refugees & Internally Displaced People - campaigns, publications, workshops and training programs.

 

Media and Conflict program - seeks to develop a critical dialogue from within the media about the media as a political actor in shaping and regulating social and political conflicts and affirms its responsibility to expose abuse of authority and violations of human rights and democracy. It seeks to foster the possibility of exploring shared regional perspectives and defining a common future oriented towards peoples’ security and rights framework.

 

Minority Rights - This is a special area of focus for SAFHR. Supported by the European Commission, it started in 2005 and will continue till 2010. During the 2005 – 2007 period, SAFHR organized a series of workshops and training programs for activists belonging to different religious, ethnic and linguistic minorities and indigenous peoples of South Asian countries. The programs aimed at developing skills in the use of national, regional and international mechanisms in the protection of minorities. SAFHR also took about fifteen (15) selected minority rights activists from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka to Bolzano in South Tyrol, Italy for a direct experience in special autonomy measures developed by the European Community for the protection of minorities. The second phase of this program is currently going on.

 

 

Publications

 

No Nonsense Guide to Minority Rights. Edited by Rita Manchanda. New Delhi: Impulsive Creations, 2006.

Critical Readings in Human Rights and Peace - Ram Narayan Kumar and Sonia Muller Rappard. New Delhi - Shipra Publications, 2006.

A Pilot Survey on Internally Displaced Persons in Kathmandu and Birendranagar - Deep Ranjani Rai (2005)

Shrinking Space; Minority Rights in South Asia (1999)

Women War and Peace in South Asia: Beyond Victimhood to Agency, Sage Publications (2001)

Women Making Peace; Strengthening Women's Role in Peace Process (2002)

Women in the Naga Peace Process; A Case Study (forthcoming) In collaboration with Women Waging Peace - Hunt Alternatives Policy Commission

We Do More Because We Can: Naga Women in the Peace Process, Rita Manchanda (2004)

Media Crossing Border, Rita Manchanda (ed.) (2004)

Reporting Conflict; a handbook for media practitioners, Laxmi Murthy(ed.) (2004)

Reporting Conflict: A Radical Critique of the Mass Media by Indian & Pakistani Journalists, SAFHR Paper 9 (2001)

Militarized Hindu Nationalism and the Mass Media, SAFHR Paper 11 (2002)

Media & Conflict in South Asia (forthcoming edited volume)

Freedom of Expression in South Asia (forthcoming edited volume)

Handbook for Media, Human Rights Workers and Peace Activists - Pradipshankar Wagle (2004)

Reduced to Ashes: The Insurgency & Human Rights in Punjab - Ram Narayan Kumar with Amrik Singh, Ashok Agrwaal & Jaskaran Kaur (2003)

Report on National Workshop on Media, Democracy and Human Rights in Nepal (2003)

Unregistered Asylum Seekers from Bhutan: A Pilot Survey (2003)

States, Citizens and Outsiders: The Uprooted Peoples of South Asia, Tapan K. Bose, Rita Manchanda (eds.) (1997)

Living On The Edge: Essay on the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Subir Bhaumik, Meghna Guhathakurta and Sabyasachi Basu Ray Chaudhury (eds.) (1997)

 

 

Address

 

South Asia Forum for Human Rights

Regional Secretariat

3/23 Shree darbar Tole

Patan Dhoka, Lalitpur, Nepal

ph (977-1) 5541026/5526680

fax (977-1) 5527852

e-mail: south[a]safhr.org, som[a]safhr.org, tbose[a]safhr.org

www.safhr.org

 

 

India Office:

Q-161, 1st Floor,

Gujjar Dairy Lane, Gautam Nagar,

New Delhi- 110 049 India

ph (91-11) 46036051/52

fax (91-11) 46036053

 

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