In the far west of Nepal, in the city of Dhangadhi, activists and members of civil society have submitted an open letter to the Assistant Chief District Officer of Kailali, Mr Uday Bahadaur Singh, to be forwarded to Nepal’s Minister of Law, Justice, and Parliamentary Affairs Mr. Narahari Acharya.
The letter requests the Minister to take initiatives so that Nepal supports the inclusion of justice, the rule of law and legal empowerment in the Post 2015 Development Goals. The Memorandum states that while some progressive laws have been enacted in Nepal their enforcement is lax due to a lack of proper legal empowerment programs.
Submitting the letter, Mr Umid Bagchand, the President of the civil society group FMDC (Media for Development and Social Change), said it is through the rule of law and legal empowerment that sustainable livelihoods and the human rights of citizens can be ensured. FMDC’s Executive Director Mr Prabhakar Bagchand said: “The Justice 2015 campaign initiated by Namati will be taken to other districts of far west Nepal to garner support and to create a critical mass at the grassroots level.” He said the campaign would then move to the capital and be taken up by other civil society groups. “We need to educate the general public on why the inclusion of access to information, legal identity, rights to land and property, legal participation, and legal services need to be in the new development framework because they are vital for creation of a just world.”