KATHMANDU: President Bidya Devi Bhandari has said that Nepal is on the path towards institutionalizing an inclusive democracy embedded with principles of human rights, equality, non-discrimination and social transformation.
In a key note speech to the Reykjavík Global Forum (Women Leaders) held in Reykjavík, the capital of the Republic of Iceland, President Bhandari has stated that the Government of Nepal is investing in education, public health, employment and inclusive social and political mechanism for building an equal and just society.
While thanking the organizers for inviting her to the global platform of women’s leadership, President Bhandari mentioned that the journey from Nepal to Iceland has connected us from the Third Pole to the North Pole.
She said that she came from the land of Lord Gautam Buddha and Mount Everest with the warm goodwill of the Nepali people.
President Bhandari mentioned that it is inevitable that women’s point of view should be voiced at the forefront of the decision-making process in the context of the challenges faced by the world today.
She said that any crisis affects women the most and the situation in the south has made this more evident.
She also mentioned that climate change is becoming a factor that threatens our very existence today and noted that the impact of climate change in Nepal are increasing and becoming more destructive every year.
The President said that Nepal is highly committed to reducing impacts of climate change, saying although Nepal is not among the countries that emit greenhouse gas, it has been negatively affected by the climate change.
“Nepal has set a target to reach to net- zero carbon emission by 2045. We call on international community to form a transparent mechanism for resources, technology transfer and capacity building to achieve these objectives,” she said.
On a different note, President Bhandari said that Nepal has strong constitutional foundation that guarantees one-third representation of women in federal and provincial legislature.
Sharing that 41 per cent women were elected in recently held local-level election, she mentioned that women’s participation and representation is increasing in different sectors like civil service, security agencies and government and private corporations in Nepal.
The President further said, “Our long journey to achieve full gender equality is underway. We are working to end all forms of gender-based violence and social stigma.”
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