Full Coverage: Nepal

09/29/2005 Three Nepalese army officers found guilty of torturing and murdering a 15-year-old girl will probably not serve a single day in jail following a court martial ruling that highlights the impunity of the Royal Nepal Army, a leading rights group said today.

09/28/2005 OneWorld South Asia on behalf of the Grassroots Caucus organised a side event “Missing Grassroots Voices” at PrepCom 3 on September 27th. Grassroots voices have always been missing from policy-making fora. The event started with a film screening on grassroots people sharing their development concerns and how ICTs could offer possible solutions to them. This was followed by a presentation by Basudev Dhungana, a grassroots community worker from Nepal and part of the OneWorld official delegation to PrepCom 3. Report Bidisha Pillai and T. N. Anuradha from Geneva.

09/27/2005 Over 1,500 have been arrested in Nepal's capital over the last two weeks as political parties and their student supporters hold their most sustained protests since King Gyanendra's February takeover of the country's political machinery. In rural areas, a unilateral ceasefire called by Maoist rebels earlier this month has improved life, villagers say, wishing the government would follow suit.

09/22/2005 Aid agencies are to resume one of Nepal’s most successful poverty-alleviation projects, which was suspended in May in protest against assaults on female staff by Maoist rebels.

09/14/2005 France-based media organisation Reporters Without Borders has condemned the Nepalese government for blocking access to the website of Gorkha News on 9 September. Everest World Limited, which edits the site, said it has been censored because of “its stand against curbs on the Nepalese press."

09/08/2005 KATHMANDU, Sep 6 (IPS) - Nearly 30,000 Nepali children die yearly in their first month of life, the third highest rate in the world. Yet, the battered country is on track to slash under-five mortality by two-thirds within a decade, says the United Nations.

09/07/2005 Non-profit health organisation PATH has launched a new web-based initiative to help track the impact of Japanese encephalitis that kills and disables millions of children in Asia. The disease has currently taken hundreds of lives in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and also in Nepal.

09/06/2005 Nepalissa asuu arviolta 22 miljoonaa ihmistä, joista noin joka viides kuuluu niin kutsuttujen koskemattomien kastiin. Hindukastihierarkian hännille kuuluvien dalitien yhteiskunnallinen asema on heikko ja suuri osa elää köyhyysloukussa. Siksi dalit-väestö myös altistuu hyväksikäytölle. Nepalin nykyinen perustuslaki kieltää syrjinnän mutta diskriminaatio elää vahvana maan kulttuurissa.

09/05/2005 The decision by Maoist rebels to observe a three month ceasefire was applauded by the NGO and donor community as it could have a positive impact on aid and development work, much of which has been hampered by the nine-year rebellion.

09/02/2005 Shakti S. Ghimire president of Nepalese NGO Idea Action writes on the situation in Nepal. He analyses the politics between the king and the political parties and the conflict between the army and the Maoist rebels.

09/01/2005 YK raportoi nepalilaisten naisten ja lasten yhä kasvavista katoamisluvuista. YK:n mukan katoamiseen ovat syynä niin hallituksen joukkojen kuin maoistienkin toimet. Nepalin konfliktissa on saanut surmansa jo yli 12 000 ihmistä. UNICEFin arvion mukaan vuosittain 2,4 miljoonaa naista ja lasta päätyy ihmiskaupan uhriksi.