Report of Nepal's Indigenous Peoples for Voluntary National Review of Nepal Under the UN High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development 10-19 July 2017 Prepared by Indigenous Peoples' Network for SDGs, Nepal Kathmandu, Nepal June 2017 1 Contents Executive Summary ........................................................................................................................ 3 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 6 Methodology ................................................................................................................................... 8 Content ............................................................................................................................................ 8 Goal 1: No Poverty ......................................................................................................................... 8 Goal 2: Zero Hunger ....................................................................................................................... 9 Goal 3: Good health and well being ............................................................................................... 9 Goal 5: Gender equality ................................................................................................................ 10 Goal 9: Industry, innovation and infrastructure ............................................................................ 11 Goal 17: Means of Implementation .............................................................................................. 11 Major Challenges .......................................................................................................................... 12 Recommendations ......................................................................................................................... 12 Annexes: ........................................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined. 2 Executive Summary This summary highlights the report submitted for Nepal’s Voluntary National Review during the High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development being held from 10 to 19 July 2017 in UN headquarters New York. Nepal is a diverse country in terms of ethnicity, languages, cultures, religions and geography. The recently promulgated 2015 Constitution of Nepal declares Nepal as multi-ethnic, multilingual, multi-religious, multi-cultural and with diverse regional characteristics. According to 2011 census, there are 125 caste/ethnic groups, 123 languages and 10 religious groups. Among them, indigenous peoples (IPs) comprise 35.8 percent of the total population. Nepal has legally recognised 59 indigenous nationalities, referred to as Adivasi Janajati. The 11 articles of the 2015 Constitution are against the rights of IPs, 23 articles are discriminatory to the IPs, 49 articles are exclusionary to them and 5 articles are tend to establish the supremacy of ruling caste groups. In this regard, the new Constitution affects the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) mainly in three ways to indigenous peoples of Nepal. First, the constitution lacks effective inclusion of all groups, including IPs, in state structures. Second, it lacks effective and meaningful participation of IPs at all levels including in decision making and thirdly, it excludes IPs’ issues and concerns that directly affect and question the mainstreaming of IPs at all levels of SDGs. Indigenous peoples’ organizations of Nepal have collectively prepared this report. Several rounds of meeting were held and various reports and publications of government institutions, university and civil society organisations consulted in the course of preparation of the report. The poverty level of the IPs is higher than that of the ruling caste groups. Among hill indigenous peoples, nearly one-fourth (24.6%) are living below the poverty line whereas the hill Brahmin's poverty is 10.34%.1The major reason behind their poverty is the lack of recognition and promotion of their traditional occupation and lifestyles. Similarly, hunger is rampant among the marginalised indigenous communities; for instance, the Chepangs in the central Nepal constantly face food crisis and hunger. Early marriage, safe drinking water and access to modern toilet facilities are the major indicators of health and wellbeing. 35.48% IPs get married before the age of 18 and 82.32% IPs have access to safe drinking water where only 36.48% have access to modern toilet facilities. Indigenous women are seeking for recognition of their distinct identity. But often they are ignored in the overall discussion on women, which disregards their specific concerns regarding access to economic opportunities and social and cultural development. The ruling caste women most often captured those opportunities for women. Industrialisation and infrastructure development project mostly initiated in the lands of IPs often disregard the right to information and Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) of IPs. Also, there is no mechanism established by the government and corporate sectors to ensure their right to FPIC. 1 LAHURNIP (2014) A Study on the Socio-Economic Status of Indigenous Peoples in Nepal, P.27. 3 Major Challenges Following are the major challenges for implementation of SDGs for IPs in Nepal; • National laws and policies are not in line with the ILO Convention 169 and United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), which are applicable to Nepal. • Lack of mechanism to ensure the participation of IPs in the planning, implementation and monitoring process of SDGs. • Lack of disaggregated data on the basis of ethnicity that often results in ambiguities in the planning process. • Lack of recognition of the rights of IPs over their traditional and customary lands, practices and systems by the national laws and policies • No legal provision to address the issues of multiple forms of discrimination faced by indigenous women and persons with disabilities. • No mechanism for implementation of right to FPIC prior to initiating the industrial and other infrastructural development projects. Recommendations Following recommendations can be made for ensuring the rights of IPs under the SDGs: For the government of Nepal 1. Recognise the rights of IPs over their customary lands and to traditional institutions and practices to promote their livelihoods and health conditions. 2. Ensure proper and appropriate plans and policies for poverty reduction and improvement of health conditions of IPs with their effective participation. 3. Reform and enact laws and policies that fully recognise the rights of the IPs enshrined under the United Nations Declaration on the Right if Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and ILO C169 inter alia other international human rights instruments. 4. Ensure participation, consultation and representation of IPs in the decision-making process as well as establish Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) mechanism in planning, implementation and monitoring process of the development projects. 5. Ensure that the business projects follow due process of laws and respect human rights in the course of implementation of such project abiding with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and other human rights instruments. 6. Generate and provide disaggregated data by gender and ethnicity to appropriately identify and address gaps in the status of IPs in their economic condition, health, education, and representation in the decision/policy making level. 7. Establish effective mechanism to ensure IPs’ meaningful representation and issues in the planning, implementation and monitoring process of the SDGs. 8. Establish IPs ministry, introduce strong mandated IPs commission and enhance the capacity of National Foundation for Development of Indigenous Nationalities (NFDIN) 9. Strengthen and empower National Human Rights Commission to address the issues of IPs rights 4 For the donors 1. Generate and provide disaggregated data by gender and ethnicity to appropriately identify and address gaps in the status of IPs in their economic condition, health, education, and representation in the decision/policy making level. 2. Prepare inclusive plans and allocate budgets for development of IPs 3. Establish IPs desk in the organisation to support and deal IPs issues and grievances 4. Strengthen and empower National Human Rights Commission to address the issues of IPs rights For the private sectors 1. Comply with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights inter alia human rights instrument in the course of implementation business activities. 2. Establish proper and effective grievance mechanism 3. Implement Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities with the representation of IPs bonafied representatives 5 Introduction Nepal is a diverse country in terms of ethnicity, languages, cultures, religion and geographical location. The 2015 Constitution of Nepal declares Nepal as multi-ethnic, multilingual, multi- religious, multi-cultural and with diverse regional characteristics.2 Nepal is a Himalayan, land- locked, secular3, federal democratic republic country with an area of 147,181 sq. km. It borders the People's Republic of China in its north and the Republic of India in its south, east and west.4 Nepal is a pluralistic country with many castes and ethnic groups, cultures, languages and religions. According to 2011 census, there are