Tuesday, October 18, 2005

CJ Poudel lays stress on gender equality

Lalitpur, Oct 17-A three-day workshop on “Gender Equality and Justice for Trial Court Judges and Public Prosecutors” organised by Pro-public and supported by the Supreme Court of Nepal and judicial associations under the aegis of Asia Pacific Advisory Forum on judicial education on equality issues kicked off in Lalitpur today.

Speaking at the inaugural session of the workshop, chief justice Dilip Kumar Poudel said gender equality and justice are challenging issues against human rights and dignity which not only is a malady of the third world but also of the first world. “Prejudice and delusion of people is responsible in creating the gap of gender inequality,” he said.

There is an urgent need to address gender equality from the right-based approach in order to remove misconceptions, he said, adding that substantive equality was essential for gender justice. Citing various international conferences ratified by Nepal, Poudel said Nepal has constantly shown concern for global declarations involving gender issues.

Dr Shree Krishna Shrestha, president of the Forum for Protection of Public Interest of ProPublic, while highlighting the objectives of the seminar said that the definition of social values of yesteryears had changed with time and that people need to accept and adopt the changes for the betterment of mankind. Former justice of the Supreme Court Laxman Prasad Aryal, while terming equality and justice synonymous said declarations on equality are formal approaches. He added that these need to be applied in substantive justice processes.

Kalyan Shrestha, a sitting Supreme Court judge, said civil and political rights are the not only indicators of whether a country is moving towards the edge. Gender issues are equally important, he said.
Presenting the theme speech on “Role of judges and public prosecutors in promotion of gender justice”, justice DR Campbell of the Federal Court of Canada said gender discrimination is found in every aspect of daily life in society.

No comments: