Nepal

Status

Nepal endorsed its first NAP on BHR on 27 December 2023 and it was launched by the Minister for Labour, Employment and Social Security Sharat Singh Bhandari on 23rd of March 2024.

Process

The government of Nepal began a process to develop a BHR NAP in September 2020.

The development was one of the key actions in the national human rights action plan introduced by the Nepal government in 2020.

The development process was led by a task force under the leadership of the labour ministry, including representatives from the Prime Minister’s Office; the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs; the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies; and the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industries.

Support was provided by the UNDP in Nepal and the governments of Japan and Norway.

Stakeholder Participation

In 2023, the Nepal BHR Network and other stakeholders led national consultations on a draft National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights.

The Nepal BHR Network organised the 2nd national consultation on the draft National Action Plan (NAP) on Business and Human Rights with CSOs leaders and human rights defenders represented from 77 districts and 7 provinces on 15th March 2023 after the government of Nepal officially made the public the first draft for the comments and suggestions by the people. The consultation and conference program were organised to inform stakeholders on the preparation process of the National Action Plan on BHR as well as gather perspectives, suggestions and comments of the civil society organisations and human rights defenders on the draft NAP. More than 150 representatives from various organisations actively participated and 20 people shared their views on NAPs and the importance of the BHR standards for Nepal.  Major issues highlighted which should be addressed through the NAP include the informal workforce, conducting assessment of BHR issues in certain sectors, developing due diligence processes for the business sector and sensitising local governments on BHR.

Some major recommendations provided by consultation include:

– Conduct an assessment of status of BHR in certain sectors to identify the gap in compliance between standard of the NAP and actual status.

– Organise inclusive consultation on the NAP with CSOs and thematic groups including children, disabled, women, youth, LGBTIQ and indigenous communities.

– The NAP should focus on FDI enabled infrastructure projects while being mindful of the sensitive nature of this topic and the impacts that abuses of environmental and cultural rights can have on rightsholders when these projects are not conducted correctly.

In May 2023, the Nepal BHR Network reiterated their demands.

At the launch, press reports note that the task force’s “collaborative effort adopted a rigorous, participatory approach, including a series of consultation workshops, focus group discussions, validation, online feedback collection, thematic expert discussion, assessment and technical working group discussions to solicit feedback from businesses, civil society organisations, international experts, and others on drafts of the action plan to ensure its quality and effectiveness, according to the UNDP.”

Transparency

The NAP is available in Nepali on the government website.