It is a pleasure for me to join you today at this international conference, bringing together National Human Rights Institutions from around the world to exchange learning and best practices on gender equality and fulfilment of women’s rights.

It is encouraging to see the high level of interest in this topic both inside and outside Nepal, as reflected by the quality of the audience and guests today.

As we meet today, only 15% of countries in the world are on track to achieve gender equality by 2030. At the current rate it will take 300 years to end child marriage, 286 years to close gaps in legal protection and remove discriminatory laws, and 140 years to achieve equal representation in leadership in the workplace. One in five young women are still married before the age of 18. The task before us is immense, but we also see progress and reasons for hope.

As an example, legislated gender quotas have shown their effectiveness to achieve gender equality in politics. Countries with quotas, such as Nepal, have 50% more representation of women than countries without quotas. Of course, the challenges do not stop there, and it is important to ensure that increased representation is translated into actual impact on law and policy-making.

Nepal is rightly known for its progressive constitution, where the principles of inclusion and gender equality are very prominent. These principles are also reflected in major policies and plans of the Government, including the 16th development plan.

National Human Rights Institutions have a critical role to play in the complex process of turning these principles, polices and plans into reality.

They combine an oversight role and an advisory role to governments for the protection and promotion of human rights.

They can drive more ambitious action on gender, by reviewing government laws and policies in line with national and international human rights standards.

NHRIs also have a responsibility to lead by example, as mentioned in the Paris Principles. They have a role to demonstrate through their own operations how gender equality and other human rights can be promoted.

NHRIs also play an instrumental role towards the implementation of treaty bodies’ recommendations related to women and marginalized communities.

I am glad to see that all these instruments and functions of NHRIs will be discussed at this conference. I hope that you will identify a solid set of best practices and guidelines, which will help raise the level of ambitions for NHRIs’ contribution to the gender equality agenda.

I also hope that this event will provide a platform to share experiences and learnings between countries, and to establish networks and partnerships to further strengthen regional and global collaboration on protection and promotion of human rights.

For us at UNDP, the realization of human rights for all is a foundation stone for all of our work on the Sustainable Development Goals. Our pledge to ‘leave no one behind’ reflects the fundamental human rights principles of non-discrimination and equality.

For this reason, we are pleased to have a long-standing partnership with the National Human Rights Commission going back to its establishment. We look forward to continuing our close collaboration in support of the Commission’s important work to protect and promote human rights for all, with a strong focus on gender equality and social inclusion.

I would like to thank the Commission for bringing us together today, and to thank all of you for your commitment to bringing substantial changes in the lives of women and girls, as well as marginalized groups.

Thank you.