On 23 June 2020, Advocacy Forum-Nepal together with District Transitional Network, Banke submitted a memorandum to Ajay Kumar Shrivastav (Coordinator, District Coordination Committee, Banke), Dirgharaj Upadhyay (Assistant Chief District Officer, District Administration Office, Banke), Uma Thapa Magar (Deputy Chief, Nepalgunj Sub-Metropolitan Office) and Chandrakanta Chapagain (Chief, National Human Rights Commission, Nepalgunj), regarding the concerns of conflict victims during the COVID-19. The Memorandum was also communicated to Baijanath Rural Municipality via an email.
On behalf of conflict victims, who have not been able to participate on any platforms lately to voice the pains caused by the pandemic, the District Transitional Network, Banke, took initiation to meet the stakeholders in person to communicate and highlight the concerns of conflict victims and seek possible ways to address those concerns. The 6-point memorandum shed light on the impact of a pandemic on lives of conflict victims. Furthermore, the memorandum draws the attention of stakeholders on the following issues:
- Due to the pandemic and prolonged lockdowns, conflict victims surviving on minimum wages or daily wages are facing difficulties to feed their families.
- Torture victims, disabled victims or those victims with regular medication prescriptions have not been able to purchase medicines owing to lack of money (as works have been suspended) or travel to pharmacies as a consequence of travel restrictions.
- Local authorities have not paid proper attention to conflict victims during the distribution of relief packages.
- Till date, many conflict victims have not received any kind of relief. The relief is inadequate and insufficient as the amount of rice and lentils provided in relief does not sustain beyond eight to ten days.
- Majority conflict victims expressed grievances as their concerns have not been taken seriously by authorities in recent days. Moreover, conflict victims have not been in the priority list of NHRC during these difficult times.
- The pandemic has directly affected the lives of conflict victims. In this situation, it is of utmost importance that local government through local assembly formulate policies and programs to address the needs and concerns of conflict victims by introducing income-generating, skill- development, and employment-based programs. Similarly, programs relating to education, health and activities should be placed to ease the life of the victim families.
Responding to the delegation the stakeholders expressed their commitment to addressing the concerns of conflict victims as soon as possible. Furthermore, they also shared their commitment to communicate the issues highlighted on the memorandum to all three tiers of the government and to proactively urge authorities to act on it.
Chandrakala Upreti (Coordinator, District Transitional Network, Banke) along with representatives from Advocacy Forum-Nepal (AF-Nepal), Forum for Women, Law and Development (FWLD) and Informal Sector Service Centre (INSEC) jointly submitted the memorandum to the concerned stakeholders.
