Review of the Nepal Human Rights Yearbook 1993-2002

NORAD has been supporting the Nepal Human Rights Yearbook for a decade, from the pilot issue in 1992 and up to the present date. The Yearbook has over the entire period been published by the Informal Sector Service Center (INSEC). Consequently, NORAD found the time ripe to undertake a review of the project and commissioned a team from the Chr. Michelsen Institute to do the review. The team comprised of Hugo Stokke and Tone Kristin Sissener from CMI and Mukta Lama as the local consultant. The team made a number of recommendations on the (a) collection and processing of information; (b) review of the contents of the yearbooks; and (c) contribution to human rights monitoring and its impact. Among recommendations might be mentioned a more balanced ethnic representation among the district representatives, more training, better focus on what are specifically human rights violations, analysis of patterns and trends, and the presentation of information in such a way that it can be directly followed up by bodies and agencies charged with human rights protection.