BHUTANESE REFUGEES DEMANDING ID CARDS ON STRIKE

POKHARA ELEVEN QUALIFIES FOR SEMIFINAL OF SAFAL POKHARA CUP

Kathmandu, 15 Nov.: Pokhara Eleven beat India’s United Sikkim 1-0 in Tuesday’s quarterfinals of Safal Pokhara Cup Football Tournament.
The quarterfinal match was the last.
Semifinal matches begin Wednesday.
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BHUTANESE REFGEES DEMANDING ID CARDS ON STRIKE

Kathmandu, 15 Nov,: The Bhutanese refugees in Jhapa district who have been deprived of identity cards and the government relief package have staged a fast-unto-death from Tuesday, demanding identity cards, RSS reports from Jhapa.


Some 15 Bhutanese women refugees have joined in the hunger strike.

Announcing the initiation of the strike, chairperson of the Bhutanese Refugees Repatriation Committee (BRRC), Dr. Bhampa Rai accused the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees of failing to address their basic needs.

Those refugees who have not got identity cards have been deprived of the government facilities including ration, he said.

President of Human Rights Organization, Nepal, Damak chapter, Dev Subedi accused the government of not becoming serious towards the rights of the Bhutanese refugees.

Some 3,749 Bhutanese refugees in five refugees camps in Jhapa and Morang districts have not received identity cards due to various technical reasons and they have been deprived of the government relief package, said Durga Devi Bista, chairperson of the relief-deprived Bhutanese women´s group.
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Kathmandu, 15 Nov.: Chief of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Helen Clark is arriving here next week on a visit to Nepal, RSS reports.

Ms. Clark, who is former Prime Minister of New Zealand and also the Chair of the United Nations Development Support Network, will be visiting Nepal from November 21 to 26.
"The more we are able to inform her about our development needs the more would it boost our efforts to garner support for development construction projects," Acting Foreign Secretary Durga Prasad Bhattarai said in a brief comment to RSS.

Likewise, a senior official at the Ministry said this visit by the UNDP Chief, who has led New Zealand for nine years, would help the sector of women empowerment and also announcement of some special programs in this regard.

Active in Nepal since 1963 to alleviate poverty from the country, the UNDP has been working based on an effective plan and strategy for poverty alleviation.

Lately, it has been running various development projects targeting the rural areas, marginalized and the conflict affected people in the Mid-western and Far-western Development Regions.

Likewise, the organization has also been running program with equal priority for the uplift of the backward and exploited community of the Tarai region.

Currently, the UNDP has been working with a focus on transitional good governance, inclusive development and sustainable livelihoods, restoration of peace, energy, environment and natural disaster management, micro-enterprise development and financial services project.

The UNDP has also been supporting the drafting of a constitution as per the Nepali people´s aspiration through the Centre for Constitutional Dialogue under the special project for participatory constitution building.

During the visit, Ms. Clark will hold separate meetings with the President, the Prime Minister, leaders of major political parties, heads and representatives of diplomatic missions and development partners.

Likewise, she is scheduled to inspect some projects run by the UNDP in Nepal.
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