Shanta Lakshmi Shrestha chairs the Beyond Beijing Committee (BBC), a coalition of women's rights and gender-justice organizations working to advance the status of women in Nepal. It was created after the Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing in 1995. The Committee advocates and monitors the Beijing Platform for Action (BPFA) from the grassroots to the global level.

Good morning and Namaste. I am very pleased to join you here today at the 7th Annual General Meeting of Sabah. The past year has been a challenging one for Nepal in light of the earthquakes in April and May and the ongoing challenges related to the political developments in the country. Let me begin by acknowledging our deep appreciation...

In Phnom Penh, Cambodia this week, an important MOPAN workshop took place to shed light on the issue. “At UN Women Cambodia, we embrace evaluations. If results are good we want to hear it, if the results are bad we definitely want to hear it....

In the nearly 20 years since 189 countries committed to the 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action – an agenda for women’s empowerment and blueprint for advancing women's rights around 12 critical areas of concern – countries have worked hard to meet those goals, but many acknowledge remaining gaps and challenges.