IMPHAL, November 16: Hunger striker Irom Sharmila, who is under judicial custody, has been invited at a regional conference by the South Asia WPS-Expert Group to be held during December 3 to 6 at Kathmandu, Nepal.
The conference is being organized by South Asia Forum for Human Rights (SAFHR) under the aegis of UN Women (United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women).
According to information received by IFP, the formal invitation of the UN Women-SARO ‘Expert Group’ was sent on November 15.
The theme of the conference is, “the changing dynamics of peace building in South Asia-Recasting Women’s Agency and Transformative strategies.”
The thematic focus of the conference will be on Militarisation & Security, Access of Justice, Audits of Accountability Mechanisms and Women’s Participation overcoming Inhibiting factors. There will be a special emphasis on ‘Postwar’/Post Conflict situations in view of the unfolding experiences in the region of conflict management and peace building strategies.
This is the first initiative of the civil society, ‘Expert Group’ constituted earlier this year in New Delhi to carry forward UN Women-SARO’s Women Peace and Security programme.
The Expert Group consists of people from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Rita, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Meanwhile, it may be mention here that Irom Chanu Sharmila was asked by a Metropolitan Magistrate of the Patiala House Court to appear before the court on October 17, however the Manipur Central jail authorities had denied the appearance.