New York, 1 October 2015 – Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA) commends the work of Mr. Ramesh Lekhak as a member of the Constituent Assembly of Nepal for the adoption of the Constitution of Nepal 2015, which enshrines rights of equality and non-discrimination based in sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) as well as equal access to citizenship ID and health for members of that community.

Nepal joins eight[1] other countries that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation in their constitution.

PGA Member Ramesh Lekhak, MP (Nepal) noted the relevance of the adoption of the 2015 Constitution:

‘We can now say that it is a modern constitution. We are bound to fulfill our national and international obligations. The Constitution guarantees equality and non-discrimination in the case of gender and sexual orientation but also in other grounds such as religion, race, caste, tribe, origin, language, physical status, disability, and many more.

Nepal has big socio, cultural, ethnic, religious diversity. We have to insure and protect the rights of all and to give the opportunity to empower all communities. Although assembly became big in size the representation of all political and social groups was there. The experiences of success and fail of different constitution was also a good lesson for us. I must underscore the important role of national and international organizations (including NGOs and INGO) in the process.’