Protecting the rights of indigenous peoples in Nepal

There are over fifty recognized groups of indigenous peoples in Nepal, who comprise about 40 per cent of the total population. They include the Bote people whose traditional way of life has been threatened ever since the lands where they lived and fished were turned into the Chitwan National Park and it was made illegal for them to enter. Nepal's ratification of the ILO Convention No. 169 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples is a step forward towards the promotion and protection of rights for the Bote and other indigenous peoples.