Full Coverage: Social exclusion

28.03.2006 India's left-leaning, United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government has on the anvil controversial legislation that would see jobs reserved for 'Dalits' (people socially deemed low caste by birth) in private corporations after a pattern that has long existed in the public sector.

21.03.2006 The Blind Relief Association, New Delhi along with NGOs, corporates, students and artists is holding the Abilities Mela - 2006 to promote inclusive opportunities on April 1-2, 2006. Entry to the event is free.

20.03.2006 The world will be watching from this week as the United Nation's human rights body evaluates Nepal's unelected palace government but many of this nation's indigenous people will have one eye focused on a separate meeting.

20.03.2006 “Customs like dowry can end only when young men and women decide to go against the tide,” says Kalpana Sharma in The Hindu.

15.03.2006 In its annual country report on the state of Human Rights in Macedonia released last Wednesday, the US Department of State observed that that there is strong evidence that Roma asylum seekers have been discriminated against in the refugee status determination procedure. Moreover, the discrimination against Roma asylum seekers reflects the general oppression of Roma in Macedonian society.

11.03.2006 “This year, International Women’s Day is special for all of us as the sufferings are still very much afresh and the wounds have yet to be healed,” Magdalena Moshi of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), said at an event organised jointly by WFP, the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and local authorities in quake hit Muzaffarabad.

07.03.2006 OneWorld South Asia plans to hold a one-day consultation on Addressing Social Equity in Achieving MDGs at its New Delhi office on 22 March 2006. The meet will discuss the all round developmental issues of Dalits, Tribes, Women, Disabled, Children and other Minority Communities.

07.03.2006 World Conference Against Caste and Occupation Based Discrimination is scheduled to take place in October 2006 in New Delhi in India. Though the planning is still going on the meet will try to ensure participation from the south Asian region and other countries.

07.03.2006 S. Venkatesan of OneWorld South Asia reviews Human Development Profile of Scheduled Castes and Tribes in Rural India: A Bench Mark Survey by Chakrabarty, G and P.K. Ghosh.

05.03.2006 Sex workers at a rally yesterday placed an 11-point demand to resolve their various problems. These include stopping forced eviction from brothels, arrangement of alternative income and ensuring healthcare end education. Another demand was to raise the issue of trafficking at different forums and create awareness about their human rights.