MSM Country Snapshot Series: NEPAL
This snapshot provides information on the current situation for HIV and LGBT rights and advocacy in Nepal.
Nepal’s National Centre for AIDS and STD Control has officially recognised MSM as an important driver of the country’s HIV epidemic since at least 2003.
Infections among the general population and injecting drug users have declined in recent years. Meanwhile, infections among MSM and female sex workers appear stable. Nepal’s HIV programme is recognised as a ‘P1’ or first priority in the country’s Interim National Development Plan. The Government of Nepal prioritises P1 programmes over all other non-P1 programmes when determining budget allocations. However, there are popular concerns regarding the sustainability of Nepal’s HIV financing mechanisms.
Coverage among key affected populations has improved over the years as a result of focused interventions and increased community-based organisation involvement. Community-level interventions, some of which involve MSM, are central to Nepal’s National HIV/AIDS Strategy, 2011–2016.
MSM are stigmatised and socially marginalised in Nepal. The Blue Diamond Society (BDS), a prominent advocacy group for the rights of LGBTI Nepalis, reports of a prevalent ‘double stigma,’ or stigma related to sexual orientation and HIV infection. Faced with continued discrimination and threats of violent attacks, ‘metis,’ or persons of the third gender in Nepal, sometimes take to hospices.
Several policy and legal advancements have been made with regard to MSM and other key affected populations. Sunil Babu Pant, Director of BDS and member of the Contituent Assembly and Parliament of Nepal, led a campaign that demanded an end to all kinds of discrimination and violence against LGBTI populations. In 2007, the Supreme Court of Nepal ruled in favour of recognising the third gender in national identification cards, a same sex marriage law, and ending or amending discriminatory laws against LGBTI populations. The ruling allegedly led to a reduction in violence against LGBTI populations and greater acceptance among segments of society, media, and government.
Nepal’s political instability continues to be a major barrier to an effective national response. It threatens sustained leadership in the national HIV response and risks a reversal of progress on meeting Millennium Development Goals.
The snapshot provides more information about priorities for Nepal reaching the three zeros, the most recent epidemiological data, behavioural information and programmatic information.
