INTERIM TIP ASSESSMENT DELIVERED

UNCLAS KATHMANDU 000315 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR SA/INS, SA/RA NSC FOR DRICHELSOPH E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM KHUM SMIG NP SUBJECT: INTERIM TIP ASSESSMENT DELIVERED REF: A. STATE 2172 ¶B. STATE 15286 ¶1. (SBU) Per ref B, Post delivered Nepal's Interim Assessment report of progress made on anti-trafficking efforts (ref A) on January 31 to Shyam Sundar Sharma, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare, Yadav Kanal, Under Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Parbati Thapa, Superintendent of Police, Nepal Police Women's Cell. ¶2. (SBU) Addressing some of the areas of needed improvement mentioned in the Interim Assessment, Sharma noted that: a) Nepal's Trafficking Action Plan was being followed; b) trafficking task forces in 26 districts have been more active recently; c) Nepal ratified the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation's (SAARC) Convention on Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Women and Children for Prostitution in November 2005; d) Nepal and India have increased sharing of trafficking related information; and e) the Nepal Police Women's Cell had begun collecting data on trafficking crimes. Sharma added that he was "really impressed" by the report. MORIARTY