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President Bidya Devi Bhandari has been in Iceland to attend the Reykjavik Global Forum-Women Leaders being held in Reykjavik on November 8-10. The President reached Iceland on Tuesday. She was welcomed by Ambassador Ms Estrid Brekkan, Chief of the Protocol at the Iceland Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Tirtha Raj Aryal, Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of Nepal in Denmark, the Embassy of Nepal in Copenhagen, Denmark said. Earlier in her transit at Doha, the Head-of-the-State was received by Naresh Bikram Dhakal and other officials of the Embassy of Nepal in Qatar as well as protocol officials of Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the airport. Likewise, in Frankfurt, the President was welcomed by Ramkaji Khadka, Nepal’s Ambassador to Germany and protocol officials of the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The President is scheduled to deliver a keynote speech at the Reykjavik Global Forum co-hosted by Women Political Leaders (WPL) and receive WPL Trailblazer Award 2022 today.  

President Bidya Devi Bhandari is scheduled to deliver a keynote speech in the Reykjavík Global Forum taking place in Reykjavík, Iceland, on 8-10 November 2022. President Bhandari is leaving for Iceland tomorrow to attend the Reykjavík Global Forum – Women Leaders, co-hosted by Women Political Leaders (WPL), the Government of Iceland, and the Parliament of Iceland, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Women Political Leaders (WPL) has decided to confer this year the prestigious WPL Trailblazer Award on President Bhandari. The Award is presented to incumbent and former women Presidents and Prime Ministers in recognition of the achievements of the leading women politicians. During the visit, the President is scheduled to receive the Award and deliver an acceptance speech. Nepali delegation accompanying the President will include senior officials from the Office of the President and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. President Bhandari will return to Nepal on 12 November, 2022.

President Bidya Devi Bhandari is leaving for Iceland on Monday to attend Reykjavík Global Forum – Women Leaders being held in Reykjavík on November 8-10, 2022.

The Forum is co-hosted by Women Political Leaders (WPL), the Government of Iceland, and the Parliament of Iceland.

Initiated in 2018, the Forum is an annual event convening women leaders across the sectors, including politics, business, civil society, academia, arts and media. It is a platform to deliberate on the best practices on gender equality, empowerment and women leadership.

Women Political Leaders (WPL) has decided to confer this year the prestigious WPL Trailblazer Award on President Bhandari.

The Award is presented to incumbent and former women Presidents and Prime Ministers in recognition of the achievements of the leading women politicians.

During the visit, President Bhandari is scheduled to receive the award and deliver an acceptance speech. The President will also deliver a keynote speech in the Forum, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

Senior officials from the Office of the President and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will accompany her in the trip.

President Bhandari will return to Nepal on November 12, 2022.

Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has publicly backed the findings of a new report showing the urgent need to reduce tobacco use in Nepal. The report from the Nepal Development Research Institute shows that smoking is a bigger killer in Nepal than in any other South Asian country. Over 37,000 Nepalis died from smoking in 2019 – that’s nearly one in five (19.4%) of all deaths, twice the rate in 1990 and well ahead of India where just 13.1% of deaths are caused by tobacco. And the rate of death from tobacco has increased more in Nepal in the last 30 years than in any other country in the world. NDRI is part of a coalition of organisations calling for politicians to:

.     Match the levels of tobacco taxation in India by 2025

.    Ban the sale of cigarettes as single sticks

·   ​Stop the reopening of government cigarette factories

·   ​End tobacco sales within 100 metres of schools and hospitals

At the second National Health Summit conference last month,where the report was launched, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba endorsed the report’s findings saying: “This report provides a worrying snapshot of the impact that tobacco is having on the lives of Nepalese now and the impact it will have in the future if we don’t take action. This confirms that tobacco control must be central to Government’s mission to improve health across the country.” The PM’s endorsement signals that a future Nepali government led by the Nepali Congress party would take tough action to curb smoking. This is backed up by the party’s manifesto, published last week, which now includes a commitment to increase tobacco tax. The NDRI, other members of the tobacco control coalition and other health experts and campaigners are now writing to other party leaders to seek confirmation that the next government, whoever leads it, will do what is necessary to bring down smoking-related deaths and disease. Dr Jaya Kumar Gurung, from the NDRI, said: “When it comes to the number of people who die from smoking, Nepal is a tragic outlier. If we’re going to change this, then the next government will need to take the necessary action. We need higher tax on tobacco and restrictions on sales, and we need it urgently. We welcome the PM’s support and call on all party leaders to confirm they are treating this health problem with the seriousness it deserves.” The NDRI’s new report comes with the endorsement of Bhawani Prasad Khapung, Minister for Health and Population. In a foreword to the report, he writes: “If we do not act now, Nepal is on track to lose over 400,000 lives in the next 10 years because of tobacco. We must urgently step up our efforts to prevent these forecasts from being realized. “I am hopeful that this report will be helpful for policymakers, managers, decision-makers, evaluators, researchers, academics and that it will motivate a multi-sectoral effort at turning these trends around. Such efforts will have the full support of the Ministry of Health and Population and I look forward to collaborating with a range of stakeholders on this important agenda.” The report is also endorsed by Nepal Medical Association and the Nepal Cancer Relief Society.