Ms. Irum Shehreen Ali, Lecturer, ESS, attended a three-day conference in Dhulikhel, Nepal entitled "First Human Rights Defenders Forum in South Asia (HRD-SA)", from June 6-8, 2006. She went as part of the team from national human rights network Odhikar, who are strongly committed to the monitoring and protection of human rights vis-a-vis the rule of law in Bangladesh, especially at the local and regional levels. The Dhulikhel Declaration, drafted at the conference was the outcome of the three-day session outlined several recommendations addressed to the United Nations, Governments and National Human Rights Institutions, on how to promote, protect and strengthen the role of HRDs. The notion that human rights are the most powerful and effective instruments in bringing about social and political changes was upheld by all the participant organizations.