ASD Human Rights Program supported the Regional Conference of Human Rights Defenders organized at Biratnagar on 7 and 8 June 2014. About 250 human rights defenders from 14 districts of the eastern region of Nepal attended the conference. The conference aimed to build synergy among the human rights defenders of the eastern region for the effective protection, promotion and fulfillment of human rights. At the end of the conference, 11 point declaration focused on the demand and challenges of the human rights defenders in the regions was released.

At the same time, the defenders also demanded local election to be held immediately to mitigate the vacuum in the local level and effective policing to minimize violence against women at the community level. Senior Human Rights Activist, Sushil Pyakurel stressed on the need for political parties to become human rights friendly and accountable towards the past human rights violations to end the culture of impunity.