In December 2025, Nepal presented its third cycle of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) before the United Nations Human Rights Council, projecting substantial compliance with the recommendations it accepted in 2022. The government highlighted progress in strengthening the National Human Rights Commission, advancing the criminalisation of torture, addressing discrimination and improving civil and birth registration systems. Yet this narrative has been sharply contested by civil society and human rights defenders, who point to persistent gaps between commitments and practice. As Nepal approaches its fourth cycle of the UPR review in January 2026, these tensions raise wider questions about performative compliance and the limits of international human rights accountability.