Local Democracy in the Political Transition of Nepal
Author: Niru Gurung Publication Type: Policy Discussion Paper 

Nepal’s ‘political transition’ that ensued from the entry of the Maoists into mainstream politics in 2006 has been marked by a glaring continuity to the vacuum of political representation at subnational polity. This vacuum is nurtured and sustained by the modus operandi of decisionmaking in Kathmandu that is characterized by a tacit politics of convenience amongst of the political party establishments but which is legitimated under the rubric of national consensus. The absence of election in local government bodies—district development committees (DDCs), municipalities, and village development committees (VDCs)—has left them without a platform for democratic representation in regard to the prioritization and mobilization of huge public resources and the discharge of developmental, administrative and para-juridical functions that underpin the country’s local governance legislation. The ad-hoc structures that are set in place as proxy to elected representatives have fared badly in the local bodies. The new arrangement, called ‘all party mechanism’ (APM), is premised on the consensus politics, lacks popularly mandated development agenda, and avoids and silences opposition and dissent. It is unclear who will be held accountable for misappropriation of resources and power. The mechanism lacks the
political zeal and electoral imperative to innovate new programs and properly mobilize the funds, and even fails to spend the earmarked budget. Accordingly, Nepal’s local bodies are plagued by the lack of deliberation over people’s felt needs, ineffective development planning, undermobilization of budget, failure of service delivery, and fraudulent use and misappropriation of funds. We suggest that the past five years mark a lost post-conflict opportunity in Nepal in deepening democracy to sub-national spaces.
In this Discussion Paper, we try to establish why vibrant local governance is important in terms of advancing democracy and, more importantly, examine why the Kathmandu establishment continues with its indifference to democratic governance in sub-national levels. We suggest that there are perverse incentives on the part of political leadership for resisting local election—the status quo allows them maintain clientelism and allegiance of local cadre base, rather than facing the uncertain outcomes of the election. We situate these observations historically in terms of Nepal’s democratic transition and more contemporary behavior of political actors. We see the need of building up pressure on the political elite to initiate at least an interim local election in order to allow people govern themselves and to reduce the misuse of resources.

Advocating Policy Concerns : Communication Strategies of NGOs
Author: Binit Gurung Publication Type: Policy Discussion Paper 

The Advocacy NGOs in Nepal tend to downplay the significance of strategic communication in their advocacy initiatives. Since NGOs operate in a policy environment characterized by a host of interest groups and a web of complex and changing power dynamics, it necessitates a planned communication strategy on the part of the Advocacy NGOs to better engage with the policy makers/decision makers and the stakeholders at large. Based on this premise, the paper begins with the exploration of the complementary relationship between advocacy and communication by reviewing relevant literature. By studying the advocacy communication practices of the women‟s rights NGOs and the transitional justice NGOs in different parts of the country, the paper explains and analyses the state and the nature of communication planning and practices of the NGOs in Nepal. Concomitantly, the paper also attempts to explain the reasons behind the existing nature of the practices. The study shows how, despite the lackadaisical attitude of the NGOs to the whole notion of communication strategy, different communication tools and techniques do figure prominently albeit non-strategically in the advocacy initiatives launched by the Advocacy NGOs. In light of the findings and the analysis, the paper ends with a number of recommendations that may help the NGOs to improve their advocacy outcomes by focusing more on communication strategies.

दलित सम्बन्धी नीति र अभ्यासमा अन्तरविरोध
Author: Bhola Paswan Publication Type: Books Policy Discussion Paper 

२००७ सालदेखि अहिलेसम्मको दलित सवाल उपर सम्बोधन गर्न भनेर थुप्रै नीतिहरू आएका देखिए पनि तिनको कार्यान्वयनबारे सरोकारवाला निकायको खासै चासो रहेको देखिँदैन । विभिन्न संघसंस्थाहरूबाट दलितहरूको सवालसँग सम्बन्धित केही अध्ययन भएपनि, ती अध्ययनहरूमा नीतिहरूको आलोचनात्मक विश्लेषणभन्दा पनि दलितसँग सम्बन्धित कार्यक्रमहरू केन्द्रित देखिन्छ ।
दलित सवालबारे संवैधानिक प्रावधान, ऐन, कानुनी नीति कस्ता छन् र तिनीहरूबीच अन्तरविरोध के छ, नीतिगत व्यवस्था र त्यसको व्यावहारिक अभ्यासमा कस्ता अन्तरविरोधहरू छन् भन्ने विषयलाई केन्द्रमा राखेर यो अध्ययन गरिएको हो ।यस अध्ययनले मधेशको कोटामा मधेशी दलितले मधेसी र दलितसंग प्रतिस्पर्धा गर्न नसक्ने देखाउँछ । मधेशी दलित समग्र दलित कोटाबाट छनोट हुने कि मधेशी कोटाबाट भन्नेमा अन्यौल छ । एउटै नीतिमा विपन्नको परिभाषामा समेत एकरूपता नभएबाट सरकारी उदासीनता देखिन्छ । सबै जातजातिको आधिकारिक तथ्यांक राख्ने तथ्यांक विभाग र दलित आयोगको सूची फरक–फरक रहेकोले दलितको जनसंख्यासमेत असमान देखिन आएको छ ।
सरकारी निकायपिच्छे दलित सूची फरक–फरक हुनाको कारण कुन सूचीलाई आधिकारिक मान्ने भन्ने अन्यौल सिर्जना भएको छ । दलितको आधिकारिक सिफारिस दलित आयोगबाट हुनुपर्नेमा त्यसो नहुँदा जिल्ला प्रशासनबाट धेरै पटक गलत व्यक्तिहरूको नाम सिफारिस हुन गई सेवासुविधाको दुरुपयोग हुन गएको छ । नेपाल सरकार अन्तर्गतका विभिन्न निकायहरूले एक आपसमा समन्वय नगरी नीतिहरू बनाउने र कार्यान्वयन गर्ने परिपाटीले गर्दा आपसमा बाझिएका कुराहरूलाई सच्चाई एकरूपता दिने काम हुन सकेको छैन । त्यसले गर्दा जुन उद्देश्यले सकारात्मक विभेदको आधारमा दलित समुदायका लागि सेवा सुविधा दिइएको हो त्यस लक्षित वर्गले लाभ उठाउन नसकिरहेको अवस्था छ ।

Remittance in Development: Harnessing Migrant Money Flow for Economic Growth
Author: Nepal Economic Forum Publication Type: Policy Discussion Paper 

There are two categories of Nepalis living and working abroad, Non Resident Nepalis (NRNs) and migrant workers. Historically, Nepalis who looked for employment opportunities took advantage of the porous and deregulated borders and migrated to India and later, as more countries opened up for employment, to Gulf countries and South East Asian countries and now also in many parts of the Western World . The diaspora population is increasing rapidly which can be primarily attributed to the increasing trend among Nepali youth to go oversees for employment and education purposes.
Ranked among the top five countries in terms of the contribution of remittance to Gross Domestic Product (GDP), remittance flows currently account for 23% of Nepal’s GDP1. If channeled appropriately, remittance flows can be the engine for economic growth and development in Nepal. Currently, the bulk of the remittance flows are doing little to support economic growth and job creation in Nepal, primarily because the private sector and government have done little to explore ways to reinvest the cash flows into long-term growth engines. Further, cumbersome documentation process has prompted many Nepalis to send remittances through informal channels such as Hundi/Hawala, informal business transaction mechanisms and goes unaccounted for by traditional banking systems. Nepal Economic Forum strongly believes that the public and the private sector need to provide mechanisms to both house the capital flows from remittance, as well as to provide investment vehicles in Nepal.
Therefore, this study presents an understanding and analysis of the current scenario and practices, opportunities and challenges in the Nepalese financial system, and to identify appropriate investment avenues, to channelize the growing remittance flows into the formal and productive sectors of the economy.

Political Commitments to Policy Reflection in Nepal : An Analysis of Party Manifestos, Periodic Plans and Budget
Author: Kranti Pageni & Rojy Joshi Publication Type: Policy Discussion Paper 

Political parties make manifestos pre-elections, expressing their commitment towards various policy concerns in order to gather the support of the electorate or voters. A successful representation and performance of the political parties in the government can be measured in terms of the policy issues addressed in the country‟s plans and its annual budget, against the backdrop of the political manifestos. However, in Nepal, parties are often accused of failing to fulfil their pledges and there is a lack of a proper mechanism for evaluating the parties‟ pledge fulfilment.

This paper, therefore, has analysed the manifestos of political parties in Nepal from the past two major elections (2008 and 2013) and their reflection in the periodic plans and budget. By categorizing the pledges according to specificity and policy areas the paper aims to present an analysis of the extent to which the pledges have been fulfilled when the parties have been in the government. This analysis will help us to understand the priorities of political parties and how they might shift once they are in power.