USAID/OTI Nepal Program Fact Sheet
February 2008
Current Political Situation
One of the poorest countries in the world, Nepal has been ruled by a hereditary monarchy since 1768. Nepal's first experiment with democracy began in 1951 and ended eight years later when the king suspended parliament and introduced a one-party system.
| The Road to Peace: Where Do We Stand? |
| 2006 | |
| Apr 24 | King reinstates parliament. |
| Nov 21 | Ten-point CPA signed between the government and the Maoists. |
| Nov 28 | Arms management agreement signed between the government, the Maoists, and the U.N. |
| 2007 | |
| Jan 15 | Interim constitution promulgated and interim parliament formed. |
| Jan 19 | Violence erupts in Terai. |
| Mar 9 | Constitution amended to include the demands of the Madhesis. |
| Apr 1 | Interim government formed. |
| Jun 13 | Electoral bills passed. |
| Jul 16 | Maoists formally register as the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist).
| | Sep 18 | Maoist Ministers resign from government posts. |
| Oct 5 | Elections indefinitely postponed. |
| Dec 28 | Maoists rejoin the government after it votes to abolish the monarchy. |
| 2008 | |
| Jan 3 | U.N. Joint Monitoring Coordination Committee finalizes results of the Maoist army verification. |
| Jan 11 | CA elections announced for April 10. |
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In April 2006, a 20-day popular revolution brought an end to the monarch's direct rule. Parliament was reinstated and power was transferred to the Prime Minister and the Seven Party Alliance. In November 2006, Prime Minister Koirala and Maoist Chairman Prachanda signed a 10-point Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), formally bringing an end to 11 years of civil war. The CPA promised political, social, and economic transformation, as well as protection of human rights, relocation of internally displaced persons, Constituent Assembly (CA) elections, and management of arms and armies under U.N. supervision.
In January 2007, an interim constitution was promulgated and an interim parliament was formed with Maoist participation. As part of a peace deal with the Maoists, in December 2007, following the resignation of Maoist ministers in September, the interim parliament approved an amendment to abolish the monarchy. The Maoists have rejoined the government, and CA elections have been rescheduled for April 10. In January 2008, the U.N. Joint Monitoring Coordination Committee completed the verification process of the Maoist army personnel in cantonments. The committee reported 19,602 verified combatants of 32,250 total registered.
Despite the positive momentum toward peace, the process is being tested by continued Maoist misbehavior, particularly by its youth wing. Other pressures on the peace process include ongoing violence in Nepal's Terai region and demonstrations by a variety of minority groups demanding federal restructuring of the state, the right to self-determination, and proportional representation in the CA elections. Volatility and unpredictability characterize the political climate in Nepal, and recent developments illustrate the fluidity of the political situation and the potential for quick setbacks as well as for unexpected progress.
The threats to Nepal's political transition accentuate the need for broad and deep public understanding of the peace process, and there is a continuing need for information relating to the process. Timely information dissemination is necessary to support positive and forward movement during this period of transition and to help hold political parties to their agreements.
USAID/OTI Nepal Program
In August 2006, the U.S. Agency for International Development's Office of Transition Initiatives (USAID/OTI) began a two-year, $15,000,000 program to support a peaceful, democratic transition in Nepal. The program has the following objectives:
- To increase access to information and diversify public debate on issues critical to political transition, and
- To increase effectiveness of key political transition institutions.
USAID/OTI's flexibility and fast-response capabilities uniquely enable the program to implement a wide variety of activities, such as supporting social inclusion in the CA elections, strengthening the media, facilitating community stabilization, and providing information to diversify public debate on the political transition process. To date, the program has approved 138 small-grant activities totaling more than $5.5 million.
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Initial activities of the USAID/OTI program focused on building the capacity of the National Monitoring Committee on Code of Conduct for Ceasefire, the first official body to monitor the peace agreements. Once the CPA was signed, USAID/OTI assisted the Peace Secretariat, later renamed the Ministry for Peace and Reconstruction, to distribute more than 100,000 of copies of the CPA throughout the country. Simultaneously, the program worked with local nongovernmental organizations to supplement the information with posters, leaflets, street dramas, and community workshops and dialogues on the CPA.
In preparation for the CA elections, USAID/OTI is funding a media and results center for the Election Commission; various TV and radio messaging campaigns, including a voter education campaign that will be radio broadcast in 16 local languages; and the printing of 5 million invitations to vote, one for every household in the country with a registered voter.
Strengthening media has been a key focus of the USAID/OTI program. Media-strengthening activities have included the following:
- Enhancing radio station broadcasting capabilities, including using portable technology to bring information to remote, radio-blind areas,
- Instituting a permanent FM station in the remote district of Humla,
- Launching a live, national toll-free call-in radio show that provides listeners across Nepal with access to elected representatives, government officials, and civil society leaders, and
- Supporting a popular televised debate show that focuses on issues that youth are facing during the transition process.
Responding to the political unrest in the Terai, USAID/OTI aired public service announcements featuring political and civil society leaders promoting communal harmony amid fears of rising ethnic tensions. In July 2007, USAID/OTI opened a field office in the Terai to better target critical programmatic interventions in the eastern and central Terai regions.
For further information, please contact:
Gordon Shettle, OTI/ANE Program Manager, 202-712-1243, gshettle@usaid.gov.
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