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Millennium Development Goals in Nepal

A group of Nepalese women © Heifer International

The strategy of the international community in supporting Nepal’s efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) has largely focused on economic growth and infrastructure development. Successive Nepalese governments have accepted this neoliberal approach which by its nature fails to take account of the country’s complex social environment, in particular the resilience of traditional barriers of gender, caste and ethnicity. Together with widening urban/rural inequality, discrimination against these groups inflicts high levels of poverty in Nepal and continues to pose major hurdles in achieving the MDGs. For example, literacy amongst the dalit caste is believed to be only 23%.

A report jointly published by the government and UNDP during 2007, Voices of the People on Development, provides moving testimony of the plight of the poor, through case studies described in their own words. A further innovative report focuses on progress in 5 separate districts, illustrating very significant regional variation in degrees of poverty and the importance of decentralised strategies.

The official position articulated in the MDG progress report published in 2005 recognises these constraints but nevertheless insists that, apart from difficulties with the Goals for education and HIV/AIDS, prospects for success are reasonably good. For example, the key poverty indicator for extreme poverty ($1 per day) has reduced from 33.5% in the baseline year of 1990 to 24.1% in 2005, suggesting that the Goal of halving poverty by 2015 could be achieved. A

WFP beneficiaries in Nepal © Naresh Newar / United Nations' Integrated Regional Information Network

rather more sobering MDG Needs Assessment Report published towards the end of 2006 estimates that attainment of the MDGs requires development funds of $12.6 billion over the period to 2015, necessitating not only a doubling of the level of current aid but also pro-poor spending by the government, especially on education which in 2006 attracted a budget of only 3.4% of GDP.

Predictions of future progress should also draw attention to the underlying risks to human development. A 2007 report by the World Food Programme (WFP) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation describes Nepal as “chronically food insecure”, its inefficient production further undermined by natural disasters and climate change. WFP is already targeting over one million people with food aid. Regions that are the focus of poverty alleviation programmes tend also to be those most affected by the Maoist conflict and successful implementation of the peace agreement is critical to the MDG programme in Nepal.

Health and HIV/AIDS in Nepal

Nepalese peasant woman and child © Ayuda en Acción

Food insecurity has its inevitable consequence in the level of child malnutrition, being one of the highest in the world at just under 50%. Figures for child and maternal mortality are high by regional standards. In the wake of the Maoist insurgency, many health facilities in rural areas of Nepal are either damaged or destroyed completely. Few have access to an electricity supply. The government is also under heavy pressure for health system reform and the recent MDG Needs Assessment report describes investment in health as “grossly inadequate”. The national budget for health is of the order of $2 per capita.

Government and development agencies in Nepal have concentrated mainly on direct medical intervention and institution-building. Primary healthcare is largely ignored and is not yet integrated into community health settings. As a result, rural communities are not yet empowered and remain totally ignorant toward health issues.

Among other problems, this has created a high risk environment for HIV infection. Whilst prevalence in Nepal remains low relative to countries in Africa, latest figures show that over 75,000 people have the HIV infection and there is concern that the disease is escalating, especially amongst high risk groups.
Conflict in Nepal

Maoist rebels in Nepal © Naresh Newar / United Nations' Integrated Regional Information Network

Social inequality has been a contributory factor in the tragic internal violence that has haunted Nepal since 1996. Following the restoration of democracy in 1990, power became centralised in the Kathmandu Valley. This gave rise to a liberal, social middle class, which benefited from globalisation, in contrast to rural communities which continued to suffer a mixture of injustices. In 1995 these inequalities gave rise to the founding of the party now known as the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) in March 1995 by Pushpa Kamal Dahal, alias Prachanda.

The Maoists cajoled marginalized groups into joining their militia and the subsequent 11 years of violent conflict killed nearly 15,000 people, wounded nearly 12,000 and forced hundreds of thousands away from their homes as internal displacements or refugees. Atrocities were committed by both insurgent and government forces.

King Gyanendra © Radio Netherlands Wereldomroep

The key breakthrough on the road to peace came in September 2005 when the Maoists announced a ceasefire and signed a 12 point agreement with the 7 major political parties of Nepal, in the aftermath of the King’s decision to shut down the elected government. After months of tense negotiations the Maoists signed the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in November 2006 and declared they would abandon arms forever. The killing of human beings has now come to a halt.

Under the terms of the peace agreement, both forces will be confined to barracks with an equal number of weapons from both sides under lock and key, under supervision of the UN Mission in Nepal (UNMIN). The agreement envisaged that the Maoist forces would be integrated into the army and police within two years but the continued lack of any articulation of how to implement this strategy is beginning to cause concern.

The peace agreement also promised that within 60 days the legacy of dozens of minefields and hundreds of thousands of improvised explosive devices would be cleaned up. Progress has been virtually non-existent, creating an inevitable stream of accidents, many involving children.
Politics in Nepal

The political components of the peace agreement established that the parliamentary House of Representatives would be supplemented immediately by 73 Maoist candidates to form an interim government under prime minister Mr. Girija Prasad Koirala who is head of the largest party, the Nepali Congress. The role of the interim government is to prepare for elections to form a Constituent Assembly responsible for drafting a new constitution.

Nepal Protest

This outcome has created a golden opportunity to correct the flaws in Nepal’s immature democracy which had emerged in 1990. Groups suffering discrimination have been poorly represented, the Maoists had been operating a parallel administration in areas under their control - complete with rudimentary taxation and courts of justice - and the King of Nepal, backed by the strong allegiance of the Royal Nepalese Army, had a track record of suspending parliament. The most recent instance in February 2005 resulted in disaster for King Gyanendra with both international and domestic opinion united against him culminating in his overthrow by the Jana Andolan “People’s Movement” in a series of public demonstrations throughout April 2006.

Dalit woman denied citizenship © Advocacy Project

Whilst the King has been stripped of his powers including control of the army, the other ambitious constitutional advances are progressing less smoothly and the election date has been twice postponed. Disenfranchised groups such as the Madhesi people from the Terai plains region, the Janati indigenous peoples and the dalits filled the political vacuum with strong protests about their under-representation. The Koirala government was forced to accommodate these demands by altering constituency boundaries, allowing a degree of proportional representation in the Assembly ballot, endorsing the possibility of an eventual federal structure, granting citizenship to over 2 million stateless people, and contemplating quotas within the Assembly for special groups including women – all of which unsurprisingly forced postponement of the original June 2007 election date.

Nepalese IDPs returning to their village

Although the Maoist leaders have made public statements affirming the disbandment of their network of enforcement bodies that dispense unofficial justice and administration throughout much of rural Nepal, there are doubts as to the degree of change at village level. In particular, internally displaced persons (IDPs) have been obstructed in their efforts to return and reclaim land and property. Up to 70,000 IDPs remain displaced.

There are further signs of the Maoists struggling to come to terms with the art of political engagement. Overturning settlements negotiated earlier in 2007, Maoist leaders have resigned from the cabinet, insisting that the monarchy should be abolished in advance of the election rather than by decision of an elected Assembly, and also that the ballot should be entirely on a basis of proportional representation rather than shared equally with “first past the post” results as had been agreed. Under threat of Maoist disruption the December 2007 election date has been further postponed amidst serious concern that the peace dividend is draining away. Prime minister Koirala is insisting that the election will take place before the end of April 2008, with or without the Maoists.

Though weak and heavily fragmented, Nepal has strong traditions of civil society and now has a fresh opportunity to find its most effective niche in the political process.
Human Rights in Nepal

Although the peace agreement expresses commitment to human rights, actions on key issues have so far attracted no shortage of criticism from international observers. The draft bill to establish a Truth and Reconciliation Commission envisages the granting of amnesties to virtually all participants of the conflict. Human rights groups argue that this approach will reinforce the existing culture of impunity and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, has called instead for full war crimes trials. Promises to trace the fate of those who “disappeared” within 60 days of the agreement have come to nothing although the Supreme Court has recently ordered a Commission of Inquiry to investigate 2,000 disappearances.

The years of violence were notorious for the indoctrination and use of children by the Maoists for military service and the peace agreement stated that any minors would be released immediately. No such release has taken place although one of the tasks of UNMIN is to register details of fighters in the camps. Human Rights Watch believes that the number of child soldiers could even exceed 6,000 out of 30,000 in the camps.

Women and girls have also suffered from the instability created by the insurgency which has combined with cultural pressures to create a serious problem of human trafficking in Nepal. Various studies have put the number of girls and women that continue to be trafficked every year, particularly to India for the commercial sex trade, at 7,000-12,000. The environment of poverty also contributes to widespread child labour including thousands of children working in dangerous conditions.
The Economy in Nepal

Nepalese Dalits © Suvash Darnal / Advocacy Project

Years of progressive macroeconomic deregulation in line with the neo-liberal model have brought little benefit to the poor in Nepal. The country is greatly burdened by debt with a very limited economy, being dependent largely on subsistence agriculture, overseas remittances and average aid of nearly US$400 million per annum. Undeterred, Nepal has been persuaded to conform to the rigours of the World Trade Organisation, of which it became a member in 2004, the first to do so from the group classified as “Least Developed Countries”. With so many poor farmers lacking capital to modernise and with Nepal’s flimsy export earnings greatly dependent on the troublesome sector of textiles, many observers fear that the time is not yet right for the country to compete with global business.

The Environment in Nepal

Nepal hills

The wilderness in Nepal fosters an incredible variety of ecosystems; the greatest mountain range on earth, thick tropical jungle, thundering rivers, forested hills and frozen valleys. It is also a sanctuary for 735 recorded species of birds together with 400 species of butterflies, including some on the verge of extinction. The value of this diversity has been recognized in the designation of almost 20% of the country as “protected areas” although the management of these areas tends to be the subject of political debate.

The widespread dependence on subsistence agriculture underlies many problems of environmental degradation in Nepal, in particular the depletion of forest resources which in turn leads to biodiversity depletion and desertification. This does not mean to blame the poor. What is missing is the linkage between survival strategies, knowledge of the poor and sustainable livelihood options.

Retreating Himalayan Glaciers © WWF-Canon / Neyret & Benastar / WWF

The impact of climate change, to which by contrast Nepal is a minimal contributor, threatens to thaw Himalayan snow and glaciers with potentially disastrous results. Reports published by UN agencies in 2007 conclude that the Himalaya region is warming at twice the global average rate and that glaciers are retreating faster than elsewhere in the world. As many as 20 lakes in the mountainous region have been identified as at risk of glacial lake outburst floods (GLOF). As in other parts of South Asia, the monsoon pattern appears to be unsettled, aggravating sensitive productivity of agriculture. Nepal lacks resources and expertise necessary to evaluate these risks and how to mitigate them.



Pradipna Raj Panta is a Kathmandu-based development professional with particular expertise in the subject of human trafficking.

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