The Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung in Nepal

Nepal is caught up in a fragile peace process. In April 2006 the people ended weeks of protest against the authoritarian rule of King Gyanendra. A few months later the Nepalese government and Maoist rebels signed a peace agreement terminating armed conflict that had persisted for over ten years. It provided for the Communist Party of Nepal (CPN-Maoist) to enter a coalition government and for elections to be held for a constituent national assembly. These elections were postponed several times because of disputes about the future nature of the state, the role of ethnic minorities and rights of suffrage, but they eventually took place in April 2008 under relatively free and fair conditions. The Maoists won an unmistakable victory and a clear relative majority with 220 seats out of 601.

In this context the work of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung in Nepal has focussed on political education and information for voters in the run-up to the elections. A broad-based project saw seminars in over half the provinces explaining the tasks of the national assembly and the new electoral system to the voters. The FES is now providing advice in the process of drawing up a Constitution that then began. These activities are backed up by programmes on civilian conflict resolution, the promotion of disadvantaged groups such as women, young people, dalits (untouchables) and ethnic minorites, and professionalisation of the media and trade unions.