The Elusive ‘New Nepal’: Democratisation, Ethnic Politics and Social Contract-making in a Plural Society
Executive Summary
Nepal’s decade-long process from 2005 to 2015 of ending its civil war through a comprehensive peace agreement, constitution-making and overall democratisation of the state portend a ‘New Nepal’ social contract to upend centuries of exclusive rule and a hierarchically ranked society. This paper considers how the newfound social contract has been forged and the ways in which a sustainable contract remain elusive. While agreements have been reached and the state restructured, underlying economic and social transformation will be much more difficult to achieve. The paper evaluates Nepal as a deeply plural society in transition from a caste-based monarchy to democracy with analysis of efforts to strengthen institutions, build greater trust within society and address longstanding inequalities. A truly ‘New Nepal’ will require deep-seated economic and social transformation, and whether the hard-won social contract will be resilient over time remains to be seen.
This review analyses the approaches used by the 10 Swiss NGOs currently implementing projects in Nepal post-earthquake with Swiss Solidarity funds to enhance accountability to affected people (AAP) in their programmes. It seeks to gain the perceptions of affected people and their preferences for information dissemination and communication. The review focused on the key commitments to information sharing, ensuring engagement in decision making, listening to communities and complaints handling. The responsiveness of organizations to community feedback and the barriers to this were reviewed. Consultations with affected communities were undertaken in four field locations, the purpose of which were to understand the views and preferences of different groups within each community.
https://www.alnap.org/help-library/accountability-to-affected-people-a-r…
