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Country News and Background

Millennium Development Goals (The World Bank)

Effectiveness and Legitimacy

Political

Regicide and Maoist Revolutionary Warfare in Nepal (Marie Lecomte-Tilouine (2004), Anthropology Today, Blackwell Publishing Ltd.) Author Lecomte-Tilouine analyzes links between Nepal’s civil unrest, the royal massacre in 2001 and Nepal’s history of violence. She concludes that Nepal’s warrior ethos contributes to the use of violence as a tool for change. Accordingly, Nepali factions may resist alternative methods of conflict management.

The People’s War? The Resurgence of Maoism in Nepal (Peter Santina, Spring 2001, Harvard International Review) Santina provides historical background on tensions between the insurgency, the monarchy and Nepal’s political parties. He characterizes the insurgency as an expression of dissatisfaction by poor Nepalese citizens. This implies that pro-poor policies might reduce the insurgency’s momentum.

The Maoist Insurgency in Nepal: Challenges for Building Peace and Democracy (Event Summary, 17 June 2003, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars) In this event summary, four expert speakers discuss the origins of Nepal’s insurgency and analyze solutions, providing several recommendations for reform, including reintegrating insurgents, increasing support for social scientists in the country, developing local institutions and improving security resources.

Nepal’s Students Look for ‘Third Way’ Out of Civil War (Christian Science Monitor (CSM), 23 March 2004) This article documents views by pro-democracy Nepali students who object to the monarchy and the insurgency. CSM includes commentary that questions U.S. support for the monarchy.

Economic

Country Economic Review (Asian Development Bank (ADB), 2003) According to the ADB, Nepal’s economy has taken a sharp downturn, in part because of costs associated with the insurgency. The primary determinants of future economic performance are political stability, weather, the global economy and the Indian economy. The authors recommend that Nepal improve political stability, in particular, by responding to root causes of rural poverty and the inequitable distribution of wealth. This ADB assessment may be more optimistic than present-day analyses due to the fact that the assessment was drafted during a 2003 ceasefire between the rebels and the Nepalese Government.

Country Assistance Strategy (The World Bank, November 2003) The World Bank has pledged support for Nepal’s 2003 Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP). In particular, the World Bank’s report praises the PRSP’s recognition of social exclusion as a development challenge. However, the report warns that Nepal’s political conflict may limit the country’s ability to achieve development objectives.

Joint Statement: Nepal Development Forum 2004 The Nepal Development Forum was held in Kathmandu on May 5-6, 2004. The forum included Nepalese officials, delegations from twenty-six nations and representatives from six international organizations, including the UN. Nepal’s development partners expressed concern about the country’s ability to achieve its Millennium Development Goals with the current state of political unrest. In addition, participants encouraged Nepal to plan for a post-conflict situation.

Social

Control of Tuberculosis in an Urban Setting in Nepal: Public-Private Partnership (Bulletin of the World Health Organization (WHO), February 2004) The WHO finds that public-private partnerships are effective in treating tuberculosis because these partnerships provide competent care at convenient times and locations. However, the agency cautions that the public sector must enforce standards of care. Otherwise, multi-drug resistant strains of tuberculosis could develop.

Trapped by Inequality: Bhutanese Refugee Women in Nepal (Human Rights Watch (HRW), 2003) HRW finds that Bhutanese women and girls in Nepal’s refugee camps suffer from gender-based violence and discrimination. This report concludes that Nepal, Bhutan and the international community must commit to these women and children by resolving the refugee crisis, ratifying and enforcing the 1951 Refugee Convention, improving the government’s reaction to domestic violence, and protecting women and children as required by the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Security

Rebel Assault (Richard Kwon, Summer 2003, Harvard International Review) Kwon claims that the insurgency has seriously disrupted the lives of ordinary Nepalese citizens. He concludes that the international community should focus on resolving Nepal’s political turmoil so that the country can more effectively address the population’s concerns.

Don’t Back a Dirty War in Nepal (John Norris, 12 February 2004, The Observer) Norris alleges that the Nepali government intends to fight rebels by providing arms to rural militias. He encourages the U.S. government to condemn this plan because of the tendency for stronger militias to increase volatility in unstable nations.

Analytic Framework

Insurgency in Nepal (Thomas Marks (2003), from Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College Web site: http://www.carlisle.army.mil/ssi/pdffiles/PUB49.pdf) Marks describes current tensions in Nepal and makes recommendations for Nepal, to involve U.S. assistance as appropriate, including 1) developing a national strategic plan that focuses on local security through controlling terrain, 2) addressing underlying causes of the insurgency (i.e., socio-economic-political reform) and 3) refocusing intelligence and improving training of Nepali forces.

Joint Staff Assessment of Nepal’s Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (International Monetary Fund (IMF), November 2003) The World Bank and IMF conclude that Nepal’s Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) provides an adequate framework for growth and poverty reduction. However, they assert that Nepal should focus on the following improvements: relying on causal rather than correlative analyses as better data becomes available, improving costing procedures, sharpening prioritization, drafting monitoring and evaluation procedures, and implementing pro-poor rural strategies.

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