A milestone for Nepal
The people of Nepal reached an historic milestone in 2008 with elections that ended a decade of civil war, popular protest and constitutional stalemate. The resulting 601-member Constituent Assembly (CA) is now charged with developing a new constitution for the country that will balance the needs and demands of the different factions and work towards more decentralized governance. Although this constitution-building process is moving forward, the road is far from smooth and there is still a need for continuing support to promote consensus and mutual trust between the political parties.
International IDEA has been working in Nepal since 2004, initially offering its State of Democracy tool to enable citizens to assess the country’s democracy. Following the rise of the People’s Movement for Democracy and the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2006, International IDEA has been supporting national actors in the process of constitution building by providing knowledge, facilitating dialogues and promoting public participation. This experience is incorporated in the current project “Supporting Nepal’s Constitution Building and Implementation”, designed to suppport Nepal’s aspirations of realizing social inclusion and accountability.
Next steps
The ambition of making Nepal’s institutions both socially inclusive and accountable are two of the key challenges facing the country today. IDEA’s work in these areas focuses on providing support to the process of drafting the new constitution and, once it has been approved, the Institute will continue to work with its partners facilitating the transition process. Currently, IDEA is encouraging the drafters to include provisions that will support diversity, accountability and public participation in the new system of government, and supporting and strengthening the new legislature as representatives implement the new constitution.
What is International IDEA’s overall objectives in Nepal?
The main objectives of IDEA’s work today is to i) assist the country as it negotiates, writes and implements the new constitution and ii) support reforms in election management.
International IDEA works in close collaboration with its partners in Nepal, the Nepal Law Society, the Constituent Assembly (CA) and its Secretariat, the informal Women's Caucus, Indigenous People's Caucus, the Election Commission, political parties, and externally with the UNDP and other members of the international community.
How does International IDEA work towards these objectives?
International IDEA’s work in Nepal includes:
- assisting the Public Outreach Committee, and the CA members in their efforts to finalize the constitution;
- offering technical advice in drafting the constitution, with commentary notes and illustrative examples from other countries;
- supporting the CA women's caucus and the indigenous people's caucus in their dialogue with each other and with interested parties in civil society – and continuing these discussions as the constitution is implemented;
- facilitating dialogues among key political actors as they seek agreement on contentious constitutional issues;
- sharing other countries experiences from comparative perspective; especially from other southern countries
- creating spaces for political parties to share the results of the constitution making process;
- building the capacity of the Election Commission on selected aspects of election administration, and supporting the design and implementation of the Electoral Dispute Resolution Mechanism;
- supporting the design of the constitution so that it embraces diversity, with a special emphasis on affirmative action and language policies;
- supporting the legislature as it implements the new constitution.
In pursuing this work, International IDEA and its partners are also providing training and consultation that:
- assists the CA delegates and supporting institutions in constitution making, with a special emphasis on the involvement of women;
- increases understanding about designing an electoral system and government;
- assists electoral reform and management – principally using the modules of the BRIDGE (Building Resources in Democracy, Governance and Elections) training curriculum in collaboration with the Election Commission, UNDP Nepal and IFES Nepal; and
- documents how Nepal manages diversity.
What knowledge resources does IDEA use in its work?
In conjunction with its partners, IDEA is producing and translating new material on electoral systems, federalism, autonomy, affirmative action, systems of governance, constitutional bodies, procedures for canvasing public opinion, and more. A number of handbooks, booklets and discussion papers on these themes have already been published and include:
In partnership with Women in Good Governance (WIGG) and Nepal Constitutional Foundation (NCF), International IDEA has introduced a monthly bulletin, Constituent Assembly Dialogue, as a means of keeping stakeholders informed on the constitution building process.
