DELEGATION OF THE
COMMITTEE ON DEVELOPMENT TO
THE FEDERAL DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC
OF NEPAL
1 November 2010 - 5 November 2010
DV\851022EN.doc 1/17 PE454.532 v01-00 Introduction
The goal of this report is to inform the Committee on Development about the results of the DEVE fact finding mission authorised to visit Nepal from 31 October to 5 November 2010.
The report focuses on the objectives of the mission, mainly linked to development issues, but also includes an update about the political situation of the country.
The DEVE fact finding mission in Nepal is the second European Parliament's visit in 2010 in the country, after that the Delegation for relations EU/South Asia (DSAS) visited Nepal last May 2010 (Chair: Ms Jean Lambert). In that occasion the EP delegation was focussing rather on post election political developments, on the process of electoral observation, on interparliamentary cooperation and also on the issue of climate change. The result of the DSAS mission was reflected in the emergency resolution on the situation in Nepal adopted on 17/6/20101.
The EP delegation was composed by four Members belonging to four different political groups: three DEVE Members, Mr Guerrero Salom (S&D, E) as Chair, Mr Deva (ECR, UK), Mr Rinaldi (ALDE, IT) and Mrs Lambert (Greens/EFA, UK) who accepted the invitation to participate to this mission as Chair of the Delegation for relationship with South Asian countries.
Members of the delegation were supported by two officials working for the DEVE Secretariat (Mr Luise and Mrs Uhrmeister) and by the political advisor of the Green Group (Sabine Meyer). Ms Muñoz Gálvez, accredited assistant to Mr Guerrero Salom also accompanied the Chair of Delegation.
The EP Delegation is most grateful to HE Mr Alexander Spachis, Ambassador of the EU in Nepal and to all the EU Delegation staff for their continuous support which made the visit a successful one.
Objectives of the Mission
The objective of the mission was to monitor the state of the play of development issues with a specific look at: Good governance with a view to the eradication of poverty and the sustainable development of the country: Environment: the very fragile ecosystem of Nepal and its dramatic topography which makes the country prone to flooding and Glacier Lake Outburst Floods. Education, in the context of projects funded under the Development Cooperation Instrument.
To achieve the objectives of the mission, the programme included the following meetings with Nepali authorities:
1 http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+TA+P7-TA-2010- 0245+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN PE454.532 v01-00 2/17 DV\851022EN.doc The Speaker of the Constituent Assembly, Mr. Subash Nemwang; The Development Committee of the Legislative Parliament; The Public Account Committee of the Legislative Parliament; The Minister of Foreign affairs, Mrs. Sujata Koirala; The Minister of Finance, Mr. Surendra Pandey; The Minister of Peace and Reconstruction, Mr. Rakam Chemjong; The Minister for Education, Mr. Sarvendra Nath Shukla; The Foreign Secretary, Mr. Madan Kumar Bhattarai; The Election Commissioner, Mr. Neel Kantha Uprety; The Vice Chairman of the National Planning Commission Dr Jagdish C. Pokharei
The EP Delegation also had the opportunity to meet Worec Women's Rehabilitation Centre, an NGO fighting for women rights, ICIMOD International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, and to visit public schools in the Bhaktapur district Bagiswori Schools), as well as a project concerning the protection ofthe Dalit minorities in the Lalitpur district. The program also included a dinner offered by the EU Ambassador at the presence of EU Member States representatives in Nepal, an exchange of views with NGOs (cocktail offered by the EP), a working lunch with other donors (also offered by the EP), a working lunch with European and local media (offered by the EU Delegation) and a cocktail offered by the Chairman of the Nepal – European Chamber of commerce Mr Dibya Many Rajbhandary in representation of the business sector2.
Short Background
Nepal is a landlocked country in the Eastern Himalayas, bordered by Tibet in the North and India in the east, south and west. It is classified as a Least Developed Country (LDC). The population is estimated at about 28 million in 2007, living mostly in rural areas (~70%). Nepal’s GDP per capita is approximately of 447 US dollars per year3. Major trading partners include India, the EU and the US. Nepal receives substantial aid from the International donors' community and also bilateral aid from different EU States, including Denmark, Germany United Kingdom, Finland, as well as from India, China, Norway, US and Canada.
Millennium Development Goals
Most of the MDGs goals in Nepal are likely to be met by 2015. The recent UN Human Development Index report4 released in Kathmandu during the visit on Thursday 4/11/2010 says that Nepal is one of the ten nations making the swiftest development gains; in particular Nepal is the third -after China and Oman- among a
2 Lists of attendees in annex. 3 Estimation of Asean Development Bank, see http://www.adb.org/Documents/Fact_Sheets/NEP.pdf 4 http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/PR3-HDR10-HD1-E-rev4.pdf
DV\851022EN.doc 3/17 PE454.532 v01-00 list of ten nations making fastest development gains in terms of the Human Development Index in last four decades. However, the report says the economic development has been poor. Nepal continues to be among the poorest nations, with a yawning gap in the education sector between villages and the cities. Nepal stands at 138 in a list of 169 countries listed in the UN human development index.
Current Political situation
The current political situation can be described as a stalemate which is going on since May 2010 with the country ruled by a caretaker government. The relative stability of the situation could be endangered when the United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) a special political mission in support of the peace process in Nepal will leave the country (mid January 2011). However for the time being business and politics go on as usual.
The stalemate looks linked to the issues of rehabilitation and integration into the army of the former Maoists combatants, to the return of properties seized during the civil war and to the approval of the budget, but also other crucial topics are at stake and notably the constitutional nature of the country (whether federal or not), the attribution of powers, the independence of the judiciary power, and last but not least, the relationship with the two big neighbours, China and India.
The impasse on the election of the Prime Minister has delayed the presentation of the budget, because the main opposition party UCPN (Maoist) was opposing the possibility that the caretaker government could present a new budget.
Official talks with the Nepal authorities, including the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Finance, the Chair of the Constituent Assembly, confirmed that the three main political parties are likely to find a solution based on consensus.
A confirmation of what the authorities had affirmed came from the press few days after the visit: the top leaders of the three major political parties -- UCPN (Maoist), Nepali Congress (NC) and CPN-UML decided to post pone the 17th voting round for the election of the new prime minister, and the annual budget was adopted on 19/11 having infrastructure, health, education and the private sector as top priorities.
Official Meetings
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
In occasion of the meeting with Mrs. Sujata Koirala (Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nepali Congress Party), Mr Guerrero Salom, Chair of the delegation, confirmed that European Parliament will always be supportive of any peaceful and stable solution which Nepal will be able to find. MEPs also stated that, even if the country is in the middle of a challenging political and constitutional re-shaping of the country, the development agenda should not be neglected. Only an inclusive development process and a dynamic economic growth can have a positive impact on the life of Nepal population. In this context the delegation urged the Government of Nepal to get committed in the organisation of the Nepal Development forum which should involve all the stakeholders to allow discussions of strategic orientations and planning.
PE454.532 v01-00 4/17 DV\851022EN.doc Nepal authorities do not underestimate the importance of the development issues; however they see it always ineluctably linked to the current political situation, they link the development process to the peace progress in the enforcement of the peace agreement and as it often is the case in developing countries they underline as top priority the need to create new infrastructures.
According to the Minister of Foreign Affairs Mrs. Sujata Koirala all the stakeholders should be more flexible and more important that having a new PM is the drafting of the new constitution, without which there will not be democracy in Nepal. She also stated that "all parties will have to make minor sacrifices to have bigger advantages".
Minister of Finance (Mr. Surendra Pandey)
The meeting with the Minister of Finance confirmed once again that the EU is providing Nepal with some tangible help after 60 years of fight for democracy. He declared the country appreciates the efforts of the European Parliament in keeping focus on Nepal. The visits the European Parliament (two visits in 2010) and the next EU Nepal bilateral meeting scheduled for next 13/12/2010 are the clearest evidence of that and these events will contribute to further fostering what was referred to as the EU-Nepal “oldest friendship”.
On the political situation the Minister of finance, reiterating a similar concept of the Minister of Foreign affairs, expressed the wish that European Union can encourage Maoists to have a more constructive dialogue and show more flexibility. He announced that on the day following the meeting the three leaders of the three main political parties would announce some positive developments on the state of play of the ongoing negotiations to appoint the PM and to approve the annual budget.
Concerning focal sectors of the EU assistance the Minister confirmed that education sector is performing well and that the result of the budget support is very visible. However he recalled that still 8 or 9 % of the children do not go to school. Therefore the sector is a priority.
The minister asked the delegation to take note of other sectors which could have an impact on the development of Nepal, and in particular the infrastructures (roads, public buildings), the employment and the promotion of handcraft, (carpets manufacturing), tourism (2011 is the year of tourism). He was very blunt when faced to the issue of aid effectiveness: he admitted the problem of corruption against which he declared his personal commitment, so that the Nepali and donors’ money is spent in the best possible way. In particular he reported on one case of corruption in the field of expenditure of the budget for education for which sanctioning measures had been taken against the responsible who was forced to step down from his position.
Meeting the Chairman of the Constituent Assembly, Mr Mr. Subash Nemwang.
The chairman thanked the EU delegation recalling how the EU support to Nepal to come out of the civil war.
The CA is now focussing on the drafting of the constitution and the mission is not easy: the task force in charge of preparing the draft has found out at least 210
DV\851022EN.doc 5/17 PE454.532 v01-00 differences among the political parties. Leaders of the three main parties sit in the task force almost daily and they are working hard to settle the open questions. One of the main problems remains the form of the State: federalism or not? The last developments suggest the possibility of setting up a restructuring commission to decide what should we put in the constitution.
The federalism issue is controversial: on what basis should it be declared? On ethnicity? On geographical boundaries? Should there be 7 States or 7 provinces?
The power of the president is also an important yet controversial issue: should the PM have similar powers than the French President or rather the Indian Head of State?
Other constitutional dilemma: the independence of the judiciary power: is it compatible with a system of judges appointed by the Government, or should judges been appointed by a special independent commission? And last but not least the linguistic regime: what should be the national language? Nepali? Should there be a special regime for local instances?
These questions remain still unanswered but give the idea of how complex can be set ting up a stable pacific community after years of war and misery.
Meeting with the Nepal Legislative Parliament.
The legislative Parliament of Nepal has seven standing committees. The DEVE Delegation met the two Committees in charge of Development issues and public expenditure.
The Development Committee The Development committee of the Nepal legislative Parliament is one of the prevalent committees as it has authority to monitor, evaluate and manage six development related ministries and notably: Ministry of Physical planning and works Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction Ministry of Information and Communication Ministry of local Development Ministry of Environment Ministry of Science and Technology
The Committee is chaired by Hon. Jitendra Prasad Sonar.
Mrs Hisli Yami, the main speaker during the meeting, is a prominent exponent of the Committee, representing the Maoist party which can count on 23 out of the 57 elected members. She described the activity of the Committee including the field visits the Committee has organised in the last year to monitor the actual developments of the country in different fields (education, trade, rural developments, telecom, IT infrastructures, roads).
According to Mrs Yami, people are very participative when they visit development projects, as parliamentarian one can feel that people are not surprised but somewhat pleased that politicians look after them, however, due to the political stalemate and the recurrent voting no missions are being organised in the last months. Mrs Yami
PE454.532 v01-00 6/17 DV\851022EN.doc confirmed that many differences exist between the stakeholders, and even among the same parties and described the feeling that the situation is slow as due to the need to take unanimous decisions.
Public Accounts Committee (PAC)
PAC is a non legislative standing Committee of the Legislative Parliament. Effective since 1990 PAC is the highest oversight branch of the Parliament. 63 Members sit in PAC which presents its annual reports to the plenary. 25 Members are from UCPN (Maoists) 10 from Nepali Congress (NC) 11 from CPN (UML) and 17 others represent other different small parties.
Under the chairmanship of Hon Ram Krishna Yadav PAC has the role to discuss the reports of the Nepali Auditor General, to examine public accounts or public properties and has the power to ask Government to disclose all the documents it needs and to invite government officials, including the Prime Minister. It monitors the execution of its decisions through 18 subcommittees.
PAC is also working to check the effectiveness of all public resources including foreign aid. PAC has the power to investigate for strengthening good governance, accountability and transparency whenever public money is spent.
The meeting confirmed that the relationship between the executive and the elected representatives of the people are not always idyllic. According to the Chairman ministries and public entities do not furnish necessary documents and information to PAC in time, many public enterprises omit to prepare and record accounts for the audit, frequent changes of executive officers and other employees have created problems in maintaining financial discipline, government’s offices are said to have been unable to settle financial irregularities in time.
Another most interesting comment that we report literally is that “some donor agencies also do not like to give right information of their assistance, especially, the grants and technical assistance, (to) the Nepal Government and Auditor General’s office. It has created some problem in the audit and transparency system”5
According to the Chairman of PAC Government usually takes the opinions of PAC into account, but sometimes there might be discrepancies between the conclusions of PAC and the actions taken by the authorities.
PAC is also suggesting establishing a SAARC Regional PAC Forum.
The Delegation has also been invited to take into consideration the request of PAC to improve the facilities, the IT equipment and the know how of the committee members and staff by providing more resources and training.
Meeting the Minster of Education Er. Sarvendra Nath Shukla
Free primary education for all children was legislated in 1971 and extended to secondary education in 2007. The EU assistance is addressing the School Sector Reform (SSR) with €67 mio for the period 2007-2013. The Program is a national
5 Slides n. 5 Challenges, 8th indent.
DV\851022EN.doc 7/17 PE454.532 v01-00 initiative of the Government of Nepal that sets priorities with strategic interventions, program targets and implementation arrangements for the period between 2009 and 2015. The SSR Plan aims at structural integration of the school cycle and a functional integration of the education system. An integrated school cycle of grades 1-12 will include the Basic Education Cycle of grades 1-8 and Secondary Education Cycle of grades 9-12.
According to the Minister Education is the key to keep peace and stability and it should not be the weakest part of the peace progress. Through educational sector it is now possible to include all sorts of scholarships also in technical educational and secondary education.
93.7 % of young Nepali has access to school, even if they were not at school for the last 5 years. The Minister said that "by strengthening the education sector we can make it the core of the future peace".
Schools in Nepal are managed by legal management committees. It is true that in some rural areas there are tensions between teachers groups and management committees appointed by "local guardians".
The country needs now more funding in the sector of vocational training, because at the moment the economy is supported by remittances sent to Nepal by workers in third countries. However in Nepal there are still unskilled people who could be trained in technical education.
The Minister would welcome additional funding to help this technical and vocational training.
On the question of shadow teachers in rural areas the Delegation was informed that local authorities try to impose their teachers in their local schools, against the will of the central authorities. Teachers paid by the Government are asked to stay away from the schools. At the moment a monitoring is ongoing on 42 teachers and 21 are being questioned.
During the visits on the field the Delegation had access to two schools receiving public funding through the SSR scheme and therefore supported also by the EU. These schools in the Bhaktapur district, (Bagiswori) can count on modern structures, give education based on the soundest education method, including the Montessori: schools managers reported a very impressive record in term of low rate of students dropping out (3% compared to the 25% average of Nepal). The Delegation could not consider those specific experiences as mirroring the effective situation of the public school in Nepal.
Chief Election Commissioner Mr Neel Kantha Uprety
The Commissioner confirmed his commitment to improve the legal framework and the procedural steps of the next election rounds, taking into account the past experience in 2008.
PE454.532 v01-00 8/17 DV\851022EN.doc Nowadays designing and drafting electoral procedures is not easy because the Constitution is not ready and so there is still uncertainty on what the electoral systems should be. However electoral commission has started drafting draft proposals based on the past experience on the settlement of electoral disputes: these proposals will focus on the political parties management committees and on the election of the electoral management committee, with the goal of framing the structure of the electoral systems as soon as possible so that when political parties will have agreed on the political systems it will be quick to finalise the whole electoral law body. This is the key priority as it is very important for credible and reliable elections. The old electoral law will be repealed. There will be a new roster and 1 million voters have already been put in the roster, while other 2 million still remain to be added before the next elections.
The draft electoral laws could be ready by May or June 2011. They will enshrine the principles of inclusiveness and proportionality. All the electors should be able to get their voting certificate within the 5 km distance from the voting office. Transportation of ballot papers will be better monitored and delivery will be ensured in a given time. Simulations will be done before the vote.
The General Elections should be held on May 2012. The issue of Nepali citizens abroad is yet unsorted, as matter of fact there are no borders between Nepal and neighbouring countries, so there might be from 1 to 5 million more people to add to the roster.
On a specific question Commissioner Kantha Uprety clarified that all citizens are voters and citizenship can be certified locally and acquired in virtue of one of the two parents’ citizenship or by marriage.
The Nepali Election Commissioner has invited the DEVE mission to consider the possibility to send an Electoral Observation Mission for the next election round.
Meeting with WOREC Women's Rehabilitation Centre, Human rights’ defenders.
WOREC is a local NGO whose aim is to promote the removal of all major socio- economic, cultural and human rights injustices with and aimed at attaining social justice and sustainable livelihood at the community level.
During the meeting the DEVE delegation could hear a very outspoken representative talking about the situation of women’s human rights in post conflict Nepal.
After the 2008 elections, 197 women out of 601 members were elected at the Constituent Assembly. Three of them lead three constitutional committees; WOREC recognised that since then participation of women in many processes has increased but also expressed the wish that the situation should improve soon.
According to the Interim Constitution: 1. No discrimination of any kind will be made against the women by virtue of sex; 2. Every woman shall have the right to reproductive health 3. No woman shall be subjected to physical, mental or any other kind of violence, and such act shall be punishable by law; 4. Sons and daughters shall have equal right to ancestral property.
DV\851022EN.doc 9/17 PE454.532 v01-00 According to Worec, in spite of these principles, discrimination on the basis of caste, gender, ability, nature of work, sexual orientation and ethnicity is still the reality in Nepal and in particular access to basic services and education are not granted to all girl children. They also confirmed that violence against women has been recognised as an “issue” but not as a “political issue”: in particular the violation of women's economic and social rights and non recognition of their participation and contribution made to economic development and cultural sustainability still happen on a daily basis. When women try to denounce this often are sent back to hostile environment and become even more discriminated when trying to claim their economic, social and cultural rights.
The DEVE Delegation received from Worec the following recommendation formulated to the Local authorities.
Provide prompt and adequate response to women victims of violence, torture and harmful socio-cultural practices; Establish well-resourced victim support centers with comprehensive packages including shelter, legal aid, medical aid, psycho-social counseling; Establish a high level commission to investigate Violence Against Women and Violence Against Female Combatants during the time of conflict; Seek measures to provide reparation and remedies to women subjected to violence in conflict/post conflict situation; Adopt and implement a strong development framework with affirmative policies and implementation commitments for food security, food right and food sovereignty for the marginalized population include women such as survivors of Violence Against Women; Enact the Land Reform System; Recognize the special needs of marginalized groups such as women, children, Dalits, differently able persons, LGBT. Ensure that the general health service is improved and made accessible to everyone – a mechanism in place; Ensure proper rehabilitation including right to Education of Child Develop ‘Witness protection system’ in the country that effectively deals with the threat of re-victimization/ secondary victimization. Take all possible measures to fully ensure that all forms of assault, attack, threat, and intimidation against human rights defenders are prevented and should such incidents happen, ensure a thorough investigation, and prosecution of perpetrators in accordance with the EU Guidelines and Supreme Court Directives on Women Human Rights Defenders.
Dalit Minority
Dalits represent 2% of the population in Nepal, most of them living in extreme poverty. Within this minority, Dalit women are in particular danger as they occupy the lowest rank of the socioeconomic steps in terms of representation and autonomy. Such social status is in part lined to Dalits’ exclusion from mainstream politics and lack of representation on both the local and national level. Dalits in Nepal live in rural areas and earn very low incomes as farmers or land workers.
PE454.532 v01-00 10/17 DV\851022EN.doc The Delegation visited a Dalit community in the rural area of Lele, Lalitpur district, at 1 h 30 minutes of car from Kathmandu. The village receives funding under the Food Facility thematic programme of the DCI through a call managed by DAN Church. The specific objectives of the empowerment project is mitigating the effects of volatile food prices and preventing seasonal hunger of ultra-poor agricultural households, including those of the poorest women-headed households, while investing in infrastructure and livelihood enhancement measures.
The Delegation could hear the simple but clear words of the Dalit women who are twice discriminated in Nepal, as women and as part of the Dalit minority
The village offers the possibility to Dalit women to learn basic agriculture techniques and to sell their own products in the local market at very low prices with a margin of only 5-10 % in favour of the distribution chain, which is shortest. There is also the possibility to make handcraft products which are sold during religious festivals. The representatives of the Dalit community could communicate freely to the DEVE Delegation their legitimate expectations for a better life and an improved livelihood conditions. Meeting this community was very significant for all the Delegation members and confirmed the need for the European Parliament to keep alive the attention on this minority, which is still victim of discrimination in many countries.
Meeting ICIMOD
The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, ICIMOD, is a regional knowledge development and learning centre serving the eight regional member countries of the Hindu Kush-Himalayas6.
ICIMOD aims to assist mountain people to understand the changing of their fragile mountain ecosystems and the livelihoods of mountain people.
In Nepal ICIMOD has carried out a multi-disciplinary field investigation, in order to (i) assess the stability of the natural moraine dam, (ii) estimate the lake storage volume, (iii) determine potential external GLOF triggering factors, (iv) provide a hydro-meteorological data analysis, (v) establish a dam-breaking modelling and downstream vulnerability assessment.
Dr Schild, ICIMOD Director, presented ICIMOD as a regional platform and knowledge broker and also was suggesting ICIMOD to become a partner of the EU.
Himalayan glaciers are a sort of ecological buffer between the North and South Asia and an enormous source of water reserves. They provide headwaters for 10 major river systems in Asia therefore arriving to almost one-third of humanity.
According to ICIMOD this is paradoxically having an impact on these populations because most conflicts in the beginnings of the 21st century are taking place in proximity of water sources.
As explained to the Delegation, ICIMOD aim is to become a regional, transboundary facilitator and broker with a mountain perspective contributing to country-based
6 Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan
DV\851022EN.doc 11/17 PE454.532 v01-00 knowledge becoming regionally accessible and customising international knowledge (a specific region was made of the Alpine Convention7).
Water according to ICIMOD is the strategic resource of the 21st Century and therefore monitoring of snow and ice, monitoring of glaciers, glacier lakes and snow cap are essential to understand how to adapt to the “too much and too little water” issue (disaster risks reduction and management).
ICIMOD is already partner of four European Member (Germany, Austria, Sweden, Finland, UK), and has been worked with DG Echo till 2007. They suggested they could be useful as a strategic partner for the long term monitoring of change and a resource center for adaptation and the promotion of Climate Change resilient communities.
Possible Form of cooperation proposed by ICIMOD are: - Long term program support - Access to European Centers of Excellence - Building up and preparing regional professional and regional analytical capacity
Other issues: Fiduciary Risk, Donors coordination,
22 Agencies and several States are helping Nepal in coping with post war conflicts. The Delegation met all the EU Members states representatives present in Nepal (DE, NL, Fin, DK, UK the Norwegian Cooperation, the Canadian cooperation) as well as the representatives of UNDP/UNESCO.
All the donors provide Nepal with 230 Mil USD for the four following sectors:
Consolidating peace Sustainable livelihood Basic services (education and health) Human rights and gender equality.
Donors could decide for the future more funding on disaster preparedness because Nepal is potentially exposed to a big earthquake.
Some donors including EU Member States expressed clearly the opinion that the fiduciary risk in Nepal is too high and the absorption capability is still too weak. This might induce some donors to revise their strategy abandoning the long term prospective and possibly focussing on a short term one.
On the issue of how to tackle the fiduciary risk donors could agree that supporting the public expenditure financial capability of the country is very important.
The frustration to see that the political situation is still unstable has been echoed by the written press during the mission. DANIDA, the Danish AID Agency confirmed to the DEVE delegation that Denmark is considering the possibility to withdraw the bilateral aid (81 MIL USD) within one year if no progress in terms of results and
7 http://www.alpconv.org/home/index_en PE454.532 v01-00 12/17 DV\851022EN.doc solutions of the political crisis. Should this be the case, Denmark could evaluate the possibility to intervene at regional level in the long term.
At the moment DANIDA is working on two levels: governance which is not giving the expected results and education which is working well. Another sector where the situation could be improved is energy and in particular in the field of hydropower projects. Denmark is evaluating the possibility to fund project on a case by case because the absorption capability could be then better evaluated.
All donors agreed that the coordination amongst them is good and that it is important not to overlap and having consistent messages.
World Bank
The World Bank Group's operations in Nepal began in 1969. For the time being active credits and grants total US$1.04 billion
Top priorities for WB in Nepal are The schol and education programmes: the Road Sector Development Project (RSDP) to expand the road network to remote districts of the country. the fight against corruption
Other sectors can be found in the graphic below.
WB confirmed its intention to stay as long as progress can be made and in Nepal we have seen progress in the area of Education, but also rural projects, even with 1 single intervention can change to real life of an entire village.
However working with Government gives more possibilities to fix possible mistake and make the projects sustainable: a good examples could be the HYDRO projects.
DV\851022EN.doc 13/17 PE454.532 v01-00 Conclusions
The objective of the mission was to monitor the state of the play of development issues notably focussing on good governance, environment, education and health, in the context of the EU assistance delivered under the EU financial instruments.
The mission confirmed that in general terms EU is perceived by the press and the public opinion as a facilitator of the political dialogue and as a disinterested donor.
The EU Delegation fully undertakes the Treaty of Lisbon "one voice" approach and promotes good coordination amongst all the EU Member States in Nepal. The EU Delegation has fully supported the DEVE Mission from all points of view.
Official talks with government authorities confirmed that the three main political parties are likely to find a solution based on consensus. This can be seen as a reassuring reply to the official announcement made by the Danish International Agency (DANIDA) at the beginnings of November according to which Danish bilateral aid to Nepal (USD 81 Million) will be withdrawn if there is no improvement in the political situation within a year.
Visits on the field confirmed that the EU Assistance is in line with the EU Legislation and the OECD/ODA guidelines. MDGs goals in this sector are likely to be met by 2015 however, according to the Nepali Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in charge of monitoring the public expenditure including foreign aid, lack or incomplete information both from Government or "some donor agencies has created some problems in the audit and transparency systems".
The Nepali Election Commissioner has invited the DEVE mission to consider the possibility to send an Electoral Observation Mission for the next election round.
Although Nepal's achievement in the Human Development Index is remarkable, the DEVE Delegation think that a lot more needs to be done in the field of good governance, poverty and sustainable development of the country based on a comprehensive and inclusive social framework and dialogue.
PE454.532 v01-00 14/17 DV\851022EN.doc ANNEX: PROGRAMME OF THE JOINT DELEGATION EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
DEVE DELEGATION TO The Federal Democratic republic of NEPAL
1 November 2010 - 5 November 2010
HOTEL European Commission Delegation
Soaltee Crowne Plaza Kathmandu Uttar Dhoka Sadak, Lainchaur Post Box 97, Tahachal, Kathmandu P.O. Box 6754, Kathmandu General Line: +977 1 4273999 | Tel: +977 1 442 9445/9446/3569/0406 Fax : +977 1 4278555 Fax: +977 1 442 3541 www.crowneplaza.com/kathmandu Email: [email protected] Website: www.delnpl.ec.europa.eu
MEPs EP Staff Enrique GUERRERO SALOM (chair of the Raffaele Luise, Petra Uhrmeister Delegation), S&D Secretariat of the DEVE Committee Niccolò RINALDI, ALDE Nirj DEVA, ECR Political Groups Jean LAMBERT (chair of the South Asia Sabine MEYER, Political Advisor, GREENS/EFA Delegation), GREENS/EFA
OFFICIAL PROGRAMME
Tuesday 2 November 2010 – Working Day 1
Time Appointment Location
09:30-09:45 Briefing by the EU Delegation SOALTEE HOTEL Local Security Officer 09:45 Transfer to Delegation 10:00-10:45 Meeting with Women Human Rights Defenders Delegation at WOREC
11:00-11:30 Meeting with Foreign Minister Mrs Sujata MOFA Koraila 11:45 Arrival of Mr. Niccolò RINALDI AIRPORT from Doha, transfer to hotel/lunch 12:45 Arrival Ms Jean LAMBERT from BKK , AIRPORT transfer to Garden of Dreams 13:00 Transfer to Garden of Dreams
DV\851022EN.doc 15/17 PE454.532 v01-00 13:30-15:30 Lunch with Donor Agencies, main Garden of Dreams Development Partners and EU Counsellors on Development, hosted by EP 15:30-16:00 Briefing by the Head of the Delegation to Nepal EU Delegation
16:00 Transfer to Ministry of Finance 16:15-17:00 Meeting at Ministry of Finance – Singha Durbar Minister and senior officials 4211461 - /4212305 17:00 Transfer to Parliament Meeting with members of the Constituent Parliament Assembly TEL: 4220150, 4223811 17:05-17:20 - Courtesy call to CA Chairman FAX: 4227310 17:20-18:00 - Working session with members of the Development Committee and 18:00-18:45 Public account Committee 18:45 Transfer to European Union Residence 19:30 Working dinner with EU HOMs hosted by EU Residence HOD (8 MEPs staff + 6 HoMs + 6 EU Delegation)
Wednesday 3 November 2010 – Working Day 2
Time Appointment Location
09:00 Departure for field visit Bhaktapur Visit to district education office and school 10.00 Venue: School in the Transfer to school with district official 11.00 Bhaktapur district office and Projects co funded by the EU Union in the field school of Education
12:30-13:30 Private lunch in Bhaktapur 13.30-14:30 Transfer to Lubu 14:30 Visit to projects co funded by the EU Union Dalit Empowerment Project Livelihood (NGO) in Lubu, Lalitpur district (1h30 drive from Kathmandu) Govindra: 984130 5106 17:30 Transfer from Hotel Soaltee to Dwarika's 18:30 Cocktail reception hosted by EP Dwarikas Invitees: GON/HOMs + Business Communities/ UN Agencies, Diplomatic corp. 20.30 Transfer from Hotel Dwarika's to Soaltee
Free evening
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Time Appointment Location
08:30 Departure for ICIMOD from Soaltee
09:15 – 10:15 Meeting with ICIMOD Director ICIMOD
10:15 - 11:00 Transfer 11:00 - 11:20 Courtesy call to the Minister of Foreign Affairs MFA Kathmandu - Meeting with Foreign Secretary: M. Bhattarai 11:45 – 12:30 Transfer 11:50 - 12:30 Meeting at Ministry of Peace and Singha Durbar Reconstruction Minister and senior staff
12:30 - 13:00 Vice-chairman, National planning commission Dr. Jagdish C. Pokharel 13:00 – 13:15 TRANSFER 13:15 - 14:30 Meet the Press – Media Lunch Garden of Dreams offered by EU Delegation to Nepal 14:30 Transfer 14:35 - 15:20 Meeting at the Ministry of Education – Minister Ministry of Education and Senior Staff
15:20 Transfer 15:30 – 16:00 Meeting with Election Commissioner Election Commission
Evening Reception hosted by the Chairman of the Nepal Radisson Hotel - European Economic Chamber of Commerce Mr. Dibya Mani RAJBHANDARY 16:25 Transfer to Airport Tribhuvan Int'l Airport Departure of Chair Mr Enrique Guerrero Salom VIP Lounge QR351 Doha at 19.25 and Mr Niccolò Rinaldi EY293 Abu Dhabi at 21.00
20:30 Back to Soaltee Hotel, free evening
Friday 5 November 2010 – DEPARTURE
Time Departure Location
08.30 Transfer to airport by 9W263 at 10.30 Tribhuvan Int'l Airport Nirj Deva VIP Lounge Tribhuvan Int'l Airport 10.45 Transfer to airport - Jean Lambert QR353 at VIP Lounge 12.45 Tribhuvan Int'l Airport 18.30 Transfer to airport - EY293 at 21.00 Raffaele Luise, Petra Uhrmeister, Elena Munoz Tribhuvan Int'l Airport 17.30 Transfer to airport - QR351 at 19.25 Sabine Meyer
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