State-people relations in post-conflict Nepal Bishnu Raj Upreti, PhD Gopikesh Acharya, MA Annal Tandukar, MA Published by Nepal Centre for Contemporary Research (NCCR) Citation: Upreti BR, Acharya G, Tandukar A. (2016). State-people relations in post-conflict Nepal. Kathmandu: Nepal Centre for Contemporary Research (NCCR). Copyright © 2016 by NCCR Kathmandu, Nepal. All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-9937-8865-6-7 Printed by: Heidel Press Pvt. Ltd. Dillibazar, Kathmandu Cover concept: Bishnu Raj Upreti & Annal Tandukar Cover & layout design: Jyoti Khatiwada This book is the synthesis of the research conducted in Nepal under Secure Livelihoods Research Consortium (SLRC) on issues related to livelihoods, basic services and social protection in conflict affected situations. SLRC is funded by UK aid from the UK government, Irish Aid, the EC and managed by ODI. Disclaimer: The views presented in this book are of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of funding agencies, SLRC and NCCR. Subsidised Price : NRs. 300/- Acknowledgement On 21 November 2016, Nepal completed 10 years of the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) between the government of Nepal and the then Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist). The parties that signed the CPA made several commitments to Nepali people through different articles and sub-articles in the CPA, ranging from transitional justice, to socio-economic transformation to effective governance and service delivery. In this context, NCCR, as a member of the Secure Livelihoods Research Consortium, conducted research for six years, focusing specifically on state- building processes (how do Nepalis’ perceptions, expectations and experiences of the state affect its legitimacy, its ability to provide basic services, and under what circumstances, if any, does this lead to state-building) and international engagement with the post- conflict capacity building in Nepal (focusing on the question: what processes, approaches, and modalities of interactions between international actors and state (national and local) institutions enable the capacity of the state to deliver social protection and basic services?). One of the key priorities of the CPA was to strengthen state- people relationship as a means of facilitating state-building process in Nepal. One of the key aspects of strengthening state-people relations is through improving the effectiveness of basic service delivery provisions the state provides to its people. However, the decade long armed conflict (1996-2006) had severely weakened the state capacity to deliver the intended services and heavily divided the people. The legitimacy of the state was questioned during the war time. Hence, our research is focused in the analysis of public perceptions of the state in terms of service delivery (health, education, water and sanitation, and social protection) i and in finding the gap between public expectations and capacity of the state, and response of the state. The empirical evidences were generated from Ilam, Rolpa and Bardiya districts. One of the most often asked questions in the public debate is the effectiveness of support of international actors in capacity building of the state and their modes of engagement. Strong state institutions are of foremost importance to Nepal, which is suffering a fragile post-conflict transition after the end of a decade- long insurgency. The structural capacity and strength of the state institutions are vital to deliver efficient basic services, offer state- led social protections, and secure the livelihoods of the people of all strata. The reciprocal engagements between international actors and state constitute as one of the integral elements of the post-conflict state capacity building in Nepal. International actors are engaged in Nepal with their multiple supports (e.g. technical, financial, administrative cooperation, etc.) and state authorities which are shouldered with qualitative, timely, functional and fair delivery of services. It is important to assess how the international engagements have contributed in building capacity of the state institutions to deliver basic services. As service delivery is directly related to livelihoods of people affected by conflict, this book analyses these aspects, which we hope will be helpful for civil society, researchers, academicians, policy makers, practitioners and national and international organisations working in different issues of state building. This book offers insight to the status of service delivery of health, education, water and social protection and presents the role of international actors engaged in promoting livelihoods of conflict- affected and marginalised people and providing basic services to them. This book is the outcomes of collective efforts of many people. Even if it is not possible to individually mention them, we express our gratitude to all of them for their valuable information, inputs, comments and suggestions through different means and mechanisms. ii We would like to extend our sincere thanks to all the people from our research sites. They not only participated in meetings and discussions and offered valuable perspectives on service delivery and livelihood options but also offered great hospitality during our field work. Further, we express sincere gratitude to our dedicated team of research assistants, enumerators and field supervisors working to collect the data upon which this book is based. We are particularly thankful to the SLRC CEO Dr Paul Harvey and Research Director Dr Rachel Slater who were supportive to our idea of developing a synthesis of six years of research work, presented previously as different working papers, in the form of book. We also extend thanks to all the authors of working papers on the basis of which this book is developed. We acknowledge all forms of support we received from Mr. Siddhi Manandhar, Managing Director and Ms Apsara KC, Administration and Finance Officer of Nepal Centre for Contemporary Research (NCCR) during the entire period of developing this book. We also offer our appreciation to Ms Sony KC, Mr. Amit Maharjan and Ms Sharmila Shivakoti for their support to the authors on different occasions. Bishnu Raj Upreti, PhD Gopikesh Acharya, MA Annal Tandukar, MA December 2016 Kathmandu iii Acronyms and Abbreviations ADB Asian Development Bank AED Academy for Educational Development AI Amnesty International APP Agriculture Perspective Plan CA Constituent Assembly CAP Conflict-Affected Person CBS Central Bureau of Statistics CCOMPOSA Coordination Committee of Maoist Parties and Organizations in South Asia CDC Child Development Centres CDO Chief District Officer CPA Comprehensive Peace Agreement CPN Communist Party of Nepal CPN (M) Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) CPN (UML) Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist- Leninist) DAO District Administration Office DDC District Development Committee DFID Department for International Development DLPC District Local Peace Committee DoHS Department of Health Survey DWMC Drinking Water Management Committee DWP Drinking Water Programme DWRC Drinking Water Resource Committee DWS Drinking Water and Sanitation iv EAFS Enhancing Access to Financial Services EDR Eastern Development Region EFA Education for All EHCS Essential Health Care Services EPI Expanded Programme on Immunisation EU European Union FCHV Female Community Health Volunteer FGD Focus Group Discussion FY Fiscal Year GDP Gross Domestic Product GHI Global Hunger Index GIZ Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GNI Gross National Income GoN Government of Nepal HDI Human Development Index HFOMCs Health Facility Operational Management Committees ICG International Crisis Group ICRC International Committee of the Red Cross IDMC The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre IDP Internally Displaced Person ILO International Labour Organisation INGO International Non-Governmental Organisation INSEC Informal Sector Service Centre JICA Japan International Cooperation Agency KII Key Informant Interview LGCDP Local Governance and Community Development Programme LPC Local Peace Committee v LRP Livelihood Recovery for Peace LSGA Local Self Governance Act MDGs Millennium Development Goals MEDEP Micro Enterprise Development Programme MoE Ministry of Education MoF Ministry of Finance MoLD Ministry of Local Development MoPR Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction MoWCSW Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare MPI Multidimensional Poverty Index MT Metric Ton NC Nepali Congress NCCR Nepal Centre for Contemporary Research NDHS National Demographic Health Survey NFC National Food Corporation NGO Non-governmental Organisation NLSS National Living Standard Survey NPC National Planning Commission NPR Nepali Rupees NPTF Nepal Peace Trust Fund NSCSP National Steering Committee on Social Protection OAA Old Age Allowance ODA Official Development Assistance ODI Overseas Development Institute OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development OPHI Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative vi PHC Primary Health Care PM Prime Minister PPPUE Public Private Partnership of Urban Environment RLS Rural Livelihoods System RUPP Rural-Urban Partnership Programme SDIP Safe Delivery Incentives Programme SLC School Leaving Certificate SLRC Secure Livelihoods Research Consortium SNPC Strengthening Planning and Monitoring Capacity SPA Seven-Party Alliance SPI Social Protection Index SSRP School Sector Reform Plan SWAP Sector-wide Approach TBA Traditional Birth Attendants TLO Tole/Lane Organisation ToR Terms