CEPPS Quarterly Report: January 1, 2016 – March 31, 2016
NEPAL: Strengthening Political Parties, Electoral and Legislative Processes USAID Associate Cooperative Agreement No. AID-367-LA-10-00001, under the Leader Cooperative Agreement No. DFD-A-00-08-00350-00
Project Dates: August 3, 2010 to August 31, 2016
IFES: Total budget: $12,422,000 Expenses to date: $10,281,960 Second Quarter Expenses: $383,149 NDI: Total budget: $17,482,000 Expenses to date: $14,076,418 Second Quarter Expenses: $484,296 Total budget: $29,904,000 Expenses to date: $24,358,378 Second Quarter Expenses: $867,4451
I. PROGRAM OVERVIEW
Problem Statement
With the promulgation of the constitution on September 20, 2015, a milestone was achieved in Nepal’s political history. As Nepal undergoes the process of implementing the various provisions outlined in its constitution, the Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening (CEPPS) partners continue to provide technical expertise aimed at solidifying democratic gains and institutionalizing inclusive electoral, political, and legislative mechanisms. The Constituent Assembly-Legislature Parliament (CA/LP) has struggled to find consensus, finalize the new constitution and proceed with its legislative responsibilities. Internal factionalism, missed deadlines and empty promises have turned a once optimistic public against the political parties. Although the election of the Nepali Congress (NC) and the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) signaled a shift to a more moderate national leadership, political parties continue to focus on maneuvering for political power rather than working toward solving the country’s problems. They appear to lack the willingness or ability to settle disagreements over a wide range of issues. To address this, CEPPS/NDI works with political party partners to strengthen internal party capacity and leadership structures and promote inclusion of marginalized groups, such as youth and women.
A key next step following the promulgation of Nepal’s new constitution is the introduction of electoral measures to better reflect the political realities of Nepal and address the limitations of the current electoral framework and related legislation. The Election Commission of Nepal (ECN) has a critical role to play in ensuring that legislation and regulations pertaining to the electoral processes are clear and concise, and incorporate traditionally excluded groups. These
1 CEPPS respectfully notes that it does not budget by quarter or by objective. In addition to the financial information provided in the cover sheet on total spending to date, CEPPS submits accruals report and in the quarterly SF-425 reports. Lastly, the quarterly report has a financial section in which partners can describe any cost savings or any unexpected costs. developments have increased CEPPS/IFES’ opportunities to continue supporting the ECN to revise and adapt the electoral legal framework to the new constitution; implement the ECN’s new five-year strategic plan, including the organization of local government elections; and strengthen the capacity of ECN staff at both the ECN’s headquarters and district election offices (DEOs). CEPPS/IFES’ partner civil society organizations (CSOs) continue their outreach awareness initiatives to engage marginalized groups in electoral and political processes, including advocacy, networking and research activities.
The earthquakes on April 25 and May 12, 2015, had a major impact on both the political situation and programmatic activities. Many program activities came to a halt as political parties and leaders engaged in relief work in the affected districts. Additionally, political leaders focused on organizing and managing the post-earthquake situation and on developing plans for reconstruction and rebuilding. The immediate period after the earthquake saw a decline in trust between the public and political parties with the public accusing political leaders of being too slow in their response and for being biased in relief distribution. However, the actual role that political parties play, especially at the local level, has changed over time as parties have engaged in recovery efforts and improved their local mechanisms for rescue and relief work.
Post-constitution protests in the Terai and the subsequent economic blockade disrupting the circulation of consumer goods, including fuel and gas imported from India, have taken a toll on Nepal’s economy. Ongoing political disputes among the main parties in power hindered the establishment of the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA)2 and other post-earthquake rehabilitation and rebuilding initiatives, leaving more than two million victims without adequate shelter from the cold. CEPPS/NDI will assist NRA with preparations for its regular briefings and outreach to the media, victims, and general public, as well as donors and partner organizations. There is a general agreement that the long awaited local elections would help boost reconstruction and development efforts. However it is imperative that the demands of the parties and groups dissatisfied with the new constitution are taken into consideration.
Theory of Change
Having recently undergone a dramatic political transformation, Nepal’s political development is stymied by the lack of trust in the government. Additionally, Nepal is a country fragmented by ethnic, linguistic, caste, and geographic divides. Active participation in both national and local electoral processes is essential to strengthening a common national identity, government legitimacy, and confidence in the political process. If political parties improve their internal structures and become more inclusive, representative organizations, then the citizens of Nepal will be better able to voice their opinions and set local and nationwide political agendas. To that end, CEPPS/NDI builds on its positive working relationships with political party partners to promote and strengthen parties’ internal structures, training capacities, and inclusion of marginalized groups. This work focuses on both single-party and multiparty activities, and requires CEPPS/NDI to coordinate closely with parties to identify and assess each party’s specific needs. The work of the CA/LP – to draft a new constitution and fulfill legislative duties – is slow, as party leaders and government officials remain divided in their legislative priorities and constitution-
2 The Bill for National Reconstruction Authority was passed on December 25, 2015, 8 months after the earthquake.
2 drafting agendas. To combat this, CEPPS/NDI is providing training to youth, and women members of parliament (MPs), to better prepare them for their roles as legislators. CEPPS/NDI also is working with MPs to draft reforms and recommendations for currently tabled bills in an effort to improve laws and increase their effectiveness. Moreover, CEPPS/NDI has organized constituency outreach activities aimed at connecting lawmakers with their constituents, bridging the gap between local concerns and the national political agenda. These activities are critical opportunities for lawmakers to acknowledge their mandates and deliver on their legislative duties. If the ECN is empowered with the professional and technical capacity to adapt to new constitutional provisions, advance consensus-based electoral and political party laws, and assume effective leadership of local elections, then its role as a strong election implementing body will be further institutionalized. The ECN has a critical opportunity to streamline and promote principles of gender equality and citizen inclusion, advancing an electoral environment where citizens’ fundamental rights and freedoms are protected. To that end, CEPPS/IFES provides technical assistance to the ECN in strengthening the democratic legal framework for elections and improving its capacity to manage the electoral process. CEPPS/IFES also will focus on building trust and collaboration between the ECN and CSOs through joint voter education programs. In addition, if civil society members including minority women, youth, Dalits, persons with disabilities, and other marginalized groups are empowered to actively participate in the electoral process, through citizenship certificate acquisition and voter registration, and to be engaged and informed citizens, then they will be in a position to hold elected leaders accountable. Critical Assumptions
There are a number of underlying assumptions that influence the nature, scope and aim of the program. The key assumptions for the program are listed below.
● The security situation remains stable and CEPPS can successfully conduct its programming – including travel throughout the country – without disruption.
● Shortage in fuel supplies does not disrupt the operation of CEPPS and partner offices.
● The government of Nepal (GON) ministries and offices, primarily the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA), the Ministry of Information and Communication (MOIC), the Election Commission of Nepal (ECN), the Parliament Secretariat, and the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) are receptive to assistance from CEPPS, and are willing to engage in the development and implementation of communication strategies.
● The programming environment is not further strained and/or weakened by natural disasters.
• There is broad political consensus on the legitimacy of institutions of government and any upcoming electoral events, including the date and framework for local government elections.
• There is a consistent and determined basis for eligibility to register as a voter.
3 • The ECN continues to be receptive to assistance and cooperation with CEPPS, is active in seeking solutions to challenges that arise under its purview, and will support electoral reform initiatives.
• The ECN is adequately staffed on a consistent basis to work with CEPPS/IFES on program activities and has the overall financial resources to conduct ongoing electoral operations.
● Parliamentary committees are interested and willing to organize committee hearings, field visits and public consultations.
● MPs are interested and willing to engage in constituency outreach activities, and MPs who have constituency offices are interested in receiving assistance to further strengthen their offices. MPs make effective use of the fellows they are assigned and use the latter’s research and analysis to enhance their visibility and increase their impact in parliament.
● Civic groups and the business community remain interested in participating in policy dialogues with youth MPs, and vice-versa.
Objectives
USAID Objective 1: Promote and strengthen broader political processes through political party development assistance.
CEPPS/NDI Objective 1 (NDI): Political parties more effectively contribute to democratic processes in Nepal.
CEPPS/NDI Sub-Objective 1.A: Improve democratic political party organizational structures and operations
CEPPS/NDI Sub-Objective 1.B: Enhance the electoral competitiveness of political parties
USAID Objective 2: Strengthen institutions involved in electoral processes, either as actors or participants.
CEPPS/NDI Objective 2: Civil society initiatives more effectively contribute to transparent electoral and political processes.
CEPPS/NDI Sub-Objective 2.A: Enhance the capacity of civil society to monitor elections and political processes
CEPPS/NDI Sub-Objective 2.B: Strengthen the capacity of media to report on the electoral process
CEPPS/IFES Objective 2: Strengthen institutions involved in electoral processes, either as actors or participants.
4 CEPPS/IFES Sub-Objective 2.B: Strengthen democratic legal framework for elections
CEPPS/IFES Sub-Objective 2.C: Strengthen electoral management capacity of the ECN
CEPPS/IFES Sub-Objective 2.D: Expand and improve delivery of voter and civic education
USAID Objective 3: Improve the democratic functioning of the CA/LP.
CEPPS/NDI Objective 3: The CA/LP more effectively fulfills its democratic functions.
CEPPS/NDI Sub-Objective 3.A: Strengthen the legislative drafting capacity of the legislature
CEPPS/NDI Sub-Objective 3.B: Increase communication between representatives and their constituents
CEPPS/NDI Sub-Objective 4: Strengthen the Government of Nepal’s (GON) capacity to communicate effectively on earthquake relief, recovery and reconstruction efforts.
Political Update Relevant to Program Implementation
During this reporting period, the Government of Nepal’s (GON) Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) began a new census in 14 districts most affected by the earthquake, to gather information about the victims and the extent of damages to property and infrastructure. The goal of this census is to aid the GON in distributing relief to victims and constructing facilities in the hardest-hit areas. During a meeting with the Parliamentary Development Committee, the National Reconstruction Authority’s (NRA’s) chief executive officer (CEO) announced that reconstruction work in all villages and municipalities will begin by April 24, 2016. In addition, due to a lack of sufficient human resources and regulations, the NRA has not been able to carry out its reconstruction and rehabilitation activities efficiently.
Amidst the disturbance by the agitating Madhesh-based parties, Nepal’s Legislature-Parliament (LP) endorsed the first amendment to the constitution of Nepal on January 23, 2016, four months after its promulgation on September 20, 2015. Of the 468 lawmakers who participated in the voting, 461 voted in favor of the constitution Amendment Bill and seven lawmakers voted against it. The seven Madhesh-based parties did not participate in the voting. The Parliament amended three articles of the constitution, including articles related to social justice and the formation of the House of Representatives and the Electoral Constituency Delineation Commission. The amendment decreased the number of ethnic clusters from 17 to 15 while delineating electoral constituencies for the House of Representatives; instead of emphasizing both geography and population, the amendment has made population the primary basis and geography the secondary basis. The United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF) said the Constitution Amendment Bill endorsed by the LP was a progressive step but fell short of addressing their concerns, including redrawing of federal boundaries and the citizenship issues.
In its first post-constitution session, the LP held 44 meetings over 41 working days. Of the 68 bills registered in the Parliament after the second Constituent Assembly (CA) in November 2013, only
5 25 bills were passed. Several bills, which were registered in Parliament in 2014, are still under consideration, including bills on the civil and penal codes, education, and local self-governance. At the request of the parliamentary committees, NDI has been working with the Legislative and Development Committees on the civil and penal codes and local self-governance bills.
After five months, the UDMF stopped its border protests on February 8, 2016, after local residents and businesses pressured the Front to call off the blockades and protests. The opening of the border brought relief to the country, which was reeling under an acute shortage of fuel and other essentials. UDMF leaders asked the government to create an environment conducive for talks and pledged to address the Madhesi parties’ non-political demands, including disbursement of compensation to families of the deceased protesters, martyr status for the movement victims and a withdrawal of charges against arrested protesters. Due to the five-month long border protest and continued strikes, CEPPS/NDI could not conduct its political party and parliamentary programs in the Terai districts.
The timing of local elections continued to be a topic of debate throughout the quarter, with some speculating elections could be held as soon as November 2016 and Deputy Prime Minister, Kamal Thapa, announcing publicly that the government would conduct local elections “soon.” On March 15, the government formed a nine-member commission to delimit local boundaries, including determining the numbers of village councils, municipalities and special, protected and autonomous regions as specified in Article 295 (3) of the constitution. In the meantime, the ECN began the process of drafting eight electoral laws—four new laws and four revised laws, including revision of the Local Bodies Election Procedure Act—based on provisions in the new constitution.
An ongoing dispute between the Nepali Congress (NC) and the Community Party of Nepal Unified Marxist-Leninist (CPN-UML) over the size of the parliamentary hearing committee prevented confirmation of Dr. Ayodhi Prasad Yadav as Chief Election Commissioner. Dr. Yadav has been serving as Acting Chief Election Commissioner since the retirement of Dolakh Bahadur Gurung, and his nomination as Chief Election Commissioner was first submitted in December 2015. His nomination, while seen as uncontroversial, was returned to the Constitutional Council along with other controversial nominations of members to the judicial council and will need to be resubmitted.
On March 3, the 13th general convention of the Nepali Congress (NC) formally began in Kathmandu. During the convention, based on the party’s workshop with CEPPS/NDI, the party restructured its central working committee, approving the provision to elect two members from each province, and included in its party policy how to develop strategies of capacity building activities targeting women and Dalits to increase inclusivity.
Key Activities this Quarter
• CEPPS/IFES provided local legal expertise to the ECN to develop first drafts of the Election Commission Act, Voter Registration Act and the President and Vice-President Election Act, while also holding stakeholder consultation meetings on the draft Political Party Law to solicit feedback and suggestions.
6 • CEPPS/IFES analyzed the impact of electoral provisions in the new Constitution on the ECN’s structure, function and duties; developed a sequencing timeline for local elections based on requirements outlined in the Constitution; and updated its factsheet clarifying the election process and the functions and structure of elected bodies at the federal, provincial, and local levels of government.
• CEPPS/IFES held trainings, workshops, and orientation programs to build the capacity of the ECN and DEO staff and key election stakeholders, including activities focused on political finance, election dispute resolution, electoral legal framework, gender and disability mainstreaming, voter registration, electoral education and voter education and outreach.
• CEPPS/IFES engaged civil society organizations and networks—including its four CSO voter education sub-awardees; Civic Initiative Centers focused on promoting Constitutional Literacy; 120 Community Advocacy Forums (CAFs) to promote inclusion of persons with disabilities in the electoral process; and the National Voters’ Rights Forum (NVRF)—to provide voter education and outreach on electoral processes and the impact of the new constitution.
● Through its political party program, CEPPS/NDI supported the Nepali Congress (NC) in organizing training sessions for its party leaders in Morang, Kaski, and Dang districts. In coordination with the Future Leadership Academy (FLA)3, CEPPS/NDI organized a district-level youth and policy development training session in Dhanusha district. Fifty- seven local youth engaged in discussion on the role of youth in political parties. CEPPS/NDI supported the multiparty women wings of its six political party partners (NC, CPN-UML, United Communist Party of Nepal – Maoist (UCPN-M), Rastriya Prajatantra Party – Nepal (RPP-N), Madheshi Janadhikar Forum Nepal – Democratic (MJFN-D) and Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP)) to engage in discussion sessions on the new constitution and women’s rights in Sunsari and Makwanpur districts.
● All four CEPPS/NDI civil society program subgrantees – Federation for Good Governance (FEG-Nepal), Forum for Women, Law and Development (FWLD), Justice for All (J4A) and the National Election Observation Committee (NEOC) completed their data gathering from the field for their monitoring projects. Three of the CSO subgrantees who are monitoring reconstruction efforts held two press conferences, in January and in March, where they issued their findings. CEPPS/NDI conducted a training on budget analysis and tracking with 13 representatives from various civil society organizations.
● CEPPS/NDI provided technical assistance to the LP’s Industry, Commerce and Consumer Welfare Relations Committee to hold a hearing on the Industrial Enterprises Act with the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI). In addition, CEPPS/NDI also supported the committee in organizing a roundtable discussion on its oversight and monitoring Role in the current black market situation. CEPPS/NDI supported the LP’s Good Governance and Monitoring Committee to hold a national conference
3 The Future Leadership Academy (FLA) has served as a way to introduce young party members to democratic values and to help them develop cross-party relationships.
7 called, “The Role of State and Non State Actors in Promoting Good Governance and Nation Building," which was opened and closed by two deputy prime ministers. The 180 participants included representatives from government, parliament, political parties, and civil society.
● CEPPS/NDI communication expert Bernie Campbell, in coordination with the Communications Working Group for the NRA, drafted a communications and outreach strategy for the latter. This document is currently in draft form and is awaiting final review and subsequent approval from the NRA.
Key Results/Achievements
• Through CEPPS/IFES’ technical support, three election-related laws were drafted and submitted to the ECN during this quarter. These consisted of the Election Commission Act, Voter Registration Act, and the President and Vice-President Election Act.
• CEPPS/IFES increased the knowledge of 320 electoral officials (37 women) during this quarter through a series of trainings and workshops, including a BRIDGE training on Access to the Electoral Process; a BRIDGE training on political finance; a Master Training- of-Trainers on voter registration; electoral education training, and trainings on proportional representation systems; election dispute resolution; and legal drafting from a gender and inclusion perspective. An additional 500 stakeholders participated in a total of six public sessions on Nepal’s legal framework, facilitated by national and international experts, including sessions on the political party bill, electoral provisions in the new Constitution, the urgency and preconditions of local elections in Nepal, election dispute resolution, and political finance.
• CEPPS/IFES and its partner CSOs provided civic and voter education to a total of 22,298 people (11,547 women and 859 persons with disabilities). Among this group, 2,315 people (1,279 women and 37 persons with disabilities) obtained their citizenship certificate and 11,069 people (5,201 women and 157 persons with disabilities) registered to vote with the direct support of CEPPS/IFES partner CSOs.
• Through CEPPS/NDI support, the parliamentary Good Governance and Monitoring Committee took the lead on the organization of a national conference with government and civil society representatives to discuss the role and responsibilities of state and non-state actors, and put the questions of the review of the civil society legal framework on the national agenda.
● A total of 234 NC activists comprising district presidents, general convention members, and senior leaders from Morang, Kaski and Dang received technical knowledge and skills on presenting policy papers during the party’s national convention held from March 3 to 6, 2016. Following the multiparty women wings training sessions in the districts of Sunsari and Makwanpur, issues related to health and education were identified as core issues by district level women participants. The multiparty women working committee is currently organizing a series of meetings at the national level with the education and health ministries
8 to facilitate discussion with women policy makers and representatives from the public. A total of 57 youth leaders representing eleven political parties (NC, CPN-UML, UCPN-M, MJFN-D, Terai Madhesh Loktantrik Party (TMDP), RPP, Nepal Madhes Socialist Party (NMSP), Communist Party of Nepal – Marxist-Leninist (CPN-ML), Madhesi Janadhikar Forum – Nepal (MJF-N), Sadbhawana Party (SP) and Federal Socialist Party – Nepal (FSP- Nepal)) received technical skills and knowledge to identify issues relevant to youth using the questionnaire/survey focusing on Dhanusha district’s youth.
● The monitoring activities that the four subgrantees have carried out in the three months of this reporting period, with the assistance and guidance provided to them by NDI, have been a unique experience for the CSO subgrantees and have provided them with increased capacity to conduct monitoring of the reconstruction process. They have each learned what monitoring techniques work best in the context of Nepal and how to use monitoring tools they were trained in during the last quarter. These organizations had the chance to administer their monitoring questionnaires in the field with their target groups and now are being guided on how to analyze the data. In all, 39 monitors (17 women) in eight districts have been conducting monitoring activities and the NDI team has supervised and offered guidance to improve their monitoring of their chosen political process, whether it be earthquake reconstruction process or the constituency development programs.
● With CEPPS/NDI’s support, the Committee on Industry, Commerce and Consumer Welfare Relations organized six hearings with concerned stakeholders and collected recommendations on the Industrial Enterprises Act (Amendment Bill). Out of 11 parliamentarians who proposed amendments on the bill, nine were the members of the Industry, Commerce and Consumer Welfare Relations committee itself. CEPPS/NDI’s support to the LP’s Committee on Good Governance and Monitoring generated interest among stakeholders to promote policy changes that would provide space for non-state actors. In addition, the sub-committee created to prepare and organize the conference converted into a permanent steering committee to build synergy between state and non- state actors, and encourage a more enabling environment for CSOs through a review of the relevant regulatory framework.
Constraints
● Three of the CEPPS/NDI subgrantees’ (FWLD, J4A and NEOC) project objectives are to monitor different aspects of the reconstruction process. However, due to the delay in commencement of the reconstruction process (now scheduled to begin in April 2016), all three CSOs have had to refocus their projects to monitor the preparations for the reconstruction and activities preceding the reconstruction.
Challenges • Three election commissioner positions remain vacant, limiting the capacity of the ECN to make high level decisions and oversee operations in all departments.
9 ● The continued agitation of the UDMF, an alliance of four Madhesh based parties4, the unofficial blockade imposed by India and subsequent fuel shortages have been the main challenges during this quarter. Travel, particularly in the districts outside Kathmandu, was hampered and CEPPS partners had to reschedule activities from January to February and March.
● Frequent transfer of bureaucrats in some of the CEPPS/NDI subgrantees’ target districts proved to be another challenge. For instance, the chief district officer (CDO) of Gorkha was changed twice in this quarter; subgrantee FWLD had to hold several levels of meetings with the new CDOs each time they were appointed in order to brief them about the activities. In addition, they also had to postpone some district level activities which required the participation of the CDO.
● While NRA has lacked a core set of staff, multiple agencies and donors have extended support to the NRA through their own experts and staff. This has posed several challenges. First, the NRA lacks a concrete communication team of its own, which CEPPS/NDI could coordinate with and extend capacity building support to as previously envisioned. In addition, due to different individuals seconded or appointed by different organizations reporting to their own organizations and not to a single structure within the NRA, there is a lack of coordination which makes it very difficult to offer and coordinate support. An example is that the newly appointed United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) media and press advisor to NRA is not interested in taking forward the work that was done on the communication and outreach strategy before he joined NRA. In the absence of this key communication personnel’s interest and ownership of the strategy, its finalization has been stalled this quarter.
Lessons Learned
● While monitoring political processes, the speed of progress and development of the process is not in the hands of the monitoring group and is often subject to disruptions caused by political developments, among other things. Understanding this, it has become very important to maintain flexibility of the programs and be ready for quick logistic and programmatic changes.
● Since the promulgation of the constitution, CEPPS/IFES’ interactions with its varied network of electoral stakeholders has demonstrated the need for clarity about what the constitution says regarding elections. Uncertainty regarding the legal basis for local elections left many stakeholders unsure of their role in commenting on the likelihood of local elections or advocating for their implementation as a necessary part of Nepal’s democratic transition. In consultation with local and international legal experts, CEPPS/IFES has produced legal analysis of the electoral provisions in the constitution that has been adapted for dissemination to different audiences. Civil society organizations have used this material to organize two interactions led by legal experts, which resulted in a decision to develop an advocacy plan for engaging political parties on the urgency of local
4 Federal Socialist Forum Nepal, Sadhbhawana Party, Tarai Madhesh Democratic Party and Sadhbhawana Party- Nepal.
10 elections. This analysis, along with CEPPS/IFES supported trainings on the new constitution and proportional representation, has also highlighted areas of the Constitution that need to be clarified by the laws and specifications in the Constitution by which these laws must abide. While stalled and opaque political processes continue to be a challenge for both civil society and the ECN achieving their goals, these electoral stakeholders have begun to speak out against stagnation with renewed confidence this quarter. Through its legal analysis and trainings, CEPPS/IFES will continue to contribute to the empowerment of the ECN and members of civil society so they can better advocate for adherence to the rule of law and transparency in political decision making.
II. ACTIVITY IMPLEMENTATION
Activities
USAID Objective 1: Promote and strengthen broader political processes through political party development assistance
CEPPS/NDI OBJECTIVE 1: Political parties more effectively contribute to democratic processes in Nepal
CEPPS/NDI Sub-Objective 1.A: Improve Intermediate Result 1.1: Political parties are democratic political party organizational more representative of Nepali citizens. structures and operations. Intermediate Result 1.4: Political parties are better prepared to adapt and comply with the new legal framework regulating political parties.
Strengthening Local Party Branches with a Focus on Citizen Based Policy Development
No activities this quarter.
Development of Citizens’ Questionnaire and Membership Questionnaire in Political Parties
11 No activities this quarter.
Single-Party District/Province Level Preparatory Consultations
No activities this quarter.
Single-Party District/Province Training Sessions
Support to Provincial Training on Policy Development and Party Statutes: Nepali Congress CEPPS/NDI supported NC’s Central Policy Training Summary of participants in CEPPS/NDI Q2 Single Party Trainings. Academy (CPTA) by conducting training sessions on policy development and statutes in Morang, Kaski and Dang. A total of 234 party members (see Table 1) including district presidents and general convention members attended the training. The first training occurred on January 8 and 9 in Biratnagar, Morang, with 80 participants (29 women); the second on January 13 and 14 in Pokhara, Kaski with 75 participants (30 women); and the final on January 17 and 18 in Ghorahi, Dang, with 79 participants (24 women). “To end social injustice, Nepali Congress’s policy should be clear and Topics during the two-day training session included: the free from any gender inequality, salient features of the constitution of Nepal; social justice in religious discrimination, ethnic the new constitution; NC policy development processes; and discrimination and geographical party statutes, rules, and regulations. The training also discrimination, the workshop provided me opportunity to discuss on it." focused on collection of suggestions on party policy and amendment of constitution. More than 500 party cadres, - Tej Ram Chaudhary, NC Constituency including CPTA president Ram Chandra Poudel, attended President, Kailali the opening session.
Following these workshops, NC identified key issues, such as improved internal democracy and transformation, party structure, inclusion and decentralized process, Senior leaders and participants during the training. ensured transparency and accountability, management of party structure, and party’s reformation issues related to political, social, and economic policy. The Statute Review, Policy, and Program Committee developed a
12 proposal based on these issues and presented it during the 13th National Convention from March 3 to 6, 2016.
Support to Regional Workshop on Leadership Development, Use of Technology and Local Election Preparation Training: Rastriya Prajantra Party (RPP)
From January 11 to 14, CEPPS/NDI supported RPP’s training department to organize two regional training sessions for 114 district chairs and secretaries Participants and Secretary General (third from the right) during and women leaders from central the workshop. and eastern regions. 55 participants (8 women) attended the January 11-14 event in the central region, while 59 participants (19 women) attended the February 11-14 program in the eastern region. Party chairman Lokendra Bahadur Chand inaugurated the program, discussed the party’s internal policies, and encouraged participants to start a campaign for strengthening the local party branches. During the three-day workshop, participants discussed party ideology, party organization development and local elections preparation, office operation/note, meeting preparations and membership development, leadership, internal and external communication, and role of information technology in party organizational development. District presidents and secretaries created their own email accounts.
Following the regional training, the party formed a district-level training unit and appointed district level training coordinators in 19 districts. The party also initiated internal communication through email.
Single-Party Workshop in Dhading: RPP “The training imparted opportunity to be more educated on constitution and develop local strategies for strengthening From February 24 to 25, CEPPS/NDI supported RPP to local organizations. We will begin to organize a district-level training for 46 local leaders implement party’s strategies on it.” (including six women) from Dhading. Party Secretary - Dil Bahadur Tamang, RPP Acting General Buddhiman Tamang discussed the party’s District President, Dhading internal policies, and encouraged participants to start a campaign to strengthening the local party branches and prepare for local elections. Topics included: salient features of the 2016 constitution, state restructuring and provisions relating to party ideology and development. The party appointed a training coordinator and will organize constituency-level training focusing on the preparation of local elections. CEPPS/NDI will follow-up with the party for local-level activities.
Support to Provincial Level Training: Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-Maoist)
From February 19 to 20, CEPPS/NDI supported the UCPN-Maoist provincial-level training session in Dhangadi, Kailali. Sixty-nine women participants from nine districts attended the training. UCPN-M politburo member Lekhraj Bhatta inaugurated the program, stating that the
13 party has taken the initiative to increase women’s participation targeting the next elections. During the two-day training, topics included: salient features of the 2016 constitution, leadership and communication skills, and preparations for local elections. The training also focused on the collection of branch assessments forms to gauge how the branch office functions at the district level. At the end of the training, participants created an action plan to support women’s membership in the party and increase women’s representation in village development committees. CEPPS/NDI will follow up with the party to track the initiatives for implementation of these action points.
Single Party District Level Training with the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist– Leninist): CPN-UML
From February 28 to 29, CEPPS/NDI supported the CPN-UML in organizing a two-day single- party district-level training at Chautara, Sindhupalchowk. A total of 46 local youth leaders participated in the training. Hon. Sher Bahadur Tamang inaugurated the training session and discussed ways to move forward the agenda on youth federation in party politics. Youth wing general secretary Kiran Poudel highlighted how youth can play a more significant role within the party. The topics discussed during the training included: youth leadership development and communication, party ideology, policy and structure, and youth wing strategies for moving forward.
During the training, participants developed action points including identifying roles of youth leaders in reconstruction and rehabilitation processes and in organizing meetings with local organizations to mobilize youth in identifying local political issues of the party.
Support on Key Areas of Focus for Reforming Party Statute and Policy: Targeting the National Convention, Madhesi Jana-Adhikar Forum Nepal –Democratic (MJFN-D)
On March 27, CEPPS/NDI supported MJFN-D in organizing an interactive workshop and discussion on key areas of focus for reforming party statute and policy with representatives from district committee chairs, party statute drafting committee, and party sister organizations, including its women, youth and student wings. A total of 86 (including 9 women) party members from 47 districts attended a day-long workshop. Party president Hon. Bijaya Kumar Gachhadar discussed the need to Party president welcoming consider key internal reform issues, whereas advocate Sunil party cadres during the Ranjan Singh presented on how to strategize party organization workshop. according to the new constitution. Topics included party statutes, acts and regulations, strengthening internal party democracy, and inclusion of youth, women, and marginalized communities.
The participants provided their inputs to develop party’s policy focusing on internal democracy, accountability, transparency and inclusion. The issues will be included in the draft policy document and tabulated to the National Convention Committee to be presented during the party’s
14 first national convention, scheduled for May 2 to 4, 2016, in Biratnagar. CEPPS/NDI will closely follow up with the party during the convention.
Ongoing National and Regional/Provincial Consultations and Workshops with Political Parties
Meetings with Political Parties
CEPPS/NDI held a series of meetings with its political party partners (see Table 1) to discuss the current political situation, party needs and CEPPS/NDI’s technical support to address these needs in the next quarter.
Table 1: CEPPS/NDI Meetings with Political Parties, January-March 2016
Date Contact/Party Topics Discussed
January 21 Bhuban Pathak, RPP, - discussion on agenda, possible resource Training Department Head persons and timeline for regional training with RPP. - the current political situation and possible district activities with technical support from CEPPS/NDI.
February 4 Satya Pahadi, UCPN-M - discussion on agenda, potential resource Training Department persons and timeline for provincial training with UCPN-M. - roles and responsibilities of in-charge, in times of crisis, how to move forward (especially when party splits), how to retain members and record keeping. - database membership, using new technology training to ICT and secretariat staff.
February 12 Hon. Sushil Kumar - parties’ needs and CEPPS/NDI’s support to Shrestha, RPP-N Training address these needs and plan future activities Department focusing on building local party organization and nomination processes. - discussion on consultation meeting for dialogue committee of RPP and RPP-N on merger process. - ICT training for the district chairs, secretaries and treasurers of 25 districts.
15 - district level training for Dalits and women to enhance the leadership skills and prepare them for local elections.
February 15 Madhu Acharya, NC - discussion of ICT tools assessment. CPTA Executive Director; - current political situation and party’s Dr. Kamal Rijal, NC strategies to present party policy during the CPTA Director 13th national convention.
February 22 Hon. Krishna Bahadur - current political situation, party’s needs and Mahara, UCPN-M General CEPPS/NDI’s support to address these needs. Secretary; Kamala Roka, - discussion on women-focused single party UCPN-M Politburo activities in the provincial level training by Member UCPN-M.
March 16 Bhartendu Mallik, MJFN- - current political situation, parties’ needs D Training Department targeting upcoming national convention and Head CEPPS/NDI’s support to address these needs and plan future activities.
Ongoing Support to Party National Secretariat
No activities this quarter.
Future Leadership Academy (FLA)
Meeting with Future Leadership Academy (FLA) ad hoc Working Committee
During this quarter, CEPPS/NDI held several meetings with the FLA Working Committee to discuss activities in collaboration with FLA on youth political issues (see Table 2) and development of the national youth agenda for advocacy. As the district-level youth and policy development training is completed, FLA will discuss key results of survey questionnaires fielded during trainings and broaden discussions on future strategies.
Table 4: Meeting with Future Leadership Academy (FLA) ad hoc Working Committee
Date Topics Discussed
February 17 - review district level youth and policy development activities conducted in past few months; - brainstorm further activities that could be done in collaboration with FLA; and - current political affairs, needs of FLA and programmatic strategies to address these needs.
16 March 18 - plan FLA youth and policy development training in Terai district, finalize agenda and allocate responsibility among FLA members; and - discuss and identify issues to be included in a national FLA workshop.
FLA Working Committee
No activities this quarter.
National FLA Workshop
No activities this quarter.
Youth and Policy Development Training at the District Level Participants engaging in discussion and fielding questionnaire with a young police officer during the workshop. Future Leadership Academy Youth and Policy Development Training in Dhanusha
In collaboration with the FLA, from March 28 to 29, CEPPS/NDI organized a district-level youth and policy development training for 57 youth representing 11 political parties’ (NC, CPN-UML, “The training provided a platform to discuss on youth agenda for Madhesi youth UCPN-M, RPP-N, RPP, MJFN-D, TMDP, FSF-N, SP, of eleven political parties for the first time CPN-ML and NMSP) district youth party organizations. in Dhanusha and facilitated to develop Discussion topics included: youth leadership inter-party youth cooperation on local development, role of youth in political parties, youth issues.” participation policy, advocacy, inter party youth cooperation, youth networking and team building. The -Vijeta Jha, MJFN-D training introduced the use of a youth questionnaire as a tool to collect information from ordinary youth. The participants asked youth to fill in questionnaires and CEPPS/NDI assisted them in analyzing the results, which enabled the youth participants to identify local youth issues in their districts. The survey identified unemployment, lack of access in education and drug addiction as the main issues faced by youth. The training ended with the plan to establish an informal youth network to better address youth issues. CEPPS/NDI will follow up with in cooperation with the national FLA members to mentor and support the local youth parties with additional technical assistance.
Strengthen the Role of Women in Political Parties
No activities this quarter.
Women’s Wing Working Committee
Support to Women’s Wings
Political Party Women Wings Working Committee Meeting
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During this quarter, CEPPS/NDI held a series of meetings with its political party women wings working committee (see Table 3) to discuss activities with political party women wings, develop national strategies for developing a joint national platform for women and strategize the issues of women wings.
Table 3: CEPPS/NDI Meetings with Multiparty Women Wings Members, January- March 2016
Date Topics Discussed
January 5 - schedule consultation meetings and follow-up discussions with the ECN and Ministries of Health and Education on policy documents and workshops. - develop timeline of Joint National Women Political Platform.
January 12 - preparation for a workshop on advocacy for women-related policy issues with relevant stakeholders. - plan workshop with CEPPS/NDI women’s political participation expert Elizabeth Weir on advocacy tips and international best practices on how women from other countries have advocated issues with relevant stakeholders, including the ECN, to provide skills on ways to effectively advocate for their issues.
February 5 - solicit feedback from members on the session with the director general of Health Department Services and finalize activities related to district-level training in Sunsari and Makwanpur.
February 17 - provide update on the progress of a joint national women’s political platform. - brief about the meeting held with senior advocate Sapna Pradhan Malla and how the members are trying to reach out to Election Commissioner Hon. Ela Sharma to get her feedback on the draft party law. - schedule a meeting with the ECN to receive feedback on the draft political party law. - debrief on the leadership trainings recently held in Sunsari and Makwanpur districts and discuss possible follow-up activities in eight districts.
March 16 - provide update on the briefing session on the draft party law held with the ECN. - discuss suggestions and recommendations on the draft party law submitted to the ECN on March 18.
18 March 21 - briefing session on the National Planning Commission (NPC) policies and programs on health and education and the 13th plan on gender equality and women empowerment. - develop strategies by women wings working committee members for NPC policies and programs to be submitted to NPC.
March 30 - finalize suggestions and recommendations to the NPC. - update on the briefing session on education scheduled for April 1, 2016.
National Women’s Wing Workshop
Multiparty Women Wings Training on the Use of Survey Questionnaires for Better Policy
On January 6, CEPPS/NDI, in collaboration with the multiparty women wings working committee, held a discussion on the use of survey questionnaires for better policy with female district working committee members of Lalitpur, Bhaktapur and Kavrepalnchowk. CEPPS/NDI representatives provided an Participants at the survey orientation to district committee members on the use and workshop. importance of citizen survey questionnaires to identify major issues and challenges and shared the survey findings from Dhading, Nuwakot and Sindhupalchowk. The district committee members also shared their experiences on how they could utilize the questionnaire in identifying women’s political issues. Participants reflected on experiences and activities executed at the district level and requested that CEPPS/NDI support district and constituency level trainings to prepare more women for local elections and to make them aware of the rights guaranteed in the new constitution.
Workshop on Effective Advocacy with the Multiparty Women Wings Working Committee Members
On January 18, CEPPS/NDI organized an advocacy workshop for the multiparty women wings working committee members. Elizabeth Weir, former Legislative Assembly member of New Brunswick, Canada, conducted this workshop. A total of 17 members from six political parties attended the session. Weir shared different approaches to effective advocacy efforts, skills which she emphasized can be learnt and applied by the participants. She stressed that effective advocacy skills include advance preparation and shared examples of how women from other countries have advocated for their issues with relevant stakeholders and how to conduct public outreach.
Workshop on Increasing the Participation of Women inside Political Parties and Parliaments Participants and Elizabeth Weir during the workshop.
19 On January 23, CEPPS/NDI organized a multiparty women wings working committee workshop on increasing the participation of women inside political parties and parliaments. CEPPS/NDI consultant Elizabeth Weir led the session. A total of 11 members from six political parties attended the session. Weir explained why gender equality should be a priority for political parties and what political parties can do to increase women’s participation within political parties and parliaments. She provided examples from a number of countries to illustrate how the political and electoral laws can include provisions to enhance women’s political and electoral participation.
The discussion during the workshop focused on measures to increase gender equality in political parties and parliaments, including developing action plans for gender equality, measuring success when accomplished, and planning ahead. Weir also highlighted international pledges for gender equality adopted by different countries such as South Africa, East Timor, India, and their adaption of varied approaches for amending their party statute/constitution to increase women’s participation in leadership and decision-making positions.
Political Party Women Wings’ Working Committee Engaged in Briefing Session with the Director General of Health Department Services
On January 29, CEPPS/NDI helped organize a briefing session on the government’s health programs and policies between the multiparty women wings’ working committee members and Dr. Pushpa Chaudhary, director general of the Department of Health Services in Kathmandu. A total of 11 members from six multiparty women wings’ working committees attended the session. The main objective of the session was to solicit information on the government’s policies and programs on women’s health. Health issues were identified as one of the major concerns in the findings from a series of questionnaires distributed by the multiparty women wings’ working committee. Dr. Chaudhary presented the National Health Policy 2071, Nepal Health Sector Strategy 2015-2020, and programs related to gender based violence (GBV). Dr. Chaudhary reiterated that maternal mortality and midwifery education remain top priorities of the government.
Briefing Session on Draft Political Party Law with the Election Commission of Nepal (ECN)
On March 11, CEPPS/NDI supported the multiparty women wings’ working committee in organizing a briefing session on the draft political party law. A total of 36 participants from six political partners attended the session. Hon. Ayodhi Prasad Yadav, acting chief election commissioner, inaugurated the session. Hon. Yadav reiterated that without women’s representation, democracy cannot flourish and acknowledged the contribution made by women wings in political parties. In her welcome remarks, Hon. Ila Sharma Panelists at the ECN briefing session. stated that women should not be treated as voters only.
ECN undersecretary Sushil Koirala presented on topics of the draft party law, including provisions related to party structures, financial accountability, and state funding for parties. ECN representative Santosh Bhandari discussed the findings on the draft party law held earlier with political parties and the Nepal Bar Association. Following the briefing session, the women wings’
20 members submitted their recommendations and feedback to the ECN on March 18; the draft party law is to be presented in the upcoming LP.
Strengthening Women Political Leaders at the District Level
Support to Multiparty Women Wings’ Working Committee Leadership Training
In February 2016, CEPPS/NDI supported multiparty women wings’ working committee leadership training sessions in This training is very useful and Sunsari (61 participants) and Makwanpur (61 participants) informative; I have never received this kind of training in my life. Trainers/facilitators for a total of 122 women leaders from six political parties motivated me to continue to work in (NC, CPN-UML, UCPN-M, RPP-N, MJFN-D and RPP). politics. We have very less opportunity to CEPPS/NDI-trained national women leaders led the receive these kinds of trainings in district. sessions whereby the participants were engaged in So, I would like to request the organizer to discussions related to women’s challenges and their organize these kinds of trainings more frequently for women in order to be solutions in the district, women’s rights in the new prepared for upcoming local election.” constitution, preparations for local elections and women’s representation. Part of the training was to introduce women – Suntali Chepang, CPN-UML, leaders to the use of questionnaire surveys as a tool to collect Makwanpur information on the main issues and challenges affecting women in the district. The survey results highlighted unemployment, price hike, domestic violence and health as the main issues in the district. The results of the questionnaires will be used by women leaders to develop messages to be raised at the district and national levels.
Local women leaders were moved by the training and said that no other government agencies or political parties had educated them on the new constitution like the women wings had, and that women can play a crucial role. The women leaders reiterated that during the local election they will work with the strategy provided during the session on local election and women’s representation. Participants agreed to continue to advocate for women's issues and discussed ways to target women and youth for future elections. At the end of the training session, the women wings working committee formed a district-level committee to facilitate joint actions at the district level in order to advocate for women’s rights and issues and advocate for and between district and national level leaders.
Ongoing Inter Party Cooperation/Multiparty Workshops at National and District/Provincial Levels
No activities this quarter.
CEPPS/NDI Sub-Objective 1.B: Enhance the Intermediate Result 1.2: Political parties in electoral competitiveness of political parties. Nepal more effectively implement competitive electoral campaigns.
Intermediate Result 1.3: Citizens have more information and analysis on the policy differences across political parties in Nepal.
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Party Dialogue and Training for Party Agents
No activities this quarter.
Local Candidate Debates
No activities this quarter.
Voter Registration and Education
No activities this quarter.
Women’s Candidate Training
No activities this quarter.
USAID Objective 2: Strengthen institutions involved in electoral processes, either as actors or as participants.
CEPPS/NDI OBJECTIVE 2: Civil society initiatives more effectively contribute to transparent electoral and political processes.
CEPPS/NDI Sub-Objective 2.A: Enhance the Intermediate Result 2.1: Non-partisan election capacity of civil society to monitor elections and monitoring efforts are more comprehensive political processes. and systematic.
Intermediate Result 2.2: CSOs effectively advocate relevant stakeholders on issues identified through monitoring
Political Process Monitoring
In this reporting period, all four CEPPS/NDI CSO subgrantees –FEG-Nepal, J4A, FWLD and the NEOC – began their monitoring activities in the targeted districts of Dhading, Dolakha, Gorkha, Kaski, Kathmandu, Rasuwa, Sindhupalchowk and Sunsari.
FEG-Nepal conducted an introductory meeting in each of its nine targeted constituencies of three districts - Kaski, Sindhupalchowk and Sunsari - while FWLD, J4A and NEOC conducted one in each of their target districts, as planned for this quarter. CEPPS/NDI traveled to the districts of Dolakha, Sindhupalchowk, Gorkha, Kaski and Sunsari to observe some of the subgrantees’ meetings to ensure that they were conducted in the manner as planned, and to meet with monitors on the field to review progress. The purpose of these meetings was to get an update from the district monitors about their work in the field and discuss any challenges or pertinent issues in order to make necessary programmatic changes if needed, and to inform future programming.
22 NDI also used this opportunity to meet with local officials such as the CDO and Village Development Committee (VDC)secretaries, and representatives of local NGOs in these districts. The meetings with the government officials were aimed at explaining the role of NDI and its partners in the districts, assuring them of the supportive role that CSOs can play in the reconstruction process, and getting their input on what role they think CSOs should play.
Monitoring of Post-Earthquake Governance and Accountability
Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and Key Informant Interviews (KIIs)
In this reporting period, NDI subgrantee NEOC conducted 15 FGDs in different VDCs and municipalities of their monitoring districts in Gorkha, Dolakha and Sindhupalchowk with earthquake affected people, local government officials, local A participant of FGD in Lamidada VDC of political party leaders, related stakeholders and Dolakha district expressing his concerns. representatives of civil society. These FGDs are part of NEOC’s work on monitoring the post-earthquake reconstruction process in Nepal. The focus of the FGDs was to meet with the disaster survivors, affected communities and concerned agencies and get their views on the responsiveness of the reconstruction process to their needs and demands, transparency in the process, accountability of the implementing local bodies and government officials and methods of handling grievances, if any. In total, 526 participants (135 women) attended the 15 FGDs.
Similarly, NEOC also conducted two KIIs in Sindhupalchowk and Kathmandu districts to gather more information on the relief and reconstruction process after the earthquake. The interviews in Sindhupalchowk and Kathmandu were with earthquake victims and the NRA secretary respectively.
Central-Level Consultation
On January 14, 2016, CEPPS/NDI subgrantee NEOC conducted a central-level consultation meeting in Kathmandu, where 31 participants (10 women) discussed ways to move forward for rebuilding Nepal. Several eminent persons representing various institutions including government and civil society gave their input. Relevant issues like transparency, accountability, inclusiveness, and gender, were discussed during the meeting. District President of NGO Federation, District-level Consultation Dolakha, Mr. Dharmendra Moktan speaking in the consultation meeting. In this reporting period, CEPPS/NDI subgrantee NEOC organized three district-level consultation meetings in Sindhupalchowk (43 participants, including
23 14 women), Dolakha (32 participants, including 3 women) and Gorkha (26 participants, including 2 women) with government officials, CSO representatives, earthquake affected victims, leaders of political parties and others. The discussion was based on the key findings from the desk review conducted by the organizations over two months, on the reconstruction process, in addition to findings from FGDs and KIIs. The focus of the discussion was on the role of government agencies and CSOs in the reconstruction process, situation of the affected population, challenges of reconstruction, level of coordination among relevant stakeholders and role of the media.
Meeting with the National Reconstruction Authority
On March 17, CEPPS/NDI subgrantee NEOC conducted a meeting with NRA Secretary Madhu Sudan Adhikari and CEO Sushil Gyawali. During the meeting, they discussed NRA's scope of work and coordination, monitoring facilities and oversight. According to the secretary and the CEO of NRA, approximately 415 settlements have been found geographically at risk, which present a challenge for relocation due to various factors such as habitat issues, sentiments, values and resources.
NEOC was informed about the distribution of two hundred thousand rupees as grant for the affected victims, and an additional one hundred thousand rupees that could be provided to the affected with 2 percent interest. NEOC conveyed to the NRA that the immediate need of victims is house reconstruction and that there has been a lack of readiness on officials’ part in certain VDCs and municipalities in addressing some of the concerns of affected citizens.
NEOC also conveyed the improper coordination among officials due to political affiliation and that information dissemination at the local level seems weak, and in dispute. The NRA officials expressed their agreement with NEOC that there is an immediate need for local elections to stimulate local functions from the grass root level. NRA secretary indicated that he believed that if these elections were held, 80 percent of their work would be completed in the planned timeframe.
Gender and Social Inclusion Monitoring of Post-Earthquake Relief and Reconstruction
Orientation to District Monitors
On February 1, FWLD and J4A jointly organized an orientation for their respective district monitors and provided them with guidelines on developing questionnaires for FGDs, KIIs and surveys in the field. A total of 12 district monitoring officers (six each from FWLD and J4A) attended (seven male and five female).
District-Level Introductory Meeting
During this reporting period, CEPPS/NDI subgrantee FWLD organized three information sharing meetings in Gorkha (January 19, 28 participants, seven women), Dhading (January 22, 34 participants, five women) and Rasuwa (January 26, 28 participants, eight women). The discussions with various community leaders and district public officials focused on the key observations of the organization’s desk review conducted over two months on the reconstruction process. During this meeting the participants highlighted areas of concern such as lack of clear central-level policies on
24 reconstruction, marginalization of landless people from the process of acquiring earthquake affected ID cards, necessary to access benefits, and issues arising from the lack of clarity on the definition of ‘household,’ which is the basis of the ID card.
District-Level Consultation
In this reporting period, CEPPS/NDI subgrantee J4A organized district-level consultation/meeting with various community leaders and public officials in the districts of Dolakha (January 9, 28 participants, eight women), Sindhupalchowk (January 12, 28 participants, 10 women) and Kathmandu (January 22, 36 participants, seven women), respectively. The discussion was based on the key observations from the desk review conducted over two President of the District Disabled Association speaking in the introductory months on various documents, media coverage and meeting in Sindhupalchowk. policies related to the reconstruction process. During this meeting the participants highlighted areas of concern such as marginalization of women and other groups from the reconstruction process starting with the issuance of the earthquake victim ID cards and the areas where civil society could help in this process, such as assisting the government in spreading awareness about the government programs related to reconstruction.
FGDs and KIIs - FWLD
In this reporting period, CEPPS/NDI subgrantee FWLD conducted nine FGDs in selected monitoring districts of Gorkha, Rasuwa and Dhading. The discussion was based on the issue of earthquake affected victims’ identity cards, and services and facilities provided by the government to key government officials, earthquake affected victims and civil society representatives. Overall, 104 participants (61 women) attended the meetings.
Similarly, during this reporting period, FWLD conducted six KIIs in Gorkha. The KIIs were used to focus on getting qualitative information on the service delivery status, any complaints received from right holders and level of satisfaction of the duty bearers. Close and open ended questionnaires were used to conduct interviews with key stakeholders such as Chief District Officers, Local Development Officer, District Education officer, Chief of Water Supply, Women Development Officer, District Health Officer, Police, Chief of Municipality and VDCs, and non- government stakeholders involved in service delivery relating to housing, food, education, health, hygiene and sanitation.
FGDs and KIIs - J4A
In this reporting period, CEPPS/NDI subgrantee J4A conducted 12 FGDs in different VDCs and municipalities of their selected monitoring districts in Kathmandu, Sindhupalchowk and Dolakha districts. These FGDs were conducted with earthquake affected victims, community leaders, relevant stakeholders and different representatives of CSOs. These FGDs were focused on two main issues, the issue of identity card distribution to earthquake affected victims and the issue of
25 services and facilities provided by GoN to earthquake affected victims. In total, 237 participants (92 women) attended. Citizen Report Cards
In this reporting period, FWLD and J4A began developing a citizen report card in order to survey citizens affected by the earthquake on their views, and concerns, on the reconstruction process. For FWLD, the number of participants was as follows: Gorkha – 300 (150 women); Dhading – 300 (150 women); and Rasuwa – 256 (128 women). For J4A, the number of participants was as follows: Kathmandu – 90 (51 women); Dolakha – 17 (8 women); and Sindhupalchowk – 74 (42 women).
Press Conferences
Discussion on Post Earthquake Reconstruction and Joint NEOC’s Secretary General facilitating the Press Conference press conference.
In this reporting period, CEPPS/NDI’s subgrantees NEOC, FWLD and J4A jointly organized two press conferences on their findings of government preparations for earthquake reconstructions. The press conferences on Jan 14 and March 31 were held with various stakeholders including a former member of the National Planning Commission who was on the team that drafted the Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) and Sharmila Karki, the only CSO representative on the consultative council for the NRA.
NEOC, FWLD and J4A, presented key findings from their desk review and initial field monitoring in the districts of Dolakha, Dhading, Gorkha, Kathmandu, Rasuwa and Sindhupalchowk. The topics of the press conference focused on government efforts in preparing for reconstruction, the GON’s information campaign, and gender and social inclusion. Subgrantees issued statements on all three issues.
At the press conferences FWLD, J4A and NEOC welcomed the progress made in the reconstruction process with the passing of the NRA Act and the appointment of the CEO for the NRA. However, the organizations highlighted some key concerns that they observed from their monitoring to date such as disputes arising over the victims’ ID cards, due to the lack of clarity on the definition of ‘affected households,’ the importance of timely and clear communication to the public regarding the process and incorporation of a gender and disabled-friendly new building code.
Monitoring of Constituency Development Program Fund
FGDs and KIIs
In this reporting period CEPPS/NDI subgrantee FEG-Nepal conducted 27 FGDs in three districts - Sindhupalchowk, Kaski and Sunsari - with user committee groups and beneficiaries of Constituency Development Program projects. These FGDs were part of FEG-Nepal’s work on
26 monitoring the governance of CDP. The focus of the FGDs was to meet with the beneficiaries and get their views on the responsiveness of the projects to their needs and demands, transparency in the project implementation process, accountability of the implementing local bodies and parliamentarians, and methods of grievance handling, if any. In total, 290 participants (59 women) participated in the FGDs.
Similarly, FEG-Nepal also conducted 21 KIIs in Sindhupalchowk, Kaski and Sunsari districts with user committee groups, beneficiaries of Constituency Development Program, members of parliament, political party leaders and others. These KIIs helped to enumerate the information on the CDP project, collect information on policy compliance at the grass roots level and figure out the bottlenecks in implementing the CDP project.
Information Sharing Meeting
CEPPS/NDI subgrantee FEG-Nepal conducted information sharing meetings from February 2 to 4, in the three electoral constituencies in Sunsari, from February 20 to 22, in the three electoral constituencies (2, 3 and 4) in Kaski, and from February 27 to 29 in the three electoral constituencies of Sindhupalchowk. FEG-Nepal gave an overview of the CDP and presented the key issues identified from the monitoring activities to date. The participants discussed the issues and gave their views and comments on the CDP. Representatives from political parties, government officials, civil society, journalists and user committee groups and MPs of the respective constituencies also attended the program. In total, 269 participants (46 women) attended.
Presentation to USAID Democracy and Governance Partners
FEG-Nepal completed its data gathering from its field monitoring and towards the end of this reporting period focused on analyzing the data from the focus groups, interviews and consultative meetings. On March 23, CEPPS/NDI subgrantee FEG-Nepal presented preliminary findings of its monitoring of the Constituency Development Program to the USAID Democracy and Governance partners. The presentation showed the quantitative data gathered through questionnaires with User Committees and the qualitative information on the 27 CDP projects that FEG had monitored in nine constituencies. The preliminary findings focused on the poor management of some of the CDP projects by User Committees and their disregard for following financial management procedures in certain cases. The subgrantee is working with NDI to finalize a presentation for the Parliamentary Committee on Development and, afterwards to a wider audience of MPs and party leaders, to advocate for improving the management of the CDP.
Capacity Building of Subgrantee CSOs
27
Training for Civil Society Activists on Budget Analysis and Tracking
On March 11, CEPPS/NDI conducted a training for targeted CSOs on budget analysis and tracking in Kathmandu. The 13 civil society representatives, of which five were women, had a chance to learn more about the budget process, procedures, practices and timelines in Nepal. Representatives from Accountability Lab and Participants involved in an exercise Center for International Studies and Cooperation (CECI) during the training. presented and shared their experience with budget analysis in Nepal. The training also included an exercise for the participants to develop their own mechanisms for budget analysis and tracking.
Additional Activities
Consultation with CSOs on Placing Local Elections in National Agenda
On March 4, A civil society representative expressing his views CEPPS partners IFES and NDI jointly on pre-conditions for holding local elections. supported two of their subgrantees National Voters’ Rights Forum (NVRF) and NEOC to conduct a CSO-led consultation meeting titled “Local Elections in Nepal: Urgency and Pre-Conditions to facilitate a civil society dialogue on putting local elections on the National Agenda.” A total of 39 participants, of which 12 were women and one from the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) community, from civil society were present, belonging to various sectors and ethnic groups. Mr. Neel Kantha Uprety, former IEC chief commissioner, and Mr. Ajaya Bhadra Khanal briefly talked to the participants on the sequencing of elections according to the new constitution and the importance of such elections in a federal system.
At the end of the discussions, civil society representatives agreed to take this debate to political parties so that a path for local elections is placed in the national agenda. This consultation served as the basis for initiating a civil society platform to advocate preparations for local elections. In the next quarter, IFES and NDI will continue their support for NVRF and NEOC, who plan to facilitate a public conference between civil society and political parties on the platform of the civil society on local elections.
CEPPS/IFES OBJECTIVE 2: Strengthen institutions involved in electoral processes, either as actors or participants. CEPPS/IFES Sub-Objective 2.B: Strengthened Intermediate Result 2B.1: Improved legal democratic legal framework for elections. framework that ensures transparent electoral procedures that promote genuine and
28 competitive elections.
Intermediate Result 2B.2: Legal framework is a product of inclusive, public dialogue.
Ongoing Technical Support and Capacity Building (Election and Political Party Related Legislation)
Working with the ECN to finalize the Draft Political Party Law
As part of CEPPS/IFES’ ongoing technical and logistical support to the ECN on legal drafting, CEPPS/IFES provided technical and logistical support to the ECN to hold consultations with national and regional stakeholders on the draft political party bill submitted to the ECN last quarter. This consisted of consultations with ECN ex-Commissioners and Secretaries on February 1, legal experts on February Participants of an ECN-led consultation on the 2, registered political parties on February 5 and 7, and draft political party law. the Nepal Bar Association on March 4. Each of these workshops included high level participation from the ECN, with Commissioners Yadav and Sharma and the ECN Secretary, Joint Secretaries, Under Secretaries, and legal staff present. The workshop resulted in the collection of feedback and recommendations on the bill, which the ECN will review before finalizing and submitting to the government.
Drafting Electoral Laws Based on the New Constitution.
CEPPS/IFES legal contractor Gandhi and Figure 1: Election-Related Laws to be Associates began drafting the eight electoral Drafted under the New Constitution laws required by Nepal’s new constitution (see 1. President and Vice-President Election Figure 1). Gandhi and Associates completed Act drafts of the Election Commission Act, Voter 2. National Assembly Election Act Registration Act, and the President and Vice- 3. House of Representatives Election Act President Election Act this quarter and submitted 4. Provincial Assembly Election Act these to the ECN for review. The draft on the 5. Local Bodies Election Act Election Offences and Punishment Act is 6. Election Commission Act currently in progress. CEPPS/IFES international 7. Voter Registration Act legal experts are working closely with Gandhi 8. Election Offences and Punishment Act and Associates to ensure that international standards are integrated appropriately into draft laws presented to the ECN, and CEPPS/IFES will monitor which recommendations are accepted by the ECN.
29 Promoting Legal Awareness of Election Officials, Political Party Members, Civil Society and Other Stakeholders
Support to Election Stakeholders in Preparing Elections Timeline and Factsheet on Electoral Provisions according to the New Constitution of Nepal
CEPPS/IFES conducted an analysis of the impact of the Constitution’s electoral provisions on the ECN’s structure, functions and duties and developed a timeline for the sequencing of elections called for by the Constitution. While the exact dates of each electoral event are not set by the constitution, the constitution’s electoral provisions dictate distinct relationships between different elections. This document explains the sequencing of the different levels of elections, including prerequisites for an election, pre-electoral activities, and election operation activities. Roundtable Discussion on Elections Timeline according to the New Constitution. CEPPS/IFES organized a March 16 roundtable in Kathmandu to share and discuss this analysis with the international community including 16 representatives from embassies, donors and implementing partners supporting the electoral process in Nepal. CEPPS/IFES brought together a team of international experts—IFES senior global advisor, Peter Erben; IFES senior legal and Election Dispute Resolution (EDR) expert, Katherine Ellena; and Deputy Regional Director for Asia, Juliette Schmidt—to provide a comprehensive technical assessment of what the new constitutional provisions mean for elections in Nepal from the perspective of the ECN, political parties and voters. See Appendix I for the final timeline.
ECN Orientation on Nepal’s Constitutional Provisions on the Proportional Representation Election System
CEPPS/IFES worked with ECN officials and national expert statistician, Mr. Devendra Karanjit, Executive director of the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), to analyze the electoral system and representation of various ethnic groups in House of Representative (HoR) and State Assembly (SA) elections, as outlined in the Constitution. Mr. Karanjit highlighted the complexities of implementing the Constitution’s quota system and offered suggestions for simplifying the mechanism through the federal law.
After the preparation, CEPPS/IFES and the ECN organized a February 3-4 training on “Theoretical and Practical Knowledge on Proportional Representation Systems” for 35 ECN officials (4 women). The workshop’s objective was to train ECN officers on the importance of representation for disadvantaged groups and how the legal framework could accommodate this inclusion at the levels of the House of Representatives, State Assemblies, and local level bodies.
30 CEPPS/IFES Sub-Objective 2.C: Strengthened Intermediate Result 2C.2: Increased electoral management capacity of ECN. professionalism and competence of election officials.
Intermediate Result 2C.3 Integration of gender issues in electoral management.
Ongoing Technical Assistance to the ECN in the Legal, Management and Technical Aspects of Elections and Communications
Improving Election Management by Supporting the Implementation of the ECN Strategic Plan
ECN Website: CEPPS/IFES continued to assist the ECN to make its website more resourceful and user-friendly. Key improvements during this quarter included activating the English section of the website, which is now regularly maintained with activity updates and relevant documents; completion of sections providing background information on the ECN and electoral processes and frameworks; strategic planning documents and other reports; and photo galleries. CEPPS/IFES supported information collection, compilation, translation, and editing for activity updates while supervising the overall management of the ECN’s website working group formed last quarter. The working group met regularly during this quarter and has ensured efficient flow of information from different divisions of the ECN for dissemination on the website. These improvements have solidified the ECN website as an important outlet of information on ECN activities and objectives.
ECN Media Center: CEPPS/IFES prepared a concept note for Commissioner Ila Sharma with guidelines for how the ECN can further develop its Media Center. The first guideline recommended activities and methods for reaching different stakeholders, while the second highlighted the potential for developing the media center as a media relations center to assist the ECN in crisis situations. This concept note is attached as Appendix II.
Ongoing Voter Registration and Identification Six-Month Nationwide Voter Registration Drive
31 CEPPS/IFES supported the ECN to revise its voter registration (VR) training materials based on the ECN’s new VR policy. The ECN will now target those VDCs and municipalities with low VR rates following the completion of their report on VR rates nationwide. This initiated a series of cascade trainings on voter registration for 18,572 NISIKAs (voter educators), "The training is very effective and very useful for someone registration staff and District Election like me, since I am a new member of the ECN structure, with Officials, jointly supported by CEPPS/IFES a huge responsibility of voter registration. If I hadn’t and the United Nations Development received this training, it would have been very challenging for me to complete my task. I learnt a lot from this training Program’s Electoral Support Project and now I feel very confident and I will train and interact (UNDP/ESP). CEPPS/IFES supported the with voter educators and electoral stakeholders in the initial Master Training of Trainers on January district and I can implement the voter registration drive 21 for 15 ECN officials (2 women) at the effectively. This type of training should be made mandatory ECN’s Electoral Education and Information for a newcomer.” Center in Kathmandu and a January 26-27 -Bir Bahadur Shahi, District Election Officer for Baitadi regional Training of Trainers in Nepalgunj for district 28 District Election Officials (1 woman). UNDP/ESP held two other regional level trainings as well as district level trainings. Following the trainings, the ECN initiated a nationwide voter registration drive registering 65,467 persons on the voter list—4,701 through ECN mobile camps and 60,766 at the offices of the DEO, DAO, and AAO. Improved M&E and Results-based Management (RBM)
CEPPS/IFES did not conduct any activities on Results-based Management during the quarter.
Supporting Political Party Registration and Auditing Mechanisms
Orientation to Political Parties on Financial Reporting Following a series of BRIDGE trainings on Political Finance to ECN and DEO staff (see below), the ECN organized six one-day trainings on "Financial Reporting of Income Expenditure and Audit of Political Parties including Election Campaign" for 130 participants (19 women) representing 108 different political parties. CEPPS/IFES provided technical, facilitation, and logistical support to the ECN secretary, Sharada Prasad Trital facilitating session on political finance. ECN to enhance parties’ understanding on the regulation, reporting and auditing process for political party and campaign finance. A total of 67 political parties submitted their annual financial reports immediately after the orientation, a significant (almost three times) improvement in timely reporting by political parties.
Local election administration support
Building Resources in Democracy, Governance and Elections (BRIDGE) Trainings
32 Political Finance: CEPPS/IFES provided technical and logistical support to the ECN to conduct a January 28-30 BRIDGE workshop on Political Finance in Nepalgunj. The workshop trained DEOs from 24 districts on the concept of political finance, its regulation, the responsibility of formal oversight bodies and their engagement with various stakeholders. A similar workshop was also conducted in Chitwan from March 31 to April 2 to Participants actively engage in the Political train the remaining 25 DEOs. As of this quarter, all Finance BRIDGE workshop, Nepalgunj. 75 DEOs have received BRIDGE training on Political Finance. Access to the Electoral Process: CEPPS/IFES provided technical, facilitation and logistical support to the ECN to conduct a BRIDGE workshop on Access to the Electoral Process from February 11 to 13 in Jhapa. A total of 25 participants (16 women, five persons with disabilities) from Taplejung, Panchthar, Ilam, Jhapa and Morang districts in eastern Nepal, representing DPOs, CSOs, and gender and inclusion focal persons of DEOs, engaged in interactive discussions and simulation exercises on accessible and non-accessible polling. Participants expressed that the training was the first of its kind for them, and they committed to raise awareness Mr. Nabin K Dhungel, a participant with of including persons with disabilities in the electoral disability expressing his commitment process. during workshop. Ongoing Organizational Capacity Building
Preventing and Mitigating Electoral Disputes through Training on Election and Democratic Processes, including Electoral Dispute Resolution (EDR) Mechanisms CEPPS/IFES conducted a half-day interactive discussion on Election Dispute Resolution (EDR): International standards and best practices for 24 senior ECN officials (2 women) on March 15. IFES senior electoral legal and EDR specialist, Katherine Ellena, and Deputy Regional Director for Asia-Pacific, Juliette Schmidt, facilitated the discussion. The main objective of the discussion was to develop a common understanding on the fundamental role of EDR, international standards, models of best practices, categories of disputes, clarifying and implementing legal frameworks, effective case management, and training and public outreach.
33 Ongoing Inclusion of Women in Election Management and Administration
Implementation of Gender and Social Inclusion (GESI) activities
CEPPS/IFES assisted the ECN Gender Inclusion (GI) Unit to conduct several initiatives to build the capacity of election officials and relevant election stakeholders to address barriers to the civic, electoral Legal officer Mr. Arun Kumar Jha in discussion and political participation of women and with facilitator Katherine Ellena during the EDR marginalized groups. CEPPS/IFES provided session. technical and financial support to the ECN for the following activities:
Training on Legal Drafting from Gender and Inclusion Perspective: CEPPS/IFES provided technical and logistical support to the ECN’s legal division for a one-day training on legal drafting from a gender and inclusion perspective for 36 ECN senior officials (6 women). The training focused on equipping officers with the knowledge needed to provide quality input on the current electoral laws being drafted from a gender and inclusion perspective.
Workshop on Election, Gender and Inclusion: CEPPS/IFES supported the ECN to conduct a workshop on gender mainstreaming and social inclusion in the electoral process on February 14 in Jhapa District for 48 participants (16 women) from political parties, media and civil society. Participants engaged in discussions on the urgency of increasing women’s representation at all levels of the electoral process, identifying gaps in the political and electoral participation of women and possible interventions to address these gaps.
CEPPS/IFES Sub-Objective 2.D: Expanded Intermediate Result 2D.1: Increased and improved delivery of voter education. understanding of the electoral process among stakeholders and voters.
Intermediate Result 2D.2: Increased local capacity in providing voter education.
Ongoing Development of Electoral Education Curriculum
Social Studies Teachers’ Trainings (SSTT) on Electoral Education As part of its ongoing collaboration with the ECN on its Social Studies Teachers’ Training (SSTT) program to provide electoral education for public and private school teachers, CEPPS/IFES supported the ECN to revise the Training of Trainers (ToT) resource manual based on provisions in the new Constitution. CEPPS/IFES and the ECN also developed a plan to train all secondary
34 level teachers from 20 districts5 in 2016. Training in 15 of the districts will be conducted by local SSTT trainers (with the 5 remaining trainings to be led by officials from ECN headquarters), and CEPPS/IFES and UNDP/ESP collaborated to develop a cascade training methodology and conduct two regional-level ToTs (one led by each organization) from March 13-14 in Bardiya district. Participants in the ToTs included district elections officers and resource persons of District Education Offices, with three officials from each of seven districts: Bardiya, Syangja, Parbat, Arghakhanchi, Rolpa, Achham and Dadeldhura.
“It was great opportunity for me to participate in the training with all other experienced and qualified teachers. In the new federal structure, it was very important for us to learn the new constitutional provision, local body election, and the electoral systems so that we can impart it to the students. I am confident after this training that I will be able to efficiently deliver my teaching to the students on this subject.” -Dipali Shakya, social studies teacher who participated in the Banke SSTT.
CEPPS/IFES and the ECN also organized a series of two-day trainings to the social studies teachers of Banke district from February 25–28 at Nepalgunj. Three simultaneous trainings were organized on February 25-26 and again on February 27-28, together training 140 secondary and higher secondary social studies teachers (21 women). Ongoing Material and Broadcasting Support for Voter Education Campaigns CEPPS/IFES supported ECN and civil society voter education campaigns with production of the following resources during this quarter: • Handbook on acquiring Nepali Citizenship Certificates (English version, E-publication): Developed in 2015 to aid field-level interventions related to supporting the acquisition of citizenship certificates under different scenarios, an English version of this handbook was completed. • Nepali Audio version of the Equal Access disability manual: Targeted at persons with visual disabilities, the production of 500 audio CDs containing the Nepali audio version of “Equal Access: How to include persons with disabilities in elections and political processes” was completed with Braille-inscribed CD covers. • Booklet on electoral provisions and participation: 15,000 copies of a booklet containing a summary of key constitutional provisions on elections were produced during this quarter. 8,400 copies have already been transferred to the 14 Civic Initiative Centers, who have disseminated 1,200 copies at 20 village-level civic dialogue programs as of the end of the quarter. The booklet is attached in Nepali as Appendix III.
5 10 districts supported by CEPPS/IFES: Banke, Bara, Taplejung, Okhaldunga, Parbat, Solukhumbu, Dhanusa, Syangja, Siraha and Acchham. 10 districts conducted by UNDP/ESP: Mustang, Jumla, Rasuwa, Terathum. Argakanchi, Rolpa, Dadeldhura Bardiya, Sindhupalchowk and Morang.
35 • Leaflet on importance and process of acquiring a Citizenship Certificate: With the launching of new sub-awards to civil society organization (CSO) partners, the leaflet on the importance and process of acquiring a citizenship certificate was redesigned with more pictures and improved quality, to be disseminated by the four CSOs during their household visits. Voter, Electoral and Civic Education CSO program Curriculum Development Workshop
CEPPS/IFES organized a three-day curriculum development workshop from January 19-21. A total of 26 persons (10 women) from CEPPS/IFES CSO sub-awardees (see next section) participated in the workshop. Expert storyteller and illustrator, Mr. Bhava Sagar Ghimire and Mr. Sunil Ranjit, respectively, facilitated the sessions with CEPPS/IFES support. The experts first led an interactive training on effective storytelling both from the perspective of developing civic and voter education materials, and as a strategy for building awareness around the importance of civic and electoral participation that CSOs can use in their community mobilization campaigns. The workshop then generated feedback on existing IEC materials, identified additional materials for VE project implementation, and resulted in a collection of sample storylines and characters to be used in CEPPS/IFES’ future civic and voter education material.
Selection of New CSO Voter Education Sub-Awards
CEPPS/IFES issued sub-award contracts to the Bagmati Welfare Society Nepal (BWSN), Rural Women Development Centre (RWDC), Nepal National Dalit Social Welfare Organization (NNDSWO) and Youth Initiative (YI) to implement a new Voter Registration, Electoral Participation and Citizenship Certificate Support project from March 1-June 30, 2016. BWSN and RWDC are IFES’ new sub-awardees, while NNDSWO and YI have worked with CEPPS/IFES since August 2011. In this project, the four CSOs will continue to focus on increasing the civic and electoral participation of marginalized CSO leaders engaged in group work session. communities such as women, Dalits, youth, and persons with disabilities while also conducting information sessions on the new constitution.
CSO Preparatory Workshop
36 CEPPS/IFES organized a February 23-26 preparatory workshop in Pokhara for the four CSO partners. The workshop provided participants with thematic knowledge of voter education and registration, citizenship certificate acquisition, electoral participation, disability mainstreaming, and electoral provisions in the new constitution through methodologies such as role play, quiz contests, video sharing, and gallery presentations that the CSOs have already begun to mirror as they conduct their activities in the field. The workshop also developed a common understanding among all four partners on project “I had several thoughts on the first day objectives, financial and programmatic reporting standards, that I should run away from doing all and expected results. Special sessions also emphasized how these difficult works. I learnt a lot. This is teams could mainstream persons with disabilities in program my first training leading me to a field level job and I felt really appreciated and activities, which resulted in both RWDC and NNDSWO encouraged here that made me feel I must hiring a person with disability to work on this project. A total work to support other marginalized of 20 people (10 women) participated in the workshop. communities like me.” - Suman Chaudhary, person with CSOs’ Kick-Off workshops disability and new RWDC staff member
Following the preparatory workshop, all CEPPS/IFES sub-awardees organized kick-off workshops for their respective field teams to launch the projects at the field level. Workshops built the capacity and skills of each project’s district coordinators and community facilitators by providing hands-on practice on monitoring and reporting tools, as well as thematic knowledge on voter education and registration, citizenship certificate acquisition, electoral participation, and electoral provisions in the new constitution. Each team then developed five month action plans for the project. Trainings were organized in four regions—NNDSWO in Kailali from March 16-18, BWSN in Sarlahi from March 16-18, RWDC in Dang from March 18-20, and YI in Kathmandu from March 28-30—with a total of 83 participants (35 women and 3 persons with disability).
Support at Citizenship and Voter Registration Drives/Mobile Camps
Since the start of their projects on March 1, CEPPS/IFES subgrantees supported 88 voter registration drives/mobile camps organized by District Election Offices (DEOs) in 14 districts6. Support included establishing help desks, publicizing camp events, informing voters of the voter registration process, disseminating IEC materials, and providing citizens with transport to the camp. CSOs supported 7,533 people (3,320 women and 13 persons with disabilities) to Mobile citizenship and voter registration register to vote. camp in Darchula.
6 14 districts include Banke, Bardiya, Dang, Salyan, Kailali, Achham, Bajhang, Bajura, Dhanusha, Mahottari, Sarlahi, Sindhuli, Bara and Morang.
37 In addition, CEPPS/IFES’ CSO partner NNDSWO collaborated with the DAO and DEO of five districts to organize joint citizenship certificate and voter registration mobile service camps in 18 VDCs.7 NNDSWO mobilized a total of 50 volunteers to reach populations living in the most remote areas of these five districts for whom citizenship and voter registration is typically inaccessible. CSOs’ efforts resulted in 2,315 people (1,279 women and 37 persons with disabilities) acquiring citizenship certificates and 2,370 people (1,293 women and 37 persons with disabilities) registering to vote. NNDSWO estimates that two-thirds of these beneficiaries are members of marginalized communities.
Coordination with District Election and Administrative Offices
CEPPS/IFES CSO partners conducted 48 meetings with District Election Offices to introduce the new project and highlight its focus on increasing voter registration of marginalized communities. The CSOs and DEOs also collaborated to identify the VDCs in their districts with low levels of voter registration. This enabled CSOs to select the VDCs in each target district where the project can make the most impact. NNDSWO also coordinated with the District Administration Offices through 21 visits/meetings to organize and facilitate the joint mobile camps in five districts.
Activities of CEPPS/IFES CSO partners:
Number Total of CSO/Activity Beneficiaries Male Female Events
RWDC Training and capacity building 26 16 10 1 Household Visits 83 39 44 55 Orientation and Sensitization 62 29 33 2 Awareness raising group events 137 0 137 6 Voter registration at ECN led VR Drive/Camp 738 395 343 12 Total 1046 479 567 76
BWSN Training and capacity building 18 9 9 1 Orientation and Sensitization 336 199 137 11 Voter registration at ECN led VR Drive/Camp 1217 806 411 15 Village Voters’ Forum Meetings 60 34 26 2 Total 1631 1048 583 29
NNDSWO Training and capacity building 37 26 11 1 House Hold Visit 1018 461 557 849 Orientation and Sensitization 63 36 27 3 Awareness raising group events 998 423 575 55
7 Darchula March 5-6, Baitadi March 5-9, Bajhang March 25-26, Dadeldhura March 18-19 and Achham March 25- 26.
38 CC obtained through CC and VR joint mobile camp 2315 1036 1279 5 VR through CC and VR joint mobile camp 2370 1077 1293 5 Voter registration at ECN led VR Drive/Camp 1271 689 582 34 VR through Help Desk Support at DAO 903 456 447 22 VR camp in festival by DEO in Doti 164 75 89 1 District Voters’ Forum Meetings 75 65 10 3 Village Voters’ Forum Meetings 21 14 7 1 DEO and DAO Meetings 94 94 0 56 Total 9329 4452 4877 1035 YI Training and capacity building 16 8 8 1 Voter registration at ECN led VR Drive/Camp 4307 2323 1984 27
DEO and DAO Meetings 50 32 18 21 District Voters’ Forum Meeting 9 4 5 1 Total 4382 2367 2015 50 Grand Total 16388 8346 8042 1190
National Voters' Rights Forum
On January 11, the NVRF steering committee (17 members, including 14 women) revised its one year action plan to reflect a practical timeline for NVRF activities. As part of this action plan, the steering committee formed a membership working committee, which will develop a plan for expanding NVRF’s network to the district and village levels. Next quarter, the working committee will begin to mobilize DVFs and VVFs Website development training session. and will draft a membership guideline.
CEPPS/IFES contracted a website development company to help NVRF launch its new website and Facebook page. On February 1, NVRF held a training on website and social media content development for five communications personnel from the five different steering committee member organizations (two women). The website and Facebook page will keep voters informed of NVRF activities, provide resources to voters, and facilitate interaction between NVRF members and future district and village voters’ forums.
NVRF Trainings
39 NVRF steering committee members who received political finance training from CEPPS/IFES last quarter organized an orientation program on political finance for 38 NVRF general members (10 women) on January 31. NVRF trainers emphasized the potential role of CSOs as watchdogs in the overall electoral process, and the ability of NVRF to use its networks to advocate that political parties adhere to political finance regulations. NVRF Participants at the Political On March 14, CEPPS/IFES Electoral Legal Specialist, Ms. Finance Orientation. Katherine Ellena, conducted a half-day workshop for NVRF members on EDR in Nepal. A total of 28 civil society representatives (13 women) from 27 organizations participated in the discussion program.
Civil Society Discussions on Electoral Provisions in the Constitution
On February 23, CEPPS/IFES facilitated a workshop for NVRF members on electoral provisions in the Constitution. This workshop prepared NVRF members to disseminate this information to their networks and help their target groups engage in the electoral and political processes at the local level. The training was attended by 56 NVRF members (19 women) representing 46 different organizations.
This training led to a broader civil society discussion on elections in the Constitution, supported jointly by CEPPS/IFES and CEPPS/NDI and co-organized by NVRF and CEPPS/NDI’s partner, the National Election Observation Committee (NEOC). Former Election Commissioner, Neelkantha Uprety, and researcher and journalist, Ajaya Bhadra Khanal, shared their understanding of the sequencing of elections in a federal system, preconditions for Local Governance Body Elections and the importance of local elections for citizen empowerment and local development. 39 CSO representatives (13 women) discussed how they can advocate to related government bodies and political parties to ensure Speakers at the civil society discussions on the voting rights of citizens. Following the discussion, local elections in the new constitution. NVRF and NEOC plan to hold further discussions on local elections with political party members, members of related government agencies, media representatives and other related stakeholders through a roundtable in the next quarter.
Civic Education on the New Constitution Constitution Literacy Program through Civic Initiative Centers
40 CEPPS/IFES began supporting the Nepal Law Society’s (NLS) Civic Initiative Centers (CIC), launched by International IDEA and Governance Facility to facilitate dialogue at the local level on the constitution-making process and then the constitution itself once it was promulgated. CEPPS/IFES developed a new curriculum for the program that focuses on electoral provisions in the constitution and channels of civic engagement for rural populations. In January, CEPPS/IFES trained 32 NLS facilitators to lead the CIC participant reteaches the group about the different federal bodies in the new constitution. sessions, who also met with District Election Officers to select VDCs with low voter registration rates in which to hold the trainings. In March, 28 Civic Dialogue Programs in 17 districts of Nepal were conducted for 1,751 (860 Women) participants including Dalit, local political party leaders, representatives of Ward/VDC Civic Forums.
Local Election-Related Civic Education CEPPS/IFES did not conduct additional civic education activities specifically related to local elections during this quarter, however preparation for the development of training materials by a local expert on local governance, decentralization and citizen participation is underway.
Mini survey training and mini surveys
CEPPS/IFES did not provide mini-survey training or conduct mini-surveys during this quarter.
Other support to Marginalized communities
CSO Radio Program CEPPS/IFES finalized the results of a mini survey on the effectiveness of the previous CSO radio program, Matadata Manch (Voters’ Forum). These 25-minute programs were produced locally by each radio station, in collaboration with the respective CSO partner. Themes of the program included citizenship, voter registration, the new constitution, community harmony, and participation in local processes and organizations. The results showed that among those surveyed who had access to radio, 63.4 percent had listened to Matadata Manch (please see Appendix IV for survey results). Based on the positive results of the survey, CEPPS/IFES began preparatory work for developing a new series of Matadata Manch that will be produced in collaboration between CEPPS/IFES’ CSO and CIC partners in 32 districts.
Mobilization of Community Advocacy Forum (CAF) for Disability Rights Promotion
41 In collaboration with six DPOs8, CEPPS/IFES reactivated its CAFs in January 2016. The objective of the CAFs is to educate persons with disabilities about their rights and mobilize members to participate in local organizations and government bodies. CAF meetings in January and February focused on ensuring members’ participation in the VDC councils such that at least one person with disability became a VDC council representative in each of the 120 VDCs where CEPPS/IFES is providing support to CAFs. As a result of the participation of persons with disabilities in the local planning processes, 111 VDCs have allocated funds in their budgets for addressing disability issues in their CAF members holding a monthly meeting. community. In addition, CAF members have also been educating and supporting persons with disabilities and other marginalized communities to register to vote through the DEOs’ Voter Registration Camps in the VDCs. This quarter, 93 persons with disability (51 Women) registered to vote. Similarly, with the support of CAF members, 33 persons with disabilities (15 Women) obtained their citizenship certificate and 73 persons with disabilities (31 Women) obtained their Disability Identification Card, which is required to get any government services and benefits. Study on electoral participation of persons with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities in Nepal
After collecting survey data on the electoral participation of persons with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities last quarter, CEPPS/IFES disaggregated the data in March and presented its initial findings to partner organizations who helped enumerate the surveys. With their additional feedback, CEPPS/IFES is now drafting a comprehensive report to be released next quarter. Monitor, Analyze and Report on the Electoral Process (formerly sub-objective four) CEPPS/IFES continued to share timely analyses and translations of electoral developments with election stakeholders. This quarter, CEPPS/IFES gathered input from electoral and legal experts to update the Factsheet on Electoral Provisions according to the new Constitution and create an elections timeline which will show the sequencing of local elections as called for in the constitution. These documents are attached as Appendix I and V.
CEPPS/IFES continued to provide its news clipping service three times a week to approximately 31 national and international partners and election stakeholders.
Summary of CAF and CIC project outputs (Jan-March 2016):
Total Men with Women with Activities and Results Men Women # of Events Beneficiaries Disabilities Disabilities Collaboration with DPOs for
CAF mobilization
8 CEPPS/IFES has DPO partners in six districts: Dadeldhura, Kanchanpur, Kailali, Bardiya, Banke and Dang.
42 Reorienation to CAF members on CAF mobilization and 2,220 1,176 1,044 553 449 113 constitutional provisions on disability Awareness raising events with 4,466 1,769 2,697 296 283 192 community groups Meeting of Community Advocacy 2,596 1,397 1,199 768 526 155 Forum Advocacy events of CAF 1,668 948 720 362 290 130 Number of Persons with disabilities benefitted by CAF 163 103 60 103 60 130 Advocacy Participation in Local Planning 119 92 27 92 27 119 Process Number of VDCs allocating - - - - - 111 increased Budget on disability
Support for Voter Registration to 99 47 52 47 52 99 persons with disabilities
Inclusion of Persons with 102 58 52 58 52 102 Disabilities in Local Groups Monitoring of program by DPOs 7 7 - 7 - 7 Number of Persons with disabilities who obtain Disability 98 51 47 51 47 18 ID Card Total 11,538 5,648 5,898 2,337 1,786 1,176 Collaboration with Nepal Law
Society/CIC Civic Dialogue Program 1,751 891 860 25 12 28
Additional Activities
Meeting with ECN on CSO program
On March 29, CEPPS/IFES organized a meeting to increase collaboration between the ECN and civil society. CEPPS/IFES presented the results of the previous CSO project and an overview of the plan and working districts of the new project. ECN officials recognized CSO contributions to the ECN’s goals and also provided suggestions for how CSO partners can better report their data, which CEPPS/IFES will adopt in the new project. Twelve participants, including the ECN Secretary, Joint Secretaries, Under Secretaries and Section Officers attended the presentation. Following the meeting, the ECN Secretary agreed to write letters of support to the respective DEO on CEPPS/IFES Presents the CSO program at the ECN. behalf of each CSO partner.
43 USAID Objective 3: Improve the democratic functioning of the Constituent Assembly (CA)/Parliament.
CEPPS/NDI OBJECTIVE 3: The CA/LP more effectively fulfills its democratic functions.
CEPPS/NDI Sub-Objective 3.A: Strengthen the Intermediate Result 3.1: The CA/LP legislative drafting capacity of the CA/LP. effectively reviews and deliberates bills under consideration.
Intermediate Result 3.2: MPs incorporate constituent input into legislative processes.
Intermediate Result 3.3: CA/LP proceedings are more transparent.
Effective Committee Work
Technical Support to Parliamentary Committees
Consultations with Parliamentary Committee Chairs and Secretaries
During this quarter, CEPPS/NDI held a series of consultations with the chair and secretary of six parliamentary committees: Development Committee; Social Justice and Human Rights Committee; Legislative Committee, Good Governance and Monitoring Committee, Finance Committee and Women, Children, Senior Citizens and Social Welfare committee. Meetings focused on the following areas:
● The Development Committee Chair expressed interest in receiving CEPPS/NDI’s support and technical assistance for the organization of monitoring visits to observe developments infrastructure projects in some districts under the CDP. The schedule of these site visits will include discussion with constituents and organization of public hearings with various stakeholders. The Development Committee Chair highlighted that these visits will be on a cost-share basis with CEPPS/NDI; while the CEPPS/NDI offered to assist with providing input on the schedule and structure of these monitoring visits. The ultimate goal of monitoring field visits is for the committee to look into the utility and processes followed in CDP and determine whether these funds are being properly, adequately and transparently utilized. ● The meeting with the Social Justice and Human Rights Committee emphasized the importance of holding a workshop on the committee’s oversight role. The meeting also discussed the possibility of organizing site visits to some districts to monitor compliance of the different parties to the 1996-2006 conflict, with the Peace Accord as the Government will be celebrating the 10th Anniversary of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed in 2006. ● The meeting with the Legislative Committee focused on the detailed discussion of the Committee’s outreach effort with members of the Journalists Society for Parliamentary Affairs (JSPA) on Civil and Criminal Code. The committee requested CEPPS/NDI to
44 support a residential workshop to brief members of the JSPA on five bills related with Civil and Criminal Code currently under review by the committee. The committee has formed five subcommittees to work on these five bills. ● The meeting with the Good Governance and Monitoring Committee discussed the organization of two regional conferences on ‘Role of State and Non-state Actors in Promoting Good Governance and Nation Building’ in Eastern and Far-Western Regions. Events will be on a cost-share basis. CEPPS/NDI offered to assist with providing input on the schedule and structure of these regional conferences. ● The Finance Committee requested CEPPS/NDI’s support in making the committee’s work more effective through interaction with relevant stakeholders related with the bills that are currently in committee discussion. The committee is currently reviewing six bills: 1) amendment of Banking and Financial Institutions Act; 2) amendment of Employees Provident Fund Act; 3) amendment of the Audit Act; 4) amendment of Nepal Rastra Bank Act; 5) amendment of Banking and Punishment Act; and 6) bill on Establishment and Operation of Deposit and Loan Security Fund. In addition, the Committee Chair also requested support through workshops and capacity building of the committee members and staff, including ways to make the committee’s oversight and representative role effective. In order to assist the committee with the identification of priority issues, the chair requested NDI’s assistance with the organization and convening of a series of individual brainstorming sessions with a number of specialized institutions that are interested in areas covered by the committee. ● The secretary of the Women, Children, Senior Citizens and Social Welfare Committee mentioned that although the committee has already passed several bills under its jurisdiction, including the Anti Witchcraft Bill, Sexual Harassment at the Workplace Bill, and the National Youth Council Bill, the implementation has been very weak. Therefore, the committee would like to collaborate with CEPPS/NDI to monitor the implementation of some of these laws at the grassroots level. In addition, the secretary also requested CEPPS/NDI support for a capacity development workshop for the members and staff of the committee on effective functioning of the parliamentary committee.
Support to Parliamentary Committee on Industry, Commerce, and Consumer Welfare Relations
Hearing with Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI)
On January 8, CEPPS/NDI supported the Parliamentary Committee on Industry, Commerce, and Consumer Welfare Relations in holding a hearing with The Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FNCCI) to listen to the latter’s areas of concern on the draft bill on Industrial Enterprises Act. This was the final of the six hearings organized with different stakeholders. The bill has now been tabled in the parliament and is likely to be sent to the committee for discussion during the next House session. The hearing provided a forum for FNCCI to share its concerns and interests and provide concrete recommendations for necessary reforms in the bill. Likewise, the hearing also provided an opportunity to the committee to directly engage in a meaningful discussion with one of the key stakeholders and collect feedback on the draft bill.
Legislative Research and Analysis on Industrial Enterprises Act (Amendment Bill)
45 During the reporting quarter, CEPPS/NDI supported the Parliamentary Committee on Industry, Commerce, and Consumer Welfare Relations with a local expert to review the existing legal and regulatory provisions in the Industrial Enterprises Act, analyze recommendations received from six hearings with private sector and consumer rights group- National Business Initiative (NBI), Federation of Women Entrepreneurs’ Associations of Nepal (FWEAN), Forum for Protection of Consumer Rights Nepal, and Federation of Nepal Cottage and Small Industries (FNCSI), Confederation of Nepalese Industries and FNCCI. In addition, the expert briefed the committee with analytical information about the legitimate demands and concerns, and narrow interests of each of these organizations on the proposed amendment bill on Industrial Enterprises Act. The expert consolidated concerns and recommendations from all six hearings and prepared a clause- by-clause comparative table of recommendations of the proposed bill.
Roundtable Discussion on Committees Oversight and Monitoring Role in the Current Black Market Situation
On January 27, CEPPS/NDI supported a roundtable discussion of the Industry, Commerce and Consumer Welfare Relations Committee on its oversight role with a particular focus on how parliamentary committees around the world act on behalf of citizens in times of crisis, and the current issues and challenges in Nepal affecting consumers due to the thriving black market. CEPPS/NDI consultant Elizabeth Weir presented three crisis case studies to show how parliamentary committees investigated these issues and worked effectively in responding to these crises. Consumer rights activist Bimala Khanal discussed Nepal’s consumer related issues with special focus on fuel shortages, unusual price hikes and black marketing, and made suggestions about ways the committee can initiate reforms in the current laws and bilateral trade agreements. Khanal also provided additional examples of issues that affect consumer health and safety, referencing the use of excessive and unsafe pesticides in agriculture products impacting people’s health, which could be an area that was subject to a field investigation visit, and additional actions to be taken by the committee to solve this issue. Thirteen members, including five women, and four officials of the committee attended the workshop.
Support to the Parliamentary Legislative Committee
Briefing about the Canadian Legal System
On January 28, CEPPS/NDI facilitated a briefing by Sheri Meyerhoffer, International IDEA head of mission, on Canadian legal systems with special focus on accommodating common law and civil law systems in a federal state. This briefing was part of the follow-up activities after CEPPS/NDI's consultant Elizabeth Weir’s meeting with the five sub-committee coordinators including the chair and the secretary of the Legislative Committee. The sub-committees are working on the proposed Civil and Criminal Code amendment bills. Three sub-committee coordinators, chair, member and senior staff including legal advisor of the parliament secretariat were present at the discussion.
Outreach Workshop to the Media about Civil and Criminal Code
46 On January 31 and February 1, CEPPS/NDI supported the Parliamentary Legislative Committee with an outreach workshop to the media about the Civil and Criminal Code, in coordination with the Journalists Society for Parliamentary Affairs (JSPA). The 64 participants who attended the workshop included journalists representing both print and audiovisual media. The workshop provided the Legislative Committee’s coordinators of its five sub-committees the opportunity to brief journalists on the main provisions of the proposed bills, replacing the existing decades-old Country Code (Muluki Ain). Coordinators of five sub-committees, Hon. Krishna Bhakta Pokharel, Hon. Laxman Lal Karn, Hon. Ram Narayan Bidari and Hon. Radheshyam Adhikari made presentations on respective bills and highlighted major features and progressive amendments on the bills. Sub-committee coordinators emphasized that the proposed bills were meant to make the provisions compatible with the international justice system. One of the features of the proposed Criminal Offence bill, for instance, is the increased sentences to control serious types of crimes.
Partnership with the Parliamentary Monitoring Committee on the Organization of a National Multi-Stakeholders Conference on the Role of State and Non-State Actors in Nepal’s Future
On February 24 and 25, CEPPS/NDI supported the parliamentary committee on Good Governance and Monitoring Committee to hold a national conference called, The Role of State and Non State Actors in Promoting Good Governance and Nation Building. The conference was opened and closed by two deputy prime ministers, Hon. Chandra Prakash Mainali and Hon. Chitra Bahadur K.C. The 180 participants included representatives from government, parliament, political parties, and civil society. The two-day conference discussed: 1) the role of state and NSA in nation- building, post-constitution implementation, and post disaster reconstruction; 2) the scope/space for non-state actors to act as a watchdog and to constructively engage with state actors to augment their capacity to deliver services and respond to crisis; and 3) next steps to promote an enabling environment for non-state actors through needed reforms. The International Center for Not-for- Profit Law’s David Moore presented on legal frameworks that regulate civil society. The conference generated interest in promoting policy change, considering non state actors as a valuable and independent partner.
In the plenary session, CEPPS/NDI's consultant David Moore, national experts Dr. Bimal Koirala, former chief secretary, Government of Nepal; Rajendra Mulmi, chair of Association of International Non-Governmental Organizations in Panelists at the State and Non-State Actors Nepal (AIN); and Advocate Govinda 'Bandi' Sharma Conference. presented papers on the legal framework for non- state actors and roles and responsibilities of state and non-state actors. David Moore also provided global and regional comparative perspectives on how non-state actors are regulated and operated in different countries. Similarly, in the break-out session participants were divided into four thematic groups: policies and practices: challenges and opportunities of state actors; legal framework: non-state actors (NGOs/INGOs); role of political parties/trade unions; and role of media, think tanks, and private sectors. Each group identified policy gaps and made recommendations for reform measures for the future.
47
On the second day, representatives of civil society organizations and think tanks served as panelists and shared views on how non-state sectors have been actively contributing to the country's development efforts and reaching out to the people where the state has less access. They highlighted the effective response of non-state actors to the earthquake and their presence at the front lines to aid local communities and recommended a deeper discussion and analysis of the constructive role they could play on the long term in collaboration with the state actors in Nepal’s future. Similarly, on behalf the Good Governance and Monitoring Committee, Hon. Janak Raj Joshi, coordinator of the conference’s sub-committee, made presentations on summary of the recommendations from the two-day conference.
Committee Hearings in Earthquake-Affected Districts
No activities this quarter.
Youth-targeted Parliamentary Activities
No activities this quarter.
Quarterly Policy Dialogues
No activities this quarter.
Development of Action Plans for Youth Politicians/Multiparty Leadership Training
Daayitwa (formerly known as Nepal Ko Yuwa)
On February 25, Daayitwa organized a national leadership conference to showcase the learnings and work of the Daayitwa Innovation Leaders, a group of 20 young professionals from diverse backgrounds (business, civil society, bureaucracy, and politics) and are a part of a movement to redefine leadership through their innovative actions. Daayitwa held a press conference on February 24, 2016, in Kathmandu to inform the media and the larger public about the conference. Reporters from eight news outlets along with 11 DILs attended the press conference.
The conference marked the completion of the Leading Innovation Course, which was offered to 20 youth leaders. The Innovation Panelists at the leadership conference. Leaders shared their leadership and learning at the conference through sector specific Leadership Studios and Individual Poster sessions. More than 251 people attended the conference, where 91 were female. The conference brought together youth and public leaders from public, private, social and academic sectors, as well as the international development community, to share their insights on leading societal innovation.
48
Women Members of Parliament Roundtable Discussions
No activities this quarter.
MP-Led Post-Constitution Awareness Briefings
No activities this quarter.
Legislature-Parliament (LP) Support Coordination Meeting
No meetings this quarter.
CEPPS/NDI Sub-Objective 3.B: Increase Intermediate Result 3.2: MPs incorporate communication between representatives and constituent input into legislative processes. their constituents. Intermediate Result 3.3: CA/LP proceedings are more transparent.
Support to MPs with Constituency Outreach Activities in Earthquake Affected Districts
Meetings with FPTP Parliamentarians from Dhading
On March 10, CEPPS/NDI met with two directly elected parliamentarians from Dhading district, Hon. Dhan Bahadur Ghale from constituency-1, and Hon. Guru Prasad Burlakoti from constituency-2. The meeting focused on planning for constituency visits with an aim of interacting with constituents to learn about the post-earthquake situation in terms of reconstruction and government responsiveness. Dhading is one of the districts that was hit hard by the devastating April 2015 earthquake. It was agreed that NDI will organize three constituency-level activities in respective constituencies and one district-level activity in district headquarters will be organized.
On March 18, CEPPS/NDI briefed Hon. Rajendra Pandey from Dhading constituency 3 on the previous meeting with other two directly elected parliamentarians from Dhading district and decision to organize constituency level interactions on post-earthquake situation in their respective constituencies.
Post-Disaster District-Level Reconstruction Forums
No activities this quarter.
CEPPS/NDI Sub-Objective 4: Strengthen the GON’s capacity to communicate effectively on earthquake relief, recovery and reconstruction efforts.
In January, CEPPS/NDI’s communication expert Bernie Campbell travelled to Nepal and held meetings with the NRA, the Ministry of Information and Communication (MoIC) and the Chair of the Development Committee MP Rabindra Adhikari to discuss communication needs of the
49 various entities and to identify ways in which CEPPS/NDI can provide support towards this. While these initial meetings were held with various agencies, for most of this quarter, and at the request of USAID (the Democracy and Governance Office as well as the Disaster Risk Reduction, Reconstruction, and Resilience Office), CEPPS/NDI prioritized support to the NRA.
Support to the National Reconstruction Authority
Development of Communication and Outreach Strategy
Due to the aforementioned reason, Bernie Campbell’s time in Nepal was focused on providing support to the NRA with the development of a communication strategy. CEPPS/NDI held various meetings with members of the Communication Working Group9 including USAID, the World Bank, BBC Media Action, and the Housing Reconstruction and Recovery Platform (HRRP) to facilitate discussions and to seek input on the various elements that constitute a communication strategy. The result of this intensive process led to the development of a first draft communication strategy, which was shared with the NRA and the working group for their input. During the quarter, there were three rounds of feedback from the working group, which was collected and incorporated into the strategy by CEPPS/NDI. As of now, the most updated version of the draft strategy is awaiting final inputs from the relevant NRA persons and subsequent approval (See Attached latest draft). On March 20, Sneha attended a meeting at NRA to discuss the finalization of the Communication and Outreach Strategy. Attendees at the meeting included NRA’s Spokesperson Suresh Adhikari, Media Advisor Binod Bhattarai and Media and Communications Lead Bhuwan K.C, Technical Advisor Surya Narayan Shrestha and BBC Media Action’s Kalpana Dhakal.
Personnel Support
On Feb 24, CEPPS/NDI attended a meeting with NRA’s Surya Narayan Shrestha and USAID’s Laura Chapman to discuss NRA’s communication personnel needs that NDI can support them with. In the meeting NRA identified three roles - a senior communications expert to work on the overall communication strategy and plan, a communication manager to coordinate and manage all communication activities related logistics and message developer(s) to develop messages for all activities. Based on these discussions CEPPS/NDI drafted the scope of work (SoW) for these positions and developed a roster of possible candidates for the same. CEPPS/NDI identified and shared the CVs of three national experts for the role of the senior communications expert with the NRA. CEPPS/NDI was informed later in February that the role of the senior expert had already been filled by UNDP through a consultant Binod Bhattarai albeit under a different title – Press and Media Advisor. CEPPS/NDI was also informed that in addition to Bhattarai’s part time role as Advisor, UNDP had also contracted another individual Bhuwan KC as a full time Press and Communication Lead for the NRA for a period of six months. In light of these developments, CEPPS/NDI thought it best to focus on hiring a Communications Manager instead.
Upon the request of NRA, CEPPS/NDI’s Senior Program Officer Sneha Moktan was seconded to the organization starting March 4 to work on the NRA Communications Strategy and Plan and to provide other communication related support. In this role, Sneha attended several meetings with
9 A group of organizations providing communication support to the NRA.
50 NRA’s partner organizations to identify individuals and agencies who can generate content, test or check content, and who have resources available to support urgent procurement for NRA. Again, upon the request of NRA, CEPPS/NDI identified a translator, Aalok Tumbahamphey, who translated important NRA documents such as the Information Booklet for Enrollment and Standard Operating Procedures for Enrollment for the NRA.
During this quarter, the special focus was on the NRA’s enrollments programs in various districts for the beneficiaries eligible for government grants for reconstruction. CEPPS/NDI helped coordinate communication support from various partner organizations for this and played a key role in coordinating with both the NDI intern and a World Bank person for translating and inputting around 10,000 beneficiaries’ names for the enrollment process; a critical task as this name list is the basis for the enrollment process.
CEPPS/NDI, along with other members of the Communication Working Group, provided input to media advisor Binod Bhattarai for the key talking points for NRA’s first major press conference held on March 6. On March 20, NRA Press Advisor Binod Bhattarai shared a log frame for communication objectives and corresponding activities with some members of the Communication Working Group. As part of the group NDI gave input in the log frame.
Collaboration with Other USAID Projects or Other Donor Agencies • Based on IFES’ roundtable discussions on election provisions in the new constitution, CEPPS/IFES, the European Union, and UNDP/ESP decided to re-establish the Election Working Group for international donors and implementing organizations to monitor and discuss the election process. The next meeting of the Working Group is scheduled to take place in May. • The ECN organized a meeting of the BRIDGE Coordination Committee this quarter, which was chaired by ECN Secretary, Mr. Sharada Prasad Trital, and included CEPPS/IFES, UNDP/ESP and International IDEA, to review the 2015 BRIDGE activities and discuss proposed activities for 2016. Secretary Trital expressed the positive contributions of BRIDGE activities to the overall capacity development of ECN staff and other electoral stakeholders. • As a collaboration with International IDEA and the Governance Facility consortium, CEPPS/IFES joined the Civic Initiative Center (CIC) Steering Committee, under the chairmanship of the Parliamentary Secretariat. The CIC program focuses on constitution literacy and CEPPS/IFES is augmenting the program with a new training module on electoral provisions and avenues for civic participation in the new constitution. In consultation with the CIC implementing partner Nepal Law Society, CEPPS/IFES’ has developed the curriculum for the program and trained the 27 CIC focal persons to be able to teach the interactive curriculum in selected VDCs.
Activities Next Quarter
CEPPS/NDI OBJECTIVE 1: Political parties more effectively contribute to democratic processes in Nepal.
CEPPS/NDI will conduct the following activities next quarter:
51 ● continue to organize consultations/meetings with partner political parties and single-party activities with political parties.
● continue meetings with FLA ad hoc working committee.
● organize FLA national workshop.
● continue meetings with women wings working committee.
● organize a national Training of Trainers (ToT) workshop for women wings,
● organize district-level women leadership training with political party women wings.
CEPPS/NDI OBJECTIVE 2: Civil society initiatives more effectively contribute to transparent electoral and political processes.
● CEPPS/NDI subgrantees FWLD, J4A and NEOC will continue their monitoring activities in the target districts through surveys, key information interviews, district level consultation and FGDs.
● CEPPS/NDI subgrantees FWLD, J4A and NEOC will hold two joint press meets based on their findings and analysis of the post-earthquake reconstruction process.
● CEPPS/NDI subgrantees FWLD and J4A will develop advocacy leaflets and policy briefing based on key advocacy issues identified from their monitoring of social and gender inclusion in post- earthquake relief and reconstruction.
● CEPPS/NDI subgrantees FEG-Nepal, FWLD, J4A and NEOC will draft their final reports and share them at both district and central level with key stakeholders for input.
● CEPPS/NDI will conduct a workshop for the four Civil Society Program subgrantees on Data Analysis and Reporting.
● CEPPS partners IFES and NDI will continue their support for NVRF and NEOC to hold a more public conference with political parties to express the stands of civil society on holding timely local elections.
CEPPS/IFES OBJECTIVE 2: Strengthen institutions involved in electoral processes, either as actors or participants.
CEPPS/IFES Sub-Objective 2.B: Strengthen democratic legal framework for elections
• Work with the ECN to share and finalize the political party law after conducting regional consultation programs with political parties and other relevant stakeholders, such as media and civil society members.
52 • Develop the remaining four electoral laws—National Assembly Election Act, Provincial Assembly Election Act, House of Representatives Election Act, and Local Bodies Election Procedure Act—and provide analysis and feedback to the ECN on the four laws that have already been drafted.
CEPPS/IFES Sub-Objective 2.C: Strengthen electoral management capacity of the ECN
• Continue support for the nationwide ECN-led voter registration drive in collaboration with UNDP/ESP. • Support capacity building for ECN staff and DEOs by conducting trainings on the electoral provisions in the Constitution and facilitating implementation of the GESI action plan, including a study on the Political Participation of Persons with Disabilities and the development of Guidelines for Gender Responsive Budgeting in Elections. • Support the finalization of EDR and political finance training manuals for political party cascade trainings and a Master Training of Trainers (MTOT) • Support Electoral Access BRIDGE trainings for election stakeholders in five districts and Electoral Education Training to secondary and higher secondary level school teachers in at least two districts. • Work with the ECN and other government representatives to develop a process for the removal of deceased voters from the voter registry and support voters to recover vital documents lost during the earthquake. • Support content development for the ECN website, media center, and press office, with an emphasis on building the ECN’s capacity to maintain these resources on its own.
CEPPS/IFES Sub-Objective 2.D: Expand and improve delivery of voter and civic education
• Support the new CSO partners to provide voter registration help desk support to DEOs and DAOs as needed and plan and conduct joint mobile camps for citizenship certificate dissemination and voter registration in marginalized communities. • Continue to support CSO partners, six DPO partners, and 14 CICs through field monitoring visits and the development of education new materials on VR, CC, and electoral provisions in the constitution. • With the support of a local expert on decentralization and local governance, develop training materials and a reference manual on local government, decentralization, and civic and electoral participation at the local level. • Support relevant stakeholders to finalize and disseminate research on political participation of people with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities.
53 • Provide support to NVRF to expand its network at the district and village level and facilitate discussions on the urgency of local elections with political parties. • Finalize development of a mobile application to facilitate more effective implementation of the CSO program and train CSO partners on its use. • Select Radio FM partners and a national level production agency to implement VE Radio programs. • Facilitate field visits for the ECN to interact with IFES’ CSO partners in their respective districts as well as inter-district visits to share views and experiences amongst DEOs.
CEPPS/NDI OBJECTIVE 3: The CA/LP more effectively fulfills its democratic functions.
Next quarter, CEPPS/NDI will conduct the following activities:
● Support parliamentarians to organize two constituency outreach activities, one district level public dialogue and one central level stakeholders' discussion.
● Support the parliamentary Finance Committee to organize pre-budget discussions in six districts.
● Support the parliamentary committee Industry, Commerce and Consumer Welfare Relations Committee on organization of one workshop on 'Trade Diversification: Challenges and Opportunities' and one public discussion on proposed amendment bill of 'Industrial Enterprises Act'.
● Support the parliamentary Social Justice and Human Rights Committee with a legislative research and analysis intern and in organizing site visits to some districts to monitor compliance of the different parties to the 1996-2006 conflict with the Comprehensive Peace Agreement which was signed in 2006.
● Support to the Governance and Monitoring Committee to organize two regional conference in the Role of State and Non State Actors in Promoting Good Governance and Nation Building.
● Support the organization of post-disaster reconstruction forums in two earthquake affected districts.
● Organize a policy dialogue with parliamentarians and youth entrepreneurs in collaboration with FNCCI.
CEPPS/NDI Sub-Objective 4: Strengthen the GON’s capacity to communicate effectively on earthquake relief, recovery and reconstruction efforts.
● Assuming that the MOIC’s new Secretariat staff are interested and willing, CEPPS/NDI will work with the ministry to identify areas in which CEPPS/NDI can provide assistance
54 to the ministry in enhancing its role as the government’s spokesperson, especially in times of a crisis.
● CEPPS/NDI will continue to coordinate with NRA’s advisors and communication staff to identify and place needed communication personnel. CEPPS/NDI also will continue its role in providing assistance and input as a member of the communications working group, help coordinate communication support among partner organizations and help with urgent translations of key documents and lists such as the beneficiaries’ names lists.
III. RESULTS10
Indicator CEPPS Quarter Male Female (IFES or Total NDI) (Jan - Mar 2016)
USAID Objective 1: Promote and strengthen broader political processes through political party development assistance.
CEPPS/NDI OBJECTIVE 1: Political parties more effectively contribute to democratic processes in Nepal.
Indicator 1.1: Number of political parties who NDI Year 6, NA NA adopt democratic reform measures. Quarter 4
Indicator 1.2: Number of political parties NDI Year 6, NA NA communicating effectively with district branch Quarter 4 offices.
F Indicator GJD 3.3: Number of individuals who NDI 1,049 660 389 receive USG-assisted political party training.
F indicator: Number of political parties and NDI Year 5, NA NA political groupings receiving USG assistance to Quarter 4 help them develop more programmatic platforms and policy agendas.
F Indicator 1.4-1:Numbers of NDI Year 6, NA NA Policies/Regulations/Administrative Procedures in Quarter 4 each of the following stages of development as a result of USG assistance in each case: Stage 1: Analyzed; Stage 2: Drafted and presented for public/stakeholder consultation; Stage 3: Presented
10 New indicators for Year 6 have been added to this section (in red).
55 for legislation/decree; Stage 4: Passed/approved; Stage 5: Passed for which implementation has begun
F indicator 1.4.1-1: Number of policies introduced, NDI Year 6, NA NA adopted, repealed, changed or implemented Quarter 4 consistent with citizen input.
F indicator 1.2.3-3: Number of USG supported NDI Year 6, NA NA trainings, events and activities designed to help Quarter 4 political parties develop more programmatic platforms and policy agendas.
Sub-Objective 1.A: Improve democratic political party organization structures and operations.
Intermediate Result 1.1: Political parties are more representative of Nepali citizens.
Indicator 1.1.2.1: Number of USG-assisted NDI Year 6, NA NA political parties implementing programs to Quarter 4 increase the number of candidates and members who are women, youth, and from other marginalized groups.
F Indicator 1.3.2-3 Number of USG-supported NDI Year 6, NA NA initiatives to increase the number of political party Quarter 4 candidates and/or members who are women, youth and/or from vulnerable groups.
Indicator 1.1.2.2: Number of non-office holder NDI 3 1 2 FLA graduates who seek office.
Indicator 1.1.3.1: Number of political parties that NDI Year 6, NA NA implement citizen outreach strategies. Quarter 4
Intermediate Result 1.4: Political parties are better prepared to adapt and comply with the new legal framework regulating political parties.
Indicator 1.4.1: Number of follow-on political NDI 24 NA NA party trainings.
Sub-Objective 1.B: Enhance the electoral competitiveness of political parties.
Intermediate Result 1.2: Political parties in Nepal more effectively implement competitive electoral campaigns.
56 Indicator 1.2.1: Number of political parties that NDI Year 4, NA NA implement issue-based campaigns. Quarter 4
Indicator 1.2.1.1: Number of women who are NDI Year 6, NA NA elected to different party structures at the district Quarter 4 and national level.
Indicator 1.2.2: Number of key issues of citizen NDI Year 4, NA NA concern discussed in public candidate debates. Quarter 4
Intermediate Result 1.3: Citizens have more information and analysis on the policy differences across political parties in Nepal.
Indicator 1.3.1: Number of investigative stories on NDI Year 2, NA NA political party policies published by trained Quarter 4 journalists
Indicator 1.3.2: Readiness of journalists to publish NDI Year 1, NA NA investigative stories on political parties. Quarter 4
Indicator 1.3.2.2: Number of journalists trained NDI Year 1, with USG assistance in advanced reporting Quarter 4 techniques.
USAID Objective 2: Strengthen institutions involved in electoral processes, either as actors or participants.
CEPPS/NDI OBJECTIVE 2: Civil society initiatives more effectively contribute to transparent electoral processes.
Indicator 2A.1: Quality of domestic NGOs' NDI Year 4, NA NA published election monitoring reports and Quarter 4 methodology.
Indicator 2A.2: Number of objective election- NDI Year 2, NA NA related reporting published by national journalists. Quarter 4
Sub-Objective 2.A: Enhance the capacity of civil society to monitor elections.
Intermediate Result 2.1: Non-partisan election monitoring efforts are more comprehensive and systematic.
F Indicator GJD 3.2: Number of domestic election NDI Year 4, NA NA observers trained with USG assistance Quarter 4
Indicator 2A.1.2.3: Number of individuals familiar NDI Year 4, NA NA with the citizen observer group post-election Quarter 4 recommendations.
57 Sub-Objective 2.B: Strengthen the capacity of media to report on the electoral process.
Intermediate Result 2.2: Media are better informed to cover election related issues at the national and district levels.
Indicator 2A.2.1: Increased number of locally NDI Year 2, NA NA relevant election stories developed by national Quarter 4 journalists.
Indicator 2A.2.2: Journalists increase NDI Year 2, NA NA collaboration. Quarter 4
Indicator 2A.2.3: Journalists are better prepared to NDI Year 1, NA NA cover election related issues at the national and Quarter 4 district levels
CEPPS/NDI OBJECTIVE 2: Civil society initiatives more effectively contribute to transparent electoral and political processes.
F indicator 1.3.3-3: Number of USG-assisted civil NDI Year 6, NA NA society organizations that participate in legislative Quarter 3 proceedings and/or engage in advocacy with national legislature and its committees.
F indicator 1.3.3-2 Number of instances of contact NDI 0 NA NA between USG-supported CSOs and government officials (e.g. phone calls, emails, personal visits) with the intention to (1) advocate on policies; (2) request information with which to hold government officials accountable
Sub-Objective 2.A: Enhance the capacity of civil society to monitor elections.
Intermediate Result 2.1: CSOs systematically monitor political and electoral processes.
F indicator 1.2.2-3: Number of USAID supported NDI 1 NA NA CSOs and community management entities engaged in public expenditure tracking
Indicator 2.1.1: Number of activities that USG NDI 80 NA NA assisted CSOs carry out to monitor political processes
Indicator 2.1.2: Number of individuals who receive NDI 13 8 5 USG assisted training on political process monitoring
58 Intermediate Result 2.2: CSOs effectively advocate relevant stakeholders on issues identified through monitoring.
F indicator 1.3-4: Number of civil society NDI Year 6, organizations (CSOs) receiving USG assistance Quarter 3 engaged in advocacy interventions
CEPPS/IFES OBJECTIVE 2: Strengthen institutions involved in electoral processes, either as actors or participants.
Sub-Objective 2B: Strengthened democratic legal framework for elections.
Intermediate Result 2B.1: Improved legal framework that ensures transparent electoral procedures that promote genuine and competitive elections.
Impact Indicator 2B.1: Degree to which legal IFES C NA NA framework meets international standards (Adequate framework that requires reform on some major issues to meet internationa l electoral law standards)
Impact Indicator 2B.2: Degree to which IFES Year 6, NA NA international and domestic election observers Quarter report that the legal framework provides a sound 4 basis for the conduct of credible elections
Outcome Indicator 2B.1.1: Percentage of targeted IFES Year 6, NA NA stakeholders who believe that the legal framework Quarter provides a sound basis for the conduct of credible 4 elections
Output Indicator 2B.1.2: Number of Laws or IFES 3 NA NA Amendments to ensure credible elections drafted with USG technical assistance (F Indicator, GJD 3.2)
Output Indicator 2B.1.3: Number of regulations to IFES Year 6, NA NA ensure credible elections drafted and issued with Quarter USG technical assistance 4
Intermediate Result 2B.2: Legal framework is a product of inclusive, public dialogue.
59 Outcome Indicator 2B.2.1: Percentage of relevant IFES Year 6, NA NA recommendations from USG- assisted stakeholder Quarter consultations that are incorporated into the legal 4 framework
Output Indicator 2B.2.2.a: Number of USG- IFES 6 NA NA assisted public sessions held regarding proposed changes to the country's legal framework (F Indicator, GJD 1.1)
Output Indicator 2B.2.2.b: Number of participants IFES 500 398 102 in USG-assisted public sessions held regarding proposed changes to the country's legal framework (F Indicator, GJD 1.1)
Output Indicator 2B.2.3: Number of local CSOs IFES 78 NA NA strengthened that promote electoral reform and/or improvements in the electoral system (F Indicator, GJD 3.2)
Sub-Objective 2C: Strengthened electoral management capacity of ECN.
Impact Indicator 2C.1.a: Percentage of citizens IFES Year 6, NA NA reporting confidence in the integrity of the ECN Quarter 4
Impact Indicator 2C.1.b: Percentage of citizens IFES Year 6, NA NA reporting confidence in the capacity of the ECN Quarter 4
Impact Indicator 2C.2: Number of benchmarks IFES Year 6, NA NA met in the implementation of the ECN's Strategic Quarter Plan 4
Intermediate Result 2C.1: Strengthened institutional capacity of the ECN to manage the electoral process.
Outcome Indicator 2C.1.1: Number of electoral IFES 1 NA NA administration procedures and systems strengthened with USG assistance (F Indicator, GJD 3.2)
Outcome Indicator 2C.1.2: Percentage of ballots IFES After NA NA counted as spoilt following the election election
60 Outcome Indicator 2C.1.3: Percentage of voters IFES After NA NA who report voting with ease, specifically regarding election the ballot structure
Output Indicator 2C.1.4.a: Number of ballot guides IFES Before NA NA developed in accessible formats with USG support election
Output Indicator 2C.1.4.b: Number of ballot IFES Before NA NA guides in accessible format distributed to polling election stations with USG support
Outcome Indicator 2C.1.5: Percentage of polling IFES Before NA NA stations that are physically accessible for voters election with disabilities, in line with best standards
Intermediate Result 2C.2: Increased professionalism and competence of election officials.
Outcome Indicator 2C.2.1: Percentage of ECN IFES Year 6, NA NA officials who effectively applied techniques and Quarter lessons learned from USG-assisted 4 training/capacity-building initiatives in their jobs to reflect greater professionalism and electoral competence
Outcome Indicator 2C.2.2: Degree to which IFES After NA NA international and domestic election observers Local report that temporary electoral workers conduct Elections their duties in accordance with the law and procedures
Output Indicator 2C.2.3: Number of electoral IFES 320 283 37 officials trained with USG assistance (F Indicator, GJD 3.2)
Output Indicator 2C.2.4: Number of training IFES 1 NA NA materials for electoral officials developed with USG assistance (F Indicator)
Intermediate Result 2C.3: Integration of gender issues in electoral management.
Outcome Indicator 2C.3.1: Number of IFES Year 6, NA NA benchmarks met in the implementation of the Quarter ECN's Gender and Inclusion Strategy 4
Output Indicator 2C.3.2: Number of election IFES 36 30 6 officials and other stakeholders trained on
61 implementation of key principles of the Gender and Inclusion strategy
CEPPS/IFES OBJECTIVE 2D: Expanded and improved delivery of voter education
Impact Indicator 2D.1: Percentage change in IFES Year 6, NA NA citizens knowledgeable about electoral processes Quarter following USG-supported voter education. 4
Intermediate Result 2D.1: Increased understanding of the electoral process among stakeholders and voters
Outcome Indicator 2D.1.1.a: Percentage of target IFES Year 6, NA NA stakeholders that understand the electoral system Quarter 4
Outcome Indicator 2D.1.1.b: Percentage of target IFES Year 6, NA NA stakeholders that understand the electoral Quarter legislation 4
Outcome Indicator 2D.1.2: Percentage of target IFES Insuffici NA NA citizens demonstrating an increase in knowledge of ent Data the electoral process after voter education for programs Reportin g
Output Indicator 2D.1.3: Number of people IFES 22,298 10,751 11,547 reached by USG assisted voter education (F indicator, GJD 3.2)
Intermediate Result 2D.2: Increased local capacity in providing voter education
Outcome indicator 2D.2.1: Degree to which local IFES Year 6, NA NA partners implement voter education strategies Quarter 4
Outcome indicator 2D.2.2: Degree to which ECN IFES Year 6, NA NA implements voter education strategies and Quarter programs 4
Output Indicator 2D.2.3: Number of local CSOs IFES 16 NA NA strengthened that promote political participation and voter education (F indicator, GJD 3.2)
USAID Objective 3: Improve the democratic functioning of the Constituent Assembly (CA)/Parliament.
62 CEPPS/NDI OBJECTIVE 3: The CA/LP more effectively fulfills its democratic functions.
Indicator 3.1: Extent to which CA/Legislature NDI Year 6, NA NA incorporates technical support and information into Quarter 4 parliamentary processes
Indicator 3.F. GJD 2.1: Number of national NDI 41 32 9 legislators and national staff attending USG supported training or educational events
Sub-Objective 3.A: Strengthen the legislative drafting capacity of the CA/LP.
Intermediate Result 3.1: The CA/LP effectively reviews and deliberates bills under consideration.
Indicator 1.2.1-1: Number of draft laws reviewed NDI Year 6, NA NA by legislative committees Quarter 4
Indicator 3.1.1: Number of policy dialogues NDI Year 5, NA NA conducted. Quarter 4
Indicator 3.1.1.3: Percent of committee staff and NDI 0 NA NA MPs that finds research and analytical debriefs useful
Indicator 3.1.1.2: Number of Dayitwa fellows who NDI Year 5, NA NA provide support to MPs Quarter 4
Sub-Objective 3.B: Increase communication between representatives and their constituents
IR 3.2: MPs incorporate constituent input into legislative processes.
F Indicator GJD 2.1: Number of public forums NDI 3 NA NA resulting from USG assistance in which national legislators and members of the public interact.
Indicator 3.2.1: Number of activities involving NDI Year 6, NA NA MPs that gather constituent input Quarter 3
Indicator 3.2.1.2: Number of citizens addressing NDI Year 6, NA NA elected officials at constituency outreach activities Quarter 3
IR 3.3: CA/LP proceedings are more transparent.
63 Indicator 3.3.1: Media has access to legislative NDI Year 6, NA NA proceedings and the parliament communicates its Quarter 4 work through the media center.
CEPPS/NDI Sub-Objective 4: Strengthen the GON’s capacity to communicate effectively on earthquake relief, recovery and reconstruction efforts.
Indicator 3.F. GJD 2.2.2-6: Number of training NDI Year 6, NA NA days provided to executive branch personnel with Quarter USG assistance 3/4
Indicator 4.1: Number of individuals receiving NDI Year 6, training on communications and outreach Quarter strategies. 3/4
Indicator 4.2: Percent of NRA and MOIC staff that NDI Year 6, report useful interaction with communication Quarter personnel 3/4
Indicator 4.3: Number of communication outreach NDI Year 6, NA NA activities conducted by the GON on its actions, Quarter responses and efforts related to earthquake relief, 3/4 recovery and reconstruction
Indicator 4.4: GON communications and outreach NDI Stage 2: NA NA strategy currently in the following stages of Drafted development as a result of USG assistance: Stage 1: Analyzed; Stage 2: Drafted; Stage 3: Approved; Stage 4: Being implemented.
IV. FOREIGN ASSISTANCE INDICATORS
I.
CEPPS Quarter FY11 FY12 FY13 FY14 FY15 FY16 Award Foreign Assistance Indicators (IFES/N Total Total Total Total Total Total Total Total DI) Number of individuals who received 1,049 1,049 975 1,370 4,761 2,270 2,122 2,032 13, 530 USG-assisted political party training. (NDI) Number of political parties and political groupings receiving USG assistance to help them develop more 0 (NDI) 0 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A programmatic platforms and policy agendas F indicator 1.2.3-3 Number of USG supported trainings, events and 0 (NDI) 0 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 9 9 activities designed to help political parties develop more
64 programmatic platforms and policy agendas. Numbers of Policies/Regulations/Administrative Procedures in each of the following stages of development as a result of USG assistance in each case: Stage 1: Analyzed; Stage 2: Drafted and 0 (NDI) 0 N/A N/A N/A N/A 11 0 11 presented for public/stakeholder consultation; Stage 3: Presented for legislation/decree; Stage 4: Passed/approved; Stage 5: Passed for which implementation has begun Number of policies introduced, adopted, repealed, changed or 0 (NDI) 0 N/A N/A N/A N/A 12 0 12 implemented consistent with citizen input 1.3.2-3 Number of USG-supported initiatives to increase the number of political party candidates and/or 0 (NDI) 0 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 0 0 members who are women, youth and/or from vulnerable groups. Number of domestic election observers and/or party agents trained with USG 0 (NDI) 0 0 0 1,256 432 N/A N/A 1,688 assistance. Indicator: Number of USG-assisted civil society organizations that participate in legislative proceedings 0 (NDI) 0 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 0 0 and/or engage in advocacy with national legislature and its committees F indicator 1.3.3-2 Number of instances of contact between USG- supported CSOs and government officials (e.g. phone calls, emails, 0 (NDI) 0 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 18 18 personal visits) with the intention to (1) advocate on policies; (2) request information with which to hold government officials accountable F indicator 1.3-4 Number of civil society organizations (CSOs) receiving 0 (NDI) 0 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 0 0 USG assistance engaged in advocacy interventions Number of laws or amendments to ensure credible elections drafted with 3 (IFES) 3 0 0 0 3 1 3 7 USG technical assistance Number of USG-assisted public sessions held regarding proposed 6 (IFES) 6 6 2 0 6 2 8 24 changes to the country’s legal framework Number of local CSOs strengthened 78 that promote electoral reform and/or 78 29 18 0 76 47 102 272 (IFES) improvements in the electoral system. Number of electoral administration procedures and systems strengthened 1 (IFES) 1 3 5 11 6 2 1 28 with USG assistance.
65 Number of local CSOs strengthened 16 that promote political participation and 16 18 21 23 22 21 28 36 (IFES) voter education11 Number of election officials trained 320 320 88,199 345 645 3,511 1,022 538 94,260 with USG assistance (IFES) Number of national legislators and national legislative staff attending 141 141 273 134 136 734 194 241 1,712 USG sponsored training or educational (NDI) events. Number of public forums resulting from USG assistance in which national 5 (NDI) 5 22 15 5 15 53 7 117 legislators and members of the public interact. Indicator 3.F. GJD 2.2.2-6: Number of training days provided to executive 0 (NDI) 0 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 0 0 branch personnel with USG assistance.
V. SUCCESS STORIES
Election Commission, Nepal – New strides in political finance regulations
The regulation of political party and campaign finance has always been a challenge for the ECN. Political parties consistently fail to comply with regulations and the ECN has lacked the political will and technical knowledge to enforce the regulations.12 The absence of timely and accurate reporting by political parties poses a threat to the fairness and credibility of the electoral process.
District election officers engage in CEPPS/IFES has been building the capacity of the ECN on group discussion during a political finance for the past year. In February 2015, Dr. Magnus workshop on political finance. Ohman, CEPPS/IFES’ Senior Political Finance Expert conducted a training on principles and international standards of political finance. Encouraged by the training, the ECN formed a working group that collaborated with CEPPS/IFES to develop a customized BRIDGE workshop curriculum on political finance, based on the CEPPS/IFES publication, Training in Detection and Enforcement (TIDE): Political Finance Oversight Handbook. The ECN has utilized the curriculum to train all 75 District Election Offices in CEPPS/IFES-supported BRIDGE workshops.
11 The grand total is the unique number of CSOs and not the sum of year-wise figures presented. 12 Article 12 of the Political Party Act, 2002; and Clause (b) of Sub-section 1 of Article 24 of the Election Commission Act, 2007
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These trainings and increased awareness of the technical aspects of Nepal’s existing political finance regulations have empowered the ECN to discuss more stringent political finance regulations be included in the draft political party law it will submit to Parliament. The trainings also motivated two DEOs to write articles13 about political finance and share the importance of political finance with the public. National level journalists engage in a group exercise during the workshop. The ECN subsequently organized a series of six one-day briefings for a total of 130 (18 women) representatives of 108 political parties on how to fill out the required financial reports. As a direct result, 67 political parties immediately submitted their financial reports. Of these, 40 parties submitted their one-year report, 21 submitted two-year reports, and 6 submitted three-year reports. Almost three times the number of parties submitted their reports on time compared to previous years. Furthermore, on March 4, the ECN took the initiative to deregister 15 political parties for failing to submit financial reports for the three consecutive years.
Going forward, the new electoral legal framework that CEPPS/IFES is supporting the ECN to produce will be instrumental in institutionalizing and clarifying what is now an ad hoc set of regulations regarding political finance. Furthermore, CEPPS/IFES will continue to empower the ECN to educate all electoral stakeholders on Nepal’s political finance regulations so the ECN can better enforce these laws in upcoming elections. This partnership with the ECN has also led NVRF to organize a BRIDGE training on political finance for its steering committee members, and CEPPS/IFES has been asked to provide training to private sector organizations on the topic.
CSOs monitoring activities and interaction programs provide platform for earthquake victims’ voices to be heard by government officials and media
The ability for victims to obtain ID cards to access reconstruction funds has emerged as one of the biggest challenges in the post-earthquake reconstruction process. This is an even bigger issue for women who often do not have citizenship certificates to begin with, and are not seen as heads of households due to unclear guidelines by the government. Many women lost their husbands in the two earthquakes in Nepal and now are finding it difficult to attain the card, which will give them The Women Development Officer in Gorkha access to funds to rebuild or repair their sharing earthquake experiences. earthquake affected houses.
During an information-sharing discussion organized by FWLD in Gorkha on January 19, the Women Development Officer spoke about a woman whose husband was missing since the
13 Articles were written in a regional online portal and a national daily.
67 earthquake and was unable to get the ID card without a citizenship certificate. The acting chief district officer and several journalists as well as other local stakeholders were also in attendance. The next day, the national daily Republica ran her story and soon thereafter, she received her citizenship certificate. This is an example of how the CSOs monitoring activities have identified challenges and provided opportunities for earthquake victims to share their stories, giving them a platform for their voices to be heard by government officials and bringing it to the attention of the media.
CSOs Create a Joint Platform to Report on Reconstruction Challenges With the assistance of CEPPS/NDI, three prominent CSOs with wide reach in the districts have developed a joint platform to address reconstruction issues identified as challenges in six of the most affected districts by the earthquakes. Many challenges in the reconstruction efforts have been identified by the government authorities and there has been a need for coordinated civil society action to address and help resolve such challenges. The Forum for Women, Law and Development, a CSO participants at one of this quarter’s press prominent well-established organization in conferences. legislation and litigation for women rights, Justice for All, a group of lawyers for issues affecting marginalized groups, and the National Elections Observation Committee, an election observation organization with experience in gathering nation-wide information in a structured manner, have agreed to coordinate their efforts in reporting in regular basis prominent issues of specific groups in districts affected by the earthquake and become a single, more powerful voice to get the authorities to act on those issues. Since January of this year, when the three CSOs began monitoring reconstruction issues in six districts between them, they have held two press conferences to focus attention on specific and most urgent challenges of reconstruction, one roundtable discussion with reconstruction authorities and various meetings with reconstruction authorities to address these challenges. Following the press conferences, both local and national newspapers have highlighted the issues raised by the CSOs. This initiative by the three different CSOs to discuss their findings from their separate monitoring activities and present them on a joint platform has magnified their voices and is an example of how coordinated civil society efforts can attract increased attention. The CSOs are now preparing to issue detailed monitoring reports, which will serve as the basis for their joint advocacy campaign to resolve the hindering reconstruction process and impeding most affected groups in rebuilding their lives after the earthquakes.
VI. ANALYSIS
Progress toward Achieving Objectives/Impact
68 CEPPS OBJECTIVE 1 (NDI): Political parties more effectively contribute to democratic processes in Nepal.
During this quarter, CEPPS/NDI continued to provide technical assistance to the partner political parties to strengthen party organization and build up capacity of the party cadres. CEPPS/NDI provided a series of single-party workshops to NC, CPN-UML, UCPN-M, RPP-N, RPP and MJFN-D. The support with NC focused to develop and review internal party policy. These workshops provided the party leaders to involve themselves in party’s policy development process and party internal process, strengthening accountability and transparency within the party. Based on discussions with party district president, general convention (inclusive) members and women general convention members and district level senior leaders, NC identified the key issues to be submitted to the Statute Review/Policy and Program Committee. The committee developed proposal and tabulated at the 13th national convention of the party. Following the outcome of these workshops, the party restructured its central working committee approving the provision to elect two members from each province, and included in party policy to develop strategies of capacity building activities targeting women and Dalits to increase inclusivity. Meanwhile, responding to the request of MJFN-D, CEPPS/NDI assisted the party in organizing a discussion session with the party statute drafting committee, and district presidents and representatives from party organizations, focusing on the key agenda to put forth in the first upcoming national convention of the party after splitting with the mother party, MJF-N. The activity provided a platform to the party leaders and party officials to discuss on the constitution, key areas of focus for reforming party statute and policy, acts and regulations, strengthening internal party democracy, inclusion, proposal on political, economic, social and environment reform agenda promoting collective and participatory decision making process, accountability and transparency within the party. The party statute drafting committee based on the discussion has prepared a proposal as baseline for developing party statute, policy reform issues, restructuring the party organization in line with the new constitution.
Similarly, CEPPS/NDI provided regional/district-level training sessions to RPP focusing on salient features of the 2015 constitution, party ideology, party organization development, local election preparations, office operation, membership development, leadership, internal and external communication, and role of information and technology in party organization development to RPP. During the training, new email accounts for each district president and secretary were created which become cornerstones of party internal communication. The party also assessed the district branch offices and district organizations, solicited the role of district branches to strengthen party organizations, which encouraged the party to take initiative on party organization revival and strengthen local party branches. Following the regional training, RPP formed district level training units and appointed district level training coordinators in 19 districts.
In addition, CEPPS/NDI conducted a district-level youth and policy development training for political party youth leaders in Tarai district - Dhanusha. The training sessions provided practical tips to the youth leaders on inter party cooperation on youth cross cutting issues. It also introduced the use of youth surveys as a tool to collect information from ordinary youth enabling the participants to identify local youth issues in their districts. The youth from political parties engaged themselves, how they could work together on youth issues and develop strategies within the party and cross-party level to look for a common avenue to address issues of Madheshi- marginalized
69 youth. Meanwhile, youth from Nuwakot have initiated to work together. With technical assistance from CEPPS/NDI, they have prepared a short policy document to advocate for school building construction initiatives through youth mobilization and to look for donor agencies or civil society organizations, who work on the education sector, to advocate on the identified issues.
CEPPS/NDI continued to support and technical assistance to the multiparty women wings with leadership training for the women leaders representing six political parties. This assistance brought women from political parties together and provided a forum to engage them to discuss women’s challenges and potential solutions, provided technical skills and knowledge on communication, the new constitution, and preparation for local elections. In such, political party women discussed exclusively in forming a joint national women’s political platform for advocating women’s issues. After these discussions, women wings prioritized the issues to advocate for a women concerned agenda, and engaged themselves in briefing sessions with the director general of Health Department Services on health issues, and the ECN on draft political party law and the National Planning Commission. This assistance has even encouraged political parties’ women wings to put their heads up on women issues.
All these activities reflect that political parties are taking steps to become more inclusive by promoting women, youth and marginalized groups and developing internal party democracy.
CEPPS/NDI OBJECTIVE 2: Civil society initiatives more effectively contribute to transparent electoral and political processes.
During this quarter all four CEPPS/NDI CSO subgrantees conducted a significant number of monitoring activities, which contributed to their primary objective of monitoring various political processes. The CSOs were able to use the training they received in the last quarter to collect information and data through different tools and periodically monitor their targeted political processes. Each CSO has collected qualitative and quantitative data through their monitoring tools, which will inform their final reports and the advocacy work that they will commence in the next quarter.
Building upon the training on monitoring political processes in general given to representatives of various CSOs in the last quarter, CEPPS/NDI’s training this quarter on budget analysis and tracking, added to the knowledge of CSOs on how to include budget monitoring in their work to complement their overall monitoring.
CEPPS/IFES OBJECTIVE 2: Strengthen institutions involved in electoral processes, either as actors or participants.
CEPPS/IFES Sub-Objective 2.B: Strengthen democratic legal framework for elections
CEPPS/IFES provided significant input to support the ECN to draft electoral laws required by the new Constitution. The ECN’s request that CEPPS/IFES provide this support is an important opportunity to strengthen the legal framework, and CEPPS/IFES is working with local legal experts and international experts to make recommendations to the ECN that are reflective of the local context, requirements of the Constitution, and international best practice. Senior ECN
70 officials and the members of the ECN’s legal division systematically reviewed the draft political party law, and the ECN plans to engage in a similar in-depth review of the new electoral laws following the completion of drafts.
CEPPS/IFES Sub-Objective 2.C: Strengthen electoral management capacity of the ECN
The frequent turnover of election officials during this quarter required CEPPS/IFES to rebuild partnerships in the legal division, IT, the GI unit, and the planning division. This is especially difficult as we aim to transfer knowledge and build the institutional capacity of the ECN. CEPPS/IFES has discussed this in earlier reports with regards to the ECN’s training capacity and drive. An area which needs similar attention is monitoring and results tracking. CEPPS/IFES M&E Manager is currently preparing a step by step plan to introduce elements and mechanisms to the ECN planning division which can be integrated and developed further.
CEPPS/IFES Sub-Objective 2.D: Expand and improve delivery of voter and civic education
During this period, partner CSOs from the previous voter education sub-award projects received frequent requests for support from DEOs to implement voter registration mobile camps as part of the ECN’s six-month voter registration drive. This marks a significant improvement in the working relationship between the DEOs and CSOs and a recognition that CSOs’ efficient and coordinated field mobilization is an asset for DEOs seeking to maximize the effectiveness of the camps. The development of a new voter education curriculum, with the addition of a storytelling component, was well received by CEPPS/IFES partner CSOs. CEPPS/IFES is now ready to produce related EEIC materials and drama episodes for the upcoming radio programs based on these new characters reflecting everyday Nepali life.
CEPPS/NDI OBJECTIVE 3: The CA/LP more effectively fulfills its democratic functions.
This quarter, CEPPS/NDI continued to expand its work and relationships with parliamentary committees to strengthen the capacity of the MPs and staff. This support took the form of workshops, conference, committee hearings with relevant stakeholders and provision of experts to review draft bills and identify gaps and outreach to media on specific bills. CEPPS/NDI organized a roundtable discussion with the Industry, Commerce and Consumer Welfare Relations Committee about their oversight role with a particular focus on how parliamentary committees around the world act on behalf of citizens in times of crisis, and the current issues and challenges in Nepal affecting consumers due to the thriving black market. Such discussions underscore the importance for this committee to consider initiating reforms in the current laws and bilateral trade agreements. CEPPS/NDI's support to the Legislative Committee for an outreach workshop to media on the Civil and Criminal Code encouraged the media's interest on the bill's process and to follow related discussions in future until the bill gets passed. In addition, CEPPS/NDI's support to the Good Governance and Monitoring Committee in organizing a national conference created a platform for state and non-state actors to have a continued dialogue in promoting policy change, considering non state actors as a valuable and independent partner.
In addition, CEPPS/NDI organized a number of follow up meetings with its parliamentary partners, namely, the Development Committee, Social Justice and Human Rights Committee, the
71 Good Governance and Monitoring Committee, the Finance Committee, and the Women, Children, Senior Citizens and Social Welfare Committee. These meetings were aimed at helping organize a number of activities including: monitoring visits to observe developments infrastructure projects in some districts under the Constituency Development Program (CDP) to support the Development Committee; site visits to some districts to monitor compliance of the different parties to the 1996- 2006 conflict with the Comprehensive Peace Agreement to support the Social Justice and Human Rights Committee; and two regional conferences on the role of state and non-state actors in Nepal’s future to support the Good Governance and Monitoring Committee.. Due to delay in the reconstruction process some of the activities planned under this objective such as post disaster district level forums and MPs constituency outreach could not be implemented. As such, these parliamentary activities have been postponed to next quarter.
CEPPS/NDI Sub-Objective 4: Strengthen the GON’s capacity to communicate effectively on earthquake relief, recovery and reconstruction efforts.
During this quarter, CEPPS/NDI facilitated several working meetings and discussions with the NRA and the latter’s communications partners, and was able to draft a communications and outreach strategy. This drafting process has involved several rounds of input from various communication experts ranging from the government, donor organizations to organizations like BBC Media Action, and once approved will help streamline and guide all communication related activities for the NRA.
Financial
• On March 14, CEPPS submitted a no-cost extension request to USAID to extend the SPPELP program through February 28, 2017. This timeline was developed in response to USAID/Nepal’s request that CEPPS extend the program into 2017 to continue through possible fall 2016 local elections and follow-on activities. The new proposed end date of the project also reflects CEPPS partners’ recent increase in spending rates in light of opportunities presented in the post-constitutional context and anticipated needs should local elections be held during the project period.
Gender Integration
With the support of CEPPS/IFES, the ECN is conducting orientation sessions targeting marginalized women to explain the ECN GI policy and strategy. The training on Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) by the GI unit to ECN officials responsible for budget development has generated the will on the part of the ECN to write up its own GRB guidelines for future application. With its new CSO program, CEPPS/IFES continues to reach out to the most marginalized communities, including women, and has extended its efforts nationwide to Nepal’s 14 earthquake-affected zones with the CIC outreach sessions.
VII. LIST OF ATTACHMENTS
Appendix I – Nepal Elections Timeline under the new Constitution Appendix II – ECN Media Center Concept Note
72 Appendix III – Booklet on electoral provisions and participation Appendix IV – Evaluation of Radio Magazine Voters' Forum Appendix V – April 2016 IFES Nepal Constitution Electoral Provisions Factsheet
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