Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal Ministry of Finance (MOF) PREPARATORY SURVEY ON THE PROJECT FOR HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT SCHOLARSHIP IN THE FEDERAL DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF NEPAL FINAL REPORT JUNE 2019 JAPAN INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION AGENCY (JICA) JAPAN DEVELOPMENT SERVICE CO., LTD. (JDS) GL JR 19-004 SUMMARY The Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal (hereinafter referred to as “Nepal”) presents a situation where the capacities and institutional framework of government organizations, including ministries and agencies, assigned to deal with various development issues are generally insufficient in terms of the staff strength, organizational structure, system, finance, etc., necessitating improvement of the administrative competency and the design of an appropriate system to properly address each development issue. The Project for Human Resources Development Scholarship, which is a grant aid cooperation project for foreign students to study in Japan since FY 2000, accepted some 4,200 students (JDS fellows) from a total of 15 countries in FY 2018 to foster human resources for the planning and implementation of social and economic development in developing countries. The JDS Programme also expects that each fellow will enhance and widen the foundations for friendly relations between Japan and his/her own country as a person with a good understanding of Japan. The JDS Programme for Nepal began in FY 2016 and 60 master’s degree students had been accepted by the end of FY 2018. In the coming years, up to 22 students (20 master’s degree students and two doctor’s degree students) will be accepted each year from FY 2020 to FY 2023 in the light of the current situation of development issues in Nepal and Japan’s planned development assistance for Nepal. (1) Outline The JDS Programme for Nepal is outlined below. 1) Overall Goal Improvement of the policy planning ability of Nepal’s relevant administrative organizations through human resources development under the JDS Programme. 2) Project Objective The assistance for young government officials who will play a pivotal role in the Government of Nepal in due course to obtain an academic degree (master’s degree or doctor’s degree) from a graduate school in Japan will enable the development of Nepal’s human resources to solve the development issues of Nepal and the creation of a human network between Japan and the Government of Nepal. 3) Expected Outcomes Young government officials will obtain an academic degree (master’s degree or doctor’s degree) having acquired expert knowledge, etc. which will contribute to solving problems in their respective fields of work. i On their return to Nepal, these young government officials will contribute to the formulation of plans and policies to solve pending issues and will exert their leadership at their own organizations, etc., strengthening the functions of the said organizations. The acceptance of JDS fellows from Nepal will facilitate mutual understanding and a friendly relationship between Nepal and Japan and will strengthen the international competitiveness of the accepting universities as well as the international intellectual network. Against this background, this Preparatory Survey was conducted from 28th November, 2018 to 12 July, 2019 (including the First Field Survey from 1st to 19th December, 2018 and Second Field Survey from 17th to 27th March, 2019) along with a needs survey concerning development issues requiring the development of human resources, analysis of the survey findings and examination of a desirable project implementation system to prepare for the continuation of the JDS Programme in Nepal. A plan has been formulated regarding the acceptance of Nepalese JDS fellows in four batches from FY 2020 to follow the commencement of recruitment in FY 2019. (2) Survey Results 1) Framework for Cooperation and Accepting Universities Following this Preparatory Survey, the framework for cooperation, accepting universities and number of acceptances are approved by the Operating Committee (OC), allowing the acceptance of up to 22 fellows (20 studying for a master’s degree and two studying for a doctor’s degree) per year from FY 2020 to FY 2023. ii Accepting Universities in JDS Programme for Nepal Phase II Sub-Programme Planned Number Component (Priority Area for University Graduate school of Acceptances (Development Issue) Assistance) (per year) 1. Social and 1-1. Economic policy Graduate School for economic Hiroshima International 3 infrastructure University Development and and mechanism Cooperation development Graduate School of Waseda directly lead to Asia-Pacific Studies/ 2 University economic International Relations growth and the 1-2. Industrial International Graduate School of national development policy University International 3 improvement of Japan Management 1-3. Infrastructure Saitama Graduate School of 2 development University Science & Engineering 2. Governance 2-1. Development of International Graduate School of enhancement human resource and University 2 International Relations and basic administrative of Japan framework capacity of civil Meiji Graduate School of 2 development servant University Global Studies for democracy Yamaguchi Graduate School of 2 University Economics 2-2. Building international Ritsumeikan Graduate School of 2 relations University International Relations 2-3. Improvement of legal Kyushu Graduate School of 2 and judicial system University Law Planned total number of acceptances for master’s degree courses 20 Planned total number of acceptances for doctor’s degree courses 2 Grand Total 22 2) Relevance of the JDS Programme for Nepal As part of this Preparatory Survey, the relevance of the framework for cooperation for the Phase II JDS Programme for Nepal was reviewed and concluded that the sub-programmes and components of the JDS Programme for Nepal were consistent with the national development plan of Nepal and the ODA policy as well as priority areas for ODA of Japan. 3) Relative Advantages of the JDS Programme Compared to Scholarship Programmes of Other Development Partners This Preparatory Survey reviewed the comparative advantages of the JDS Programme to the similar scholarship programmes of Australia and Korea. The advantages of the JDS Programme are (i) the applicants are restricted to government officials, (ii) there is a fixed number of acceptances of JDS fellows from the Nepalese government for four years; it means that JDS is superior to other scholarship programs for its predictability, compared to other scholarship programs that the number of acceptance for the government officials is not clearly specified. (iii) the JDS fellows are allowed to bring their family members and (iv) the Japanese agent for the Programme provides careful assistance. The overall advantages of the JDS iii Programme will be further strengthened if value-adding programmes and careful, well- thought out assistance for the Returned JDS fellows become a reality. 4) Performance Indicators A set of performance indicators (provisional) such as “the number of the Nepalese JDS fellows who have obtained their respective academic degrees (master’s or doctor’s)”, “knowledge of expert contributing to solve the pending issues has been mastered through the study in Japan”, “analytical, policy planning and project management capabilities has been improved”, “concrete examples of plan or policy formulation to solve the pending issues”, “knowledge and experience acquired during the study in Japan have contributed to strengthen the functions of the organizations, etc.”, were prepared for the purpose of evaluating the expected outcomes (achievements) of the JDS Programme from multiple viewpoints. The survey team explained the tperformance indicators and means to verify indicators at the OC meeting held during the second field survey. The contents of this explanation were approved in principle although the necessity to specify the target period and other matters for the evaluation of these indicators was pointed out. (3) Pending Issues and Recommendations This Preparatory Survey for Phase II confirmed that, the issues encountered in the Phase I JDS Programme for Nepal were properly handled. To be more precise, the issue of frequent transfer of government officials was incorporated through the widening of the target organizations. The issue of encouraging more applicants was addressed by improving proactive dissemination efforts, including the publicity using media, conveyance of relevant information by stakeholders and holding promotion seminars at other provinces. Meanwhile, the necessity to introduce further measures to gain mutual understanding between the two countries and to establish a friendly relationship was discussed. It is essential to increase the opportunities for JDS fellows to learn outside the campus and to familiarize themselves with Japan instead of confining their experience in Japan to campus life. For this reason, the introduction of some value-adding programmes is planned in Phase II. The period of this Preparatory Survey overlapped with the return of the Phase I First Batch JDS fellows to Nepal. While the provision of follow-up assistance for the returned JDS fellows is planned, it must be stressed that well-thought out assistance for them is crucial to achieve the Objective of the Project and to maintain the relative advantages of the JDS Programme over the scholarship programmes of other development partners. The introduction of a federal system by the Government of Nepal suggests that human resources development