Development partners

IDEAs for Nepal

By Rozina Nepal

International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA), an inter-governmental organisation, is working in Nepal since 2007. It works globally with the mandate to support democracy (not to promote it). Though the presence of the organisation in Nepal is being felt from 2007, its first project ‘democracy dialogue process’ was organised in 1997. “In 2004, we began the discussions and dialogue programmes on constitution reforms. We did a six-year survey about people’s expectations from democracy and constitution. That survey was also repeated in 2007 just before the elections of the Constituent Assembly (CA),” said Leena Rikkilä Tamang. The objective of this initiative was to support national initiatives aiming at forging consensus on political reforms and to develop capacity of Nepali stakeholders on constitutional options.

Following the rise of the People’s Movement for Democracy and the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2006, International IDEA Nepal has been supporting national actors in the process of constitution building by providing knowledge, facilitating dialogues and promoting public participation. For the past three years, the organisation has mainly been supporting the CA members in developing the new constitution. In 2010, around 350 of the 601 CA members attended four workshops organised by IDEA on different dates of that year. In December 2010, 17 CA members were invited to IDEA headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden, for a retreat to continue their discussions about the constitution building and government formation.

The organisation is working in 14 districts in collaboration with the Civic Relations Committee of the CA through the constitution information centres. International IDEA’s work in Nepal is mainly funded by the Embassy of Norway and the Government of Finland. Apart from the 29 member states of International IDEA, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Rights Democracy and Inclusion Fund (RDIF) and Chemonics-USAID are the other donors. It works in Nepal with CA secretariat, Civic Relations Committee of the CA, the informal Women's Caucus, Indigenous People's Caucus, Election Commission of Nepal and Nepal Law Society.

In partnership with Women in Good Governance (WIGG) and Nepal Constitutional Foundation (NCF), International IDEA has introduced a monthly bulletin, Constituent Assembly Dialogue, as a means of keeping stakeholders informed on the constitution building process.

International IDEA’s work in Nepal at a Glance:

• Assisting the Public Outreach Committee and the CA members in their efforts to finalize the constitution
• Offering technical advice in drafting the constitution, with commentary notes and illustrative examples from other countries
• Supporting the CA women's caucus and the indigenous people's caucus in their dialogue with each other and with interested parties in civil society and continuing these discussions as the constitution is implemented
• Facilitating dialogues among key political actors as they seek agreement on contentious constitutional issues
• Sharing other countries experiences from comparative perspective; especially from other southern countries
• Creating spaces for political parties to share the results of the constitution making process
• Building the capacity of the Election Commission on selected aspects of election administration, and supporting the design and implementation of the Electoral Dispute Resolution Mechanism
• Supporting the design of the constitution so that it embraces diversity, with a special emphasis on affirmative action and language policies
• Supporting the legislature as it implements the new constitution

The current project of International IDEA Nepal is to support constitution building process. It assists the country to write and implement the new constitution and to support reforms in election management. Currently, IDEA is encouraging the CA members to include provisions that will support diversity, accountability and public participation in the new system of government and, supporting and strengthening the new legislature as representatives implement the new constitution.

Despite this, the work of the organisation in supporting Nepal in constitution building seems to be in jeopardy. Tamang opined, “The draft is yet to come and the process is still to be completed. But, I am optimistic that the country will get its new constitution. When exactly is difficult to say as it totally depends upon the political actors. On the other hand, I think we have been successful because we have been able to build a trusted relationship with the CA secretariat, Election Commission, Civic Relations Committee of the CA, political parties and civil society actors.” According to Tamang, the delay in constitution writing is not the reason for the present situation of the country. “Our schedule is totally dependent on the schedule of the CA and the political situation of the country. What is frustrating us is that we are not working on the peace process issues. So, the content of the constitution and the discussions about the constitution are not the problems. The main problem lies in the integration and rehabilitation agreements and, partly in the government formation. I think these things should move parallel,” she said.

List of handbooks and booklets published by International IDEA:

• Creating the New Constitution: A Guide for Nepali Citizens
• Nepal in Transition: A Study on the State of Democracy
• Peoples Constitution (video documentary)
• Electoral System Design
• Designing for Equality
• Women in Parliament: Beyond Numbers
• Glossary of Constitutional Terms, English-Nepali Glossary of Federalism Terms
• The Constituent Assembly of Nepal: An Agenda for Women
• Constituent Assembly procedures from a gender perspective
• Participation in Constitution Making with reference to women
• Electoral System and Quotas in Nepal
• Commentary Notes on the concept papers and preliminary drafts of thematic committees of Constituent Assembly of Nepal (Part I & II)

Leena Rikkilä Tamang

Head of Mission

International IDEA Nepal

Leena Rikkilä Tamang is working as the Head of Mission at the International IDEA Nepal since 2004. She has been coordinating IDEA’s programme on supporting constitution building process in Nepal. Leena is former Secretary General of Finland's Advisory Board for relations with developing countries (Ministry for Foreign Affairs). She is a member and former chair of Network Institute for Global Democracy (NIGD). She has also been teaching at the University of Tampere, Finland in the Department of Political Science and International Relations.