The Local Government and INGOs
There is no doubt that Nepal is very much in need of
development assistance and that the people who benefit from development activities,
especially those settled in the backward remote rural regions of the country, appreciate
any assistance that will enhance the quality of their primitive life style.
However, if one scrutinizes some of the rules and
regulations that govern the presence of the voluntary sector in Nepal, one may get the
impression that the Kathmandu based government bureaucracy does not show a very welcoming
attitude toward foreign aid agencies. Our organization has been providing development
assistance to the poor people of Nepal for more than two decades, therefore, we are in a
position to form a judgement on evolvement in the official attitude toward the voluntary
sector.
Following the ban of political parties in 1960 and the
establishment of the partyless Panchayat system of government, a considerable underground
political activity was taking place in Nepal. During this period, one could understand the
local government's concern as to the real purpose of some foreign agencies' presence in
Nepal. Similar apprehension was directed at religious aid agencies. Nepal prides itself as
being the only Hindu Kingdom in the world. We shall refrain from making any judgment
concerning the pros or cons of Nepal's religious philosophy. However, any activity aimed
at religious conversion was a punishable criminal offence.
NSP, a non-religious, non-profit voluntary organization,
also strongly condemns any activity aimed at the conversion of the local people to
Christianity under the pretense of development. There is nothing wrong with the local
people the way they are or with their religious beliefs and customs. They were brought up
in a totally different cultural environment than the western missionaries who may be
coming here with religious motivation. It would also be rather naïve to assume that by
converting the local people to a different religion would make them better people. Our
observation has been that the local people, especially those settled in the remote parts
of the country, adhere to very high moral standards, perhaps much more so than the people
in the developed countries of the west.
Any organization wishing to engage in development
activities in Nepal must first obtain an official approval from the local government to do
so. During the Panchayat era, it was illegal for anyone to engage in development
activities in Nepal without government's permission. Prior to the restoration of
parliamentary democracy in Nepal in 1990, the majority of aid agencies were placed under
the umbrella of the Social Welfare National Coordination Council. The Queen was the
Chairperson, and the presence of INGOs in Nepal was regulated from the Royal Palace.
Following the change in the political system in Nepal, the Queen resigned and the Social
Welfare Council as it is now called, became a government agency subsidiary to the Ministry
responsible for the social sector, with the Minister also acting as the Chairperson of the
Council. The members of the Council are a consortium of representatives from a number of
Ministries and other government agencies.
The rules and regulations governing INGOs' presence in Nepal that are currently in place, require that all aid agencies wishing to engage in development activities in Nepal must first present to the Council their proposed agenda as well as a minimum expected annual budget toward their intended development activities and seek its approval in the form of a formal agreement proposal. The agreement spells out the rules of the INGO's presence in Nepal. The Council provides generic set of guidelines for the drafting of the agreement, however based on our experience, there is very little room for deviation from the official generic text, especially in the area of the rules by which the INGO has to abide during the term of the agreement. After the text of the agreement has been approved by the Council, it has to be further approved by Ministries of Women and Social Welfare, Finance, Foreign Affairs and the National Planning Commission, before it can be signed by the Council's chief executive officer, the Member-Secretary and to become valid.
The signing of the agreement may give the INGO a quasi
legal status in Nepal, however apart from this, it is not a very useful document. For the
most part, it is a collection of rules by which the INGO has to abide during its presence
in Nepal. The agreement may also include details of some facilities or privileges that the
Council has pledged to provide at the time of it's drafting, however, these are not
automatically granted when needed since the Council has no executive powers. Any request
for a facility that has been included in the text of the agreement is subject to the same
lengthy bureaucratic approval process as was the case with the approval of the agreement
itself and with no assurance that the facility would ultimately be granted.
Following the restoration of parliamentary democracy in Nepal, the newly elected government relaxed some of the restrictive rules that used to be imposed on INGOs during the Panchayat era. However, in the intervening years many new rules have been introduced as well as many privileges removed by the government agencies that regulate the presence of INGOs in the country. Based on current rules, INGO representatives no longer receive a visa free of charge. At one time, INGO representatives used to receive along with their visa a permit allowing them to visit any part of Nepal, but this facility was later on also taken away. While this may be a trivial matter, it does betray a negative attitude toward aid agencies by government authorities. What the government agencies should also realize is that some of us have come to Nepal as volunteers and are providing development assistance to the disadvantaged people of the country free of any remuneration. Therefore, a more welcoming attitude toward the voluntary sector on the part of government authorities would seem desirable and appropriate.
One also gets the impression that the government
authorities that regulate INGO presence in Nepal perceive the development assistance
provided by the voluntary sector as if it were the government's own money. The new
government rules relating to INGOs now also dictate that any agency coming to Nepal for
the first time, can only propose an agreement for a term of a two-year duration.
Previously, the government would approve agreements for up to five years in duration. Now,
only agencies previously established in Nepal can apply for agreement renewals for up to
five years. We have just gone through the process of our own agreement renewal with the
SWC, it took more than a year before the approval process was completed. It took nearly
four months just for the Finance Ministry alone before it has granted its approval.
We fully support the government's objective that all
development activities from all sources should be in harmony with the country's own
development priorities. However, from the manner in which the government agencies perceive
and regulate the INGOs, one may get the impression that they are being looked upon as if
they were coming to Nepal for profit. While it may be true that some bilateral aid
projects may dictate that part or all of the development grant be spent on goods and
services in the donor country, it is very unlikely that such would be the case with
projects supported by the voluntary sector.
The Nepalese
administration