Located between the two Asian giants, China and India, with their fast-growing economy, Nepal is a small landlocked country having a population of about 25 million. Despite its richness in biodiversity, natural resources and cultural multiplicity, Nepal has still remained an developing country where more than 31 per cent of the people live under the poverty line. The impact of the poverty is manifest in all other sectors like health and hygiene, education, disaster and conflict preparedness, access to and distribution of resources, gender equity, as well as respect for humanitarian values. The political turmoil during the last decade was the reflection of all these problems culminating in the people’s movement in April 2006. With the successful landing of the People’s Movement, Nepal is now heading towards a new era of development. The recent changes in the legal, political, financial and diplomatic scenario indicate that the country needs more efforts in the fields of social reformation, rehabilitation and development. The infrastructure destroyed during the decade long armed conflict need to be restored and new avenues for development need to be opened up.

In this context, role of the organizations like Nepal Red Cross Society in the post conflict situation is felt more intensely than before. Firstly, during the last quarter of the reporting year, there has been a significant transformation in the national political scenario. The political parties, despite carrying different political ideals, have joined their hands for the common purpose of establishing democracy. Even the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), which was involved in armed conflict, has eventually taken to the path of peace. Peace talk between the government and the Maoists is ongoing and both the parties have almost agreed that the responsibility of monitoring arms management will be given to the UN. It is expected that an all-party interim government will be formed in the near future. The all-party interim government will lead the country towards the election of constituent assembly which will write the new constitution of Nepal. Secondly, the parliament reinstated with the pressure of the people has obtained mandate through the movement to amend some of the existing laws and suspend or make new ones if necessary. So far, the House of Representatives, which holds the sovereignty of the people, has already made some significant decisions such as bringing the army under the parliament, declaring Nepal a secular state and making the activities of the palace subject to legal scrutiny. Accordingly, the committee formed for drafting the interim constitution has submitted its report. Based on the interim constitution, necessary changes in the laws will be made. During the period, the civic society has been playing the role of vanguard to pressurize the government to make sure that it comes up with progressive moves one after another. Next, the government is working for the process of restructuring the financial sector. Spurred by the pressure of the civic society, it has started to emphasize on transparency, accountability, decentralization, promotion of privatization, investment-friendly environment. Steps are being taken to form margin-centered economic policies and at the same time by making provisions for the specific economic packages for the downtrodden. In this regard, the interest shown by the Non Resident Nepalese (NRN) to invest in their home country is another commendable progress observed in the financial sector. In this context, Nepalese society is tending towards overall transformation that naturally entails enduring and substantial efforts. In order to respond to the changed context, Nepal Red Cross should now focus on the areas of rehabilitation of the displaced, tracing the missing people and providing relief materials and psychological support to those directly affected by the conflict. Simultaneously, the development programmes, disaster preparedness and response, health and care programmes still need to be carried on for reducing vulnerability. Hence, Nepal Red Cross is dedicated to strengthening its organization, defining its priority and moving ahead with further programmes for wider outreach.

(Source: Nepal in Figures-2006, published by Government of Nepal, National Planning Commission Secretariat, Central Bureau of Statistics/ Statistical Pocket Book Nepal.2004, published by Central Bureau of Statistics/ HMG/Nepal, Nepal Human Development Report 2004 and various others)