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Nepal

National Coalition:

If your organisation or network would like to get involved, please get in touch with:

Mr. Bal Krishna Kattel
Tel: +977 1 426 4192
balu2_0@yahoo.com

South Asia Alliance for Poverty Education - SAAPE
Arjun Karki
gopyaa@yahoo.com
(w) +97714422153 / (m) +919810663057

Events in 2007

Events planned around October 17 by Citizens’ Campaign for Democracy and Social Transformation (CCDST)

1 - Workshops/Seminars, 12-17 October

2 - Media Campaign

Press Briefing, 12 October, Kathmandu
Newspaper articles, 15-16 October, Kathmandu
Press Conference, 15 October, Kathmandu
Media Advertisement, 15 October, National Newspaper

3 - Observance of October 17

Signature Campaign, 11 -16 October, Kathmandu
Memorandum to Finance Minister, To be confirmed
Street Drama on Poverty and Hunger, 17 October 2007, Kathmandu
Stand Up and Speak Out, 17 October 2007, Nationwide
Appeal to International Community for their Solidarity to the Campaign Against Poverty and For Constituent Assembly Elections, 17 October 2007, National/International

For more information, please contact:
Citizens’ Campaign for Democracy and Social Transformation
Secretariat, NGO Federation of Nepal
Kathmandu, Nepal
Tel: 977 1 4781212/4782908
Fax: 977 1 4780559
Email: info@ngofederation.org

September 2007: Janayatra Hits the Street

Amidst a grand function, the Janayatra formally started on 9th Spetmebr from Ilam, Baitadi and Ramechhap. Halting their works for a day, thousands of people with their cultural identity strolled out of their houses and marched to the Loktantrik Chowk in Baitadi, Ilam Bazar in Ilam and Manthali in Ramechhap to join the yatra. Farmers, trade unions, cultural groups, users, groups, professionals, teachers, students, youths, social activists, workers of the tea estates, political leaders and other general public were the people in the mass. Speaker of the House of Representatives Mr Subas Nemwang, Civil Society Leader Mr Shyam Shrestha and Human Rights Leader Mr Gauri Pradhan formally inaugurated the Janayatra in Ilam, Baitadi and Ramechhap respectively. President of NGO Federation of Nepal Dr Arjun Karki, President of Human Rights Alliance Ms Shanti Adhikari, President of Land Rights Concern Group Mr Saresh Nepal, President of Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities Mr Pasang Sherpa, Leader of Dalit Movement Mr Ganesh BK, Senior Women Rights Activist Dr Renu Rajbhandari, General Secretary of Federation of Community Forestry Users' Nepal Mr Bhola Bhattarai and other civil society leaders also addressed the inaugural function. A people's cultural team lead by Mr Ramesh and Mr Rayan in Ramechhap, Mr J B Tuhure in Ilam and Mr Nanda Krishna Joshi in Baitadi performed cultural show calling people to rise up and join the yatra for a foundation of poverty, discrimination and injustice free New Nepal. They also urged the rulers to genuinely respond the people's call otherwise the sovereign people are free to choose the rulers at their will.

The Janayatra is organised to pressurise the government and the eight political leaders to hold constituent assembly (CA) elections on the slated date in free, fair and fearless manner, guarantee people's economic, social, cultural, civil and political rights and restructure the state in federal face through establishing democratic republic in the country. The Janayatra will reach to the rural villages and the cities of 40 districts informing people about the importance and procedure of CA elections and calling them to involve in the elections. The Janajatra will culminate in Butwal on the World Peace Day on 21 September 2007.

The Janayatra is launched by different national level federations, networks, alliances and users groups such as NGO Federation of Nepal, Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities, National Federation of Disabled Nepal, Federation of Community Forestry Users' Nepal, National Land Rights Concern Group, Human Rights Alliance, DECONT, National Dalit Network, Community Forestry Support Network, Inter Federations Women Network, National Federation of Drinking Water and Sanitation Users' Nepal, National Federation of Irrigation Water Users' Nepal, Dalit NGO Federation and Women Human Rights National Network.

Events in 2005

White Band Day III in Nepal

Three days before the opening of WTO Ministerial in Hong Kong, a sea of people tied with whitebands and equipped with placards, handbills and whitecaps, poured in Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal, and asked the leaders, both national and the world, to “pave the road to poverty free world”. The human sea ever flowed onto the street of 5 kilometers starting from Tripureshwar, the main intersection of the city, to the Basantapur Durbar Square, the main historical place of Nepal, soaked every Kathmanduit who in response joined the sea and waved their wrist tuning the slogans "Down to Autocracy", "Restore Democracy", "Act on poverty", "End Poverty, Establish Peace" etc. Thousands of men, women, farmers, peasants, laborers, aged and differently-able persons, forest users and children voluntarily stormed to the rally from outskirts of Kathmandu valley and gave their voices calling the leaders to "end poverty" or else "poverty ends you". As Nepal is currently being ruled by the autocratic regime, the participants in the rally called the rulers to “immediately declare an end of autocracy” or be prepared to be “swept by the human sea”.

The massive rally succeeded because of the untiring efforts of trade unions, farmers and workers' organizations, women, students, teachers, religious groups, water, land and forest users' federations, dalit organizations, I/NGOs, employees' associations, indigenous nationalities, differently-able persons, youth organizations, paramedical associations, human rights activists, peace campaigners and People's Caravan – Nepal converged in a mass meeting where representatives from more than 20 organizations delivered a short speech. All the speakers emphasized that unless the democratic governance comes to the rule and thereby restores peace, road to development remains a mirage, let alone poverty reduction. The speakers also urged the world leaders not to make any negotiation in the Hong Kong Ministerial, which are bias to the poor. The representatives from trade unions and the peasant association strongly asked to keep the agriculture sector out of the WTO.

Two prominent international delegates Ashma Jahangir, Chairperson of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and Salil Shetty, Director of UN Millennium Campaign, delivered their solidarity speech in the public meet. "Poverty cannot be fought where there is no peace, where there is high level of insecurity, and where the voices of the poor people are not clearly heard. There need to have guaranteed human rights, peace, democracy and good governance to achieve development", said Shetty.

Regional consultations in four development regions were organized between 10 November and the first week of December before the observance of Whiteband Day III (WBD III). A consultation in Pokhara, the headquarters of Western Region of Nepal was coordinated and managed by the GCAP Nepal whereas in other three regions by the People's Caravan – Nepal. The consultations were organized to aware people of the WTO and its implication on agriculture, human security, trade, aid and development. Major concerns raised in the consultations were:

· Guarantee of the preservation of traditional skills of the laborers/ workers and the farmers
· The concept of globalization narrows down the labor market of developing nations like Nepal. We need to have considered it before the accession to WTO.
· The negotiations made in the WTO are not pro-development, pro-workers and pro-poor.
· The Hong Kong Ministerial should review the policy that impinges labor market and should make negotiations considering the common good of dalits, indigenous nationalities, women, children and the HIV/AIDS affected people.

To widely communicate the planning of WBD III and call all the people to involve in the rally on 10 December, advertisements were published in the leading national newspapers. Series of meetings were organized among the member organizations of GCAP alliance, sister organizations of political parties and other personalities to add the impetus to the campaign. A press meet was organized on 8 December to widely circulate the programmes of WBD III. Media were so extensively mobilized, the Kantipur FM, one of the leading FM radio in Nepal, live cast the public meet of 10 December. All the national newspapers and major TV channels covered the news of the event of WBD III with prime focus.

Wake-Up to Poverty! on Saturday 10th. September - WHITE BAND DAY II

Hot on the heels of whiteband action before the 60th General Assembly Summit of the United Nations, once again thousands of people in Nepal gave their voices to ask leaders of the world to "wake up to poverty" on Second Whiteband Day observed on 10 September 2005. Hundreds of men, women, farmers, peasants, children, and aged people gathered in the headquarters of five development regions of Nepal and participated and expressed their solidarity with the Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP).