• Stakeholder engagement

Stakeholder engagement

This case study argues that despite the good intentions and increasing realisation of the importance of social inclusion for poverty alleviation and lasting peace, reflected in the PRSP, insufficient attention has been given to indigenous peoples’ issues in Nepal.

Problems of the PRSP as identified by the paper include:

• the indigenous peoples issue has not been recognised as a crosscutting issue, and despite the rhetoric of an integrated approach to poverty reduction, development planners, political leaders and bureaucrats continue to adopt a largely sectoral approach
• serious concerns have been raised regarding the possible collapse of the PRSP in terms of implementation, largely as a result of the ongoing conflict and lack of political will on the part of the government
• there is no formalised mechanism or criteria to ensure meaningful consultation with and participation of indigenous peoples in the formulation, implementation or evaluation of programs by the government, donors or national and international NGOs
• serious commitment to address indigenous peoples' issues in Nepal continues to be hampered by a lack of political will among certain elements within government, donors and civil society leaders in Nepal.
• issues of exclusion/inclusion tend to be addressed by lumping together indigenous peoples with Dalit, women and other disadvantaged groups, which further marginalise the specific problems faced by indigenous peoples and perpetuates lack of conceptual clarity on these issues, preventing the formulation of effective strategies to address their needs
• the standard process used for development and poverty alleviation planning adopted by the government and donors often goes against indigenous peoples because such processes do not take indigenous peoples' specific situation, needs, aspirations, and demands into consideration
• although, there is the provision of affirmative action for indigenous peoples in the PRSP, the lack of an enabling legal framework has prevented implementation
• Nepal has yet to ratify ILO Convention No. 169 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples (1989), which would pave the way for an institutionalised system of consultation with indigenous peoples, in addition to providing a comprehensive development framework for all stakeholders to address indigenous peoples’ issues in an appropriate manner.

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