Waging Peace:  Nepal

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Mediating Conflict

Beginning in 2004, Carter Center staff met with royal and government officials and representatives from other national organizations to discuss possible solutions to the civil conflict and avenues of mediation.

The Carter Center held several rounds of conflict resolution training for political party representatives and civil society leaders, held bridge-building sessions with Maoist representatives in Nepal, and worked in broad cooperation and coordination with international organizations engaged in Nepal.

The Center's sustained engagement eventually transformed into a democracy-focused project as Nepal's internal political dynamics changed.

Monitoring Elections

Constituent Assembly Election 2008
After a decade-long conflict, a comprehensive peace agreement between the government of Nepal and Maoist rebel leaders called for the creation of an interim constitution, monitoring of the arms and armies of the state and the Maoists by the United Nations, establishment of an interim transitional assembly and government that included the Maoists, and an election to form a constituent assembly. After two previous postponements, the constituent assembly election was held on April 10, 2008.  The main task of the elected constituent assembly is to complete the writing of a new constitution.

In countries emerging from long-term conflicts, a strong international observer presence has the capability to build confidence in the electoral process and, if necessary and appropriate, help mediate acceptance of credible election results. The government of Nepal, the Election Commission, the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), the Nepali Congress, the Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist-Leninist), and various other political parties invited The Carter Center to monitor Nepal's electoral process. Read full text >

Monitoring the Peace Process

The Carter Center officially launched its postelection activities in June 2009 by deploying 10 international and five national observers around the country. The objectives of this project are to monitor the postelection peace and constitution drafting processes and to provide impartial information on progress in these areas to political and civil society leaders throughout the country.

To achieve these objectives, observers are deployed in teams of three (two internationals and one national) to each of the five development regions. Each team is based in their respective regional hub city (Biratnagar, Dhangadhi, Nepalganj, Pokhara, or Kathmandu, with an additional smaller team in Janakpur). They follow various topics related to the constitutional drafting process, marginalized groups' activities and participation in the peace process, political space at the local level, implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, and the security environment. Teams meet with and interview local officials in their districts as well as civil society leaders and local citizens. To date, observers have visited nearly all of the 75 districts in Nepal. The information they gather is compiled into public reports, which are distributed to all 601 members of the Constituent Assembly, over 600 district level contacts, and more than 150 Carter Center contacts at the national level and are widely distributed and reported on in local and international media. The Center also engages with national and local political leaders to address political solutions, as appropriate.