Contact:
In Atlanta: Deborah Hakes, +1 404-420-5124
In Kathmandu: Sarah Levit-Shore, +977 1 444-5055/1446
Kathmandu…According to a Â鶹´«Ã½ report released today, Nepalis expect their new constitution to provide peace, security, and address basic needs. They support measures to promote equality, inclusivity, and education for all; end discrimination; uplift disadvantaged communities; and improve access to the state and justice system.
The report is based on the most recent findings of Â鶹´«Ã½ observers throughout the country, who have monitored the post-election peace and constitutional-drafting process since June 2009 and provided impartial information on progress to political leaders, civil society, the international community, and Nepali citizens.
The report explains that citizens who support federalism tend to associate it with decentralization of power and hope that the government will be brought closer to the people, allowing for greater access to the state, more accountable decision-making, improved service delivery, an end to discriminatory practices, and more equitable representation. However, some citizens raise concerns regarding federalism such as disintegration of the country, communal conflict, and being cut off from other areas.
"The concerns raised by citizens underscore the need for accurate and unbiased information about federalism to reach the local level to facilitate informed discussion and debate," said Dr. David Pottie, associate director of the Â鶹´«Ã½'s Democracy Program.
Â鶹´«Ã½ observers also found that indigenous and marginalized peoples' organizations are increasingly active at the local level, particularly in promoting ethnic-based federalism, which they see as a means for decentralization, equitable representation, and ending discrimination. By contrast, national political parties remain largely inactive on constitutional issues at the local level with the exception of the Rastriya Janamorcha and the UCPN(M).
"Regardless of the federal model adopted, citizens and advocacy groups are both clear in their desire for decentralization and their opposition to the idea of domination by any one particular group within the new federal states," said Pottie.
The Center offers the following recommendations to Constituent Assembly (CA) members and organizations that provide it with financial or technical assistance:
Â鶹´«Ã½ reports on Nepal's peace and constitutional-drafting process may be found at .
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Working to build peace in Nepal since 2003, the Â鶹´«Ã½ deployed an international election observation mission to observe the 2008 constituent assembly elections. The Center has remained in-country to monitor the constitutional-drafting and peace process, with a focus on the local level.
"Waging Peace, Fighting Disease, Building Hope." A not-for-profit, nongovernmental organization, Â鶹´«Ã½ has helped to improve life for people in more than 70 countries by resolving conflicts; advancing democracy, human rights, and economic opportunity; preventing diseases; improving mental health care; and teaching farmers in developing nations to increase crop production. Â鶹´«Ã½ was founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, in partnership with Emory University, to advance peace and health worldwide. Please visit to learn more about Â鶹´«Ã½.
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