Brief description of major development or political and economic events that have had an effect on the work of the UNCT
2016 marked the ten- year anniversary of Nepal’s peace process and the first Constitution Day since the adoption of the charter in September 2015. The last ten years have witnessed some remarkable transformations, including the demobilization of the former Maoist army, and the consolidation of a multi-party democracy that successfully conducted two Constituent Assembly elections. Nepal also has made commendable progress with respect to reducing extreme poverty and hunger due to the adoption of a pro-poor and inclusive growth strategy. At the same time, the country has not yet overcome existing geographic and social disparities that were the root causes of the conflict nor fully realized its transitional justice reform.
Following the protest against the new Constitution during the fourth quarter of 2015, the Parliament ratified an amendment in an effort to broaden ownership of the charter from the aggrieved groups. On 23 January 2016, the Parliament ratified a constitutional amendment to include proportional representation for marginalized communities in state institutions, and to create population-based electoral constituencies. However, the amendment fell short of addressing grievances of the dissenting parties. The then government and the dissenting parties held several rounds of talks in attempt to address the remaining concerns over the Constitution. Against this backdrop, the differences between the former ruling Communist Party of Nepal -Unified Marxist-Leninist (UML) and the Communist Party of Nepal - Maoist-Center (CPN-MC) affected a change in government in July 2016, and ushered in former Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal “Prachanda” to head the new coalition between the CPN-MC and the Nepali Congress (NC). The Government came into power with the support of the parties in the United Madhesi Democratic Front (UDMF) and the Federal Alliance (Madheshi parties), based on an Agreement to introduce a second amendment in the Parliament and set up a high-level inquiry commission to investigate the violence during the 2015 protest against the Constitution in the Terai-Madhesh that resulted in over 50 deaths at the onset of the Constitution passage. On 29 November 2016, the Government registered a second constitution amendment bill in Parliament to revise provisions related to re-demarcation of State Number five, composition of the National Assembly, and issues related to citizenship and official languages. Part of the constitution implementation is the requirement for three tiers of elections before January 2018. In November a joint DPA and UNDP mission came to assess the political and electoral environment ahead of the planned elections. 2016 ended without an agreement on the amendment of the Constitution or the confirmation of the dates for the elections.
2016 also marked the one-year anniversary of the devastating two earthquakes in April and May 2015 that wiped out one third of GDP growth from 5.4 per cent in 2014 to 3.4 in 2015. The National Planning Commission (NPC) expects growth to be 6.5% in the fiscal year 2016-17. Though the growth in outward migration has diminished, remittances continue to contribute to a third of the GDP and as such have to be factored in as a big element in the economic and social landscape.
The work of the National Reconstruction Authority gained momentum in 2016 and the owner-led reconstruction began with the first tranche grant of three being distributed in October 2016. There was a change in National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) leadership in late December, with the former head Govind Pokhrel resuming the helm.
The National Planning commission completed its 14th period plan with five development outcomes related to: 1) increase growth and employment through tourism, small and medium business and transformation of agriculture; 2) infrastructure development on energy, road, air transport, information/communication and rural-urban and trilateral regional linkages; 3) sustainable human development; 4) promotion of good governance and human rights via efficient, accountable and transparent public financing and services and 5) gender equality, social inclusion, and environment protection via maximizing science and technology. The Ministry of Health endorsed its third National Health Sector Strategy (2016-2021) with a strong focus on equity, quality of care and universal health coverage at its core while the Ministry of Education launched its new Education Sector Programme (2017-2023) and included for the first time a clear reference to Comprehensive Sexuality Education as one of the strategies. Both sectors have sector-wide approaches with funds being pooled by different development partners and active involvement of a number of UN Agencies (whether through pooling and non-pooling arrangements). The Government has also retained its commitment to graduate from LDC status by 2022.
The United Nations is in the process of preparing the 2018-2022 UNDAF in support of the national development priorities and the realization of the SDGs by 2030.