Seminar on Role of Civil Society in Conflict Mediation and Peace Building in Nepal

Organized by Centre for Economic and Technical Studies (CETS)

15-16 July 2006

In Nepal, the internal conflict started a decade ago in 1996. It began from a small pocket in Western region of Nepal but now it has spread to almost all the districts. Each day men, women and even children are abducted and killed, though its intensity has declined after Jana Andolan II. As a result of the conflict, nearly 400,000 people have been displaced from rural to urban areas and also to the district headquarters. Hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to migrate to the region across the Nepal-India border and also to the third countries to avoid the atrocities of the warring factions. Many of the houses have become female-headed and they have been living an abject and deserted life.

The civil society in the past made certain efforts to exert pressure both on the government and the rebel forces to maintain truce. It had positive impact in maintaining peace, though it is temporary in nature. People still believe that the security and rebel forces would pay more attention to the civil society than any other forces. Therefore, the civil society should play key role in conflict mediation and peace building process. In this context, the Centre for Economic and Technical Studies (CETS) in cooperation with Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) organized two-day seminar on "Role of Civil Society in Conflict Mediation and Peace Building in Nepal" at Nepal Administrative Staff College, Jawalakhel, Lalitpur.

Objectives of the Seminar

The overall objective of the seminar was to motivate the civil society to understand their potential role in conflict mediation and peace building in Nepal. Specific objectives of the seminar were to:

• Discuss the role of civil society in supporting the United Nations in arms management in Nepal;
  
• Review the extent to which economic development could help restore peace in Nepal;
  
• Judge the role of civil society in peace process in Nepal; and
  
• Review the role of media in conflict and peace in Nepal.

The Seminar

The seminar was organized at Nepal Administrative Staff College, Jawalakhel, Lalitpur on July 15 & 16, 2006. The distinguished scholars and resource persons who participated in the seminar were members of various civil society, representatives of academic institutions, media persons, activists of major political parties, NGOs, etc.

Inaugural Function

The two-day seminar on "Role of Civil Society in Conflict Mediation and Peace Building" opened with the Inaugural Function at 09:30 AM on July 15, 2006 at the Conference Hall, Nepal Administrative Staff College, Jawalakhel, Lalitpur. On this occasion, Mr. Dev Raj Dahal, Head, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) Nepal welcomed the guests and said, "Democracy provides space for the peaceful resolution of conflict. Democracy and peace building are related. Both try to eliminate primitive reliance on violence."

In her Key Note address, Dr. Tone Bleie, Chief Gender and Development, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) remarked that Nepal at the moment is in a volatile situation of "no-war-and-no-peace." She said that reconciliation in such a situation depends on democratic underpinnings of ensuring economic justice and social and political power sharing.

Dr. Sundar Mani Dixit, Chairman, Civil Society for Peace and Development said that during the Constituent Assembly (CA) elections the people should be given choice to make decision on issues related to the future of monarchy, role of army, secularism and further empowerment of the Prime Minister.

Dr. Birendra Mishra, Chairperson, Monitoring Team expressed the need of ceasefire for the restoration of peace and development in Nepal.

Hon'ble Mr. Mahanth Thakur, Chief Guest and Minister for Agriculture and Cooperatives (MoAC) expressed that despite the compromise made during Jana Andolan II as in the past on key political issues, Nepal has achieved certain progress as a result of the understanding developed between government and rebel sides. The State needs to address the problems of the common mass of the population if the peace has to be restored permanently.

In his concluding remarks, Professor Hari Bansh Jha, Executive Director, CETS said that the seminar on such a crucial sector as conflict, peace and development could help resolve the crisis facing Nepal today. He also thanked all the guests and participants of the seminar.

The Sessions

The first session of Seminar started at 11:00 AM and its theme was "UN in Arms Management." The session was chaired by Professor Kapil Shrestha, former Member of National Human Rights Commission. Dr. Bishnu Raj Upreti, Regional Coordinator, South Asia Coordination Office of NCCR

presented his paper on "Civil Society and Involvement of the United National in Arms Management in Nepal." Several important questions were raised from the floor, which the author answered satisfactorily.

The second session of the Seminar had its theme "Peace and Economic Development." This session was chaired by Mr. Prakash A. Raj, Development Consultant. Professor Hari Bansh Jha presented his paper on "Peace through Economic Development in Post Conflict Situations in Nepal." Various comments and suggestions were made on the paper by the participants, which the author replied satisfactorily.

On July 16, 2006, the third session of the Seminar opened at 10:00 AM. This session was chaired by distinguished diplomat, Mr. Keshab Raj Jha, Nepal's former Ambassador to France. Mr. Jagadish Dahal, Programme Director, INSEC presented his paper on "Role of Civil Society in Peace Building: Lessons for Nepal." From the floor, several important questions were raised and the author answered all of them.

The fourth session of the Seminar began with the theme "Media and Peace." Dr. Bhekh Bahadur Thapa, diplomat and former Minister chaired the session. In his paper "Role of Media in Conflict and Peace in Nepal," Mr. Yubraj Ghimire, Editor-in-Chief, Samaya presented media's role in conflict situations, cause and effect of conflict, media mission and its ownership structure, legitimacy of violence, etc. Several questions were raised from the floor, which the author replied satisfactorily.
At the end of the Seminar, about 16 participants, including men and women joined National Peace Communicator, an organization dedicated to the cause of conflict mediation and peace. Over the years, this organization has been creating awareness, conducting research and organizing training programmes in various parts of the country to achieve its objective.