Rapporteur's Report

Ms. Jayanti Jha

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" on July 15 & 16, 2006 at Conference Hall, Nepal Administrative Staff College, Jawalakhel, Lalitpur. The seminar opened with the Inaugural Function at 09:30 AM. on July 15, 2006.

Welcoming the guests and participants of the seminar on this occasion, Mr. Dev Raj Dahal, Head, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES), Nepal observed that democracy provides enough space for the peaceful resolution of conflict. He also added that democracy and peace building are related and 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 in his address remarked 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, and secularism.

In his inaugural address, chief guest on the function Hon'ble Mr. Mahanth Thakur, Minister for Agriculture and Cooperatives (MoAC) observed that there has always been compromise in key national issues in Nepal - be it in 1951, 1990 or during the recent Jana Andolan II. However, he felt that Nepal achieved certain progress as a result of the understanding developed between government and rebel sides following this Andolan II.

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

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 first session of Seminar started at 11:15 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."

In his paper, Dr. Upreti remarked that the civil society has major role in conflict-ridden country. The history of the world is the testimony to this reality. Civil society does not only mean organizations creating hue and cry but it also means creating awareness in the society, particularly in the rural and remote parts, he said.

He added that the UN is for peace. However, this does not mean that the UN should go arbitrary. The UN's involvement is needed as Nepal lacks experience in conflict management. Nepal's experience of last one decade clearly demonstrates this. The UN is knowledgeable and has experience. There are certain technical problems in which we are not equipped. In this context, the UN has vast pool of experience in activities related to facilitation, mediation, elections, heading the Interim government, IDPs related problems, etc. and there is no reason why we cannot benefit from the experience of this world body. In Nepal, the UN role should be confined to civilian monitoring and not army monitoring. Considering the mistrust between the government and rebel forces, the UN could play the role of "guarantor." In this effort, the civil society of Nepal instead of turning the conflict into "industry" should rather facilitate the UN in Nepal's peace process.

Several important questions were raised from the floor. Mr. Som Pudasaini said that in Sri Lanka many of the persons who deserted the jobs in force created problems and this should not be repeated in Nepal. He also added that Nepal should take into confidence the regional and international powers while dealing with such sensitive issues and in this regard the importance of China cannot be overlooked.

Dr. Banshidhar Mishra, member of House of Representatives said that the parliament should not be prolonged at the cost of peace. He also expressed the need of interactions between the parliamentarians and the civil society members.

Mr. Prakash A. Raj remarked that there is a lack of transparency in the letter addressed to the UN. Hence, information should be sought about the arms possessed by both the government and rebel forces.

Ms. Ranju Thakur added that the involvement of the women in arms management is most important. The civil society has overlooked this aspect. It is essential for the civil society groups to go to the rural areas and share with the people as to how the question of arms management could be resolved. Males alone cannot resolve this problem, she added.

Mr. Keshab Prasad Chaulagain, Secretary, Inter-Religious Faith Committee expressed his concern over the lack of progress in government-Maoist talks.

Professor Md. Habibullah remarked that the paper should have clearly distinguished the nature of conflict in Nepal with countries like Sri Lanka and Somalia. Restructuring of state and inclusive democracy is the only answer of the problem in Nepal. The country needs to be cautious in accepting the role of the UN. If the UN is successful in 15 countries, it is unsuccessful in 25 countries. The Maoists wish to join the mainstream politics. In this context, uses and abuses of UN involvement should be clearly spelt out. Vested interests who want conflict to continue need to be exposed.

Dr. Chuda Bahadur Shrestha said that the conceptual part of the paper is really good. In Mozambique, we conducted elections as civilians. Blaming others should be avoided in the mid-level discussion. There should not be effort to dig the past but to go to the future.

Mr. Kapil Deo Mishra said that in our country it is only political issue that is prioritized. But the socio-economic issues are always overlooked. Conflict is not always bad. There are organizations that create problems from the back door but conduct research from the front door. Inequality and poverty need to be reduced for the elimination of conflict. Favouritism, nepotism and anarchism also need to be reduced to resolve the problem. The civil society should be further strengthened to address some of these problems.

Mr. Surendra Mahato, advocate expressed that the elections of the CA should be conducted by the police; while the government and rebel forces might be given observer status.

Mr. Binod Vishwokarma of Rastriya Dalit Mahasangh said that such factors as the ethnicity, caste and lack of equal opportunities need to be considered while dealing with conflict related issue.

Maithil Mahila Samaj chairperson, Ms. Anjala Jha said that peace talks should involve women. Women have helped in different ways, directly or indirectly, during Jana Andolan II for the cause of peace. Maoists claim 40 per cent of their force to be women. If the women can carry arms and fight in the war, why can't they be involved in the peace building process and mediation team? she asked.

Mr. Surendra KC, however, stated that the UN is like US State Department. He criticized Kul Chandra Gautam's view in which he opposed the merging of the government and rebel force. It is in the hands of India and China that the real peace of Nepal depends, he said.

Mr. Ganga P. Akela said that the political parties have crushed the civil society. Until the politicians are honest, there is not going to be any change.

Mr. Keshab Raj Jha remarked that UN can be a balancing factor in resolving Nepal's conflict. However, excess involvement of the UN in arms might be counter productive.

Mr. Rameshwor Shah, former secretary said that the civil society needs to play a productive role in conflict management.

Dr. Rabindra Shakya, economist said that the civil society might play important role in building mutual confidence between the government and rebel groups.

Mr. Kul Raj Ghimire, Human Rights activist said that the UN involvement is necessary to protect whatever that has been achieved. The dialogue between the concerned groups should be continued.

Ms. Kiran Yadav said that the women were oppressed most during the Jana Andolan II. However, their involvement is least in the peace process. We need only observation of UN and not its force. The Nepalese army has created a lot of problems; and so UN force should not add any further problem in this country.

In his remarks, Dr. Bishnu Upreti answered most of the questions raised from the floor. In this regard, he agreed with the floor that the in Nepal's case the UN civilians and not the peacekeeping force have role in monitoring the situation. He also agreed that Nepal's sustainable peace is not possible without women's involvement in peace process.

Professor Kapil Shrestha in his chairperson's remarks observed that the UN's presence cannot work miracle. The result can be positive only when there is trust between the two sides.

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." In his paper, Professor Jha revealed that poverty was the root cause of conflict in Nepal. He said that views have been expressed in different quarters for launching economic activities covering all important aspects such as reconstruction, rehabilitation of IDPs, income generating programmes, etc. But those views are based upon the theory of "Critical Minimum Effort" and in Nepal this cannot bring any tangible result. Nepal can address the problem of poverty only through the "Big Push" Approach by developing hydropower at - micro, small, medium and mega levels. Since the hydropower development is both labour and capital intensive, there is immense of scope for the growth of income and employment opportunities for all the affected population of conflict.

Comments were made from the floor by scholars like Dr. Surendra Bahadur KC., Ms. Ranju Thakur, Mr. K.D. Mishra, Mr. Rana Pratap Singh, Ms. Alka Jha and Dr. Basant Vishwokarma. Professor Jha found most of the comments made on the paper as complementary. Mr. Prakash A. Raj in his concluding remarks made certain useful suggestions for further improvement of the paper.

The third session of the Seminar opened at 10:00 AM on July 16, 2006 under the chairmanship of 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." In his paper, Mr. Dahal dealt with all such aspects as the role of civil society in the peace building process, international experiences and lessons for Nepal for the establishment of sustainable peace in Nepal.

Mr. Dahal said that the process of peace building is not properly complete. As such, there is a possibility of breakdown of the talks between the government and rebel sides. He also mentioned certain positive role of civil society in different parts of the world for resolving the conflict like in South Africa, Guatemala, Mali, Northern Ireland, Mozambique, Liberia, Phillipines and in Sri Lanka. He also dealt with women's role in peace building.

From the floor, Mr. Deen Bandhu Aryal wanted that the conscience of the civil society need to be raised in order to resolve the conflict.

Mr. Kapil Deo Mishra expressed the need for making the existing political system inclusive to resolve the conflict. He also felt that justice and proper distribution of opportunities are pre-requisite to the restoration of peace.

Mr. Thakan Mallik added that the problems of the disadvantaged and frustrated groups should be addressed. Besides, proper youth policy needs to be evolved for the management of this group as these people make vital contributions in various walks of life.

Mr. Ganga Prasad Akela asked if INSEC or any other agency has any policy towards the Madheshi or such disadvantaged groups.

Mr. Ram Binod Jha stressed the need of youth mobilization for the restoration of peace.

Dr. Chuda Bahadur Shrestha wanted that local governance bodies should be restored to avoid frustration of the mass. He added that citizenship certificate should be provided to all the deserving nationals of the country to avoid conflict

Mr. Nazrul Hussain said that needed message for peace should go to the grassroots level. Peace and conflict is the fruit and the tree is injustice. So injustice needs to be removed at all levels to restore sustainable peace.

Ms. Kiran Yadav said that such burning social problems like dowry, discrimination with the girls and women in the education, untouchability, overlooking the interests of the disabled population, etc. need to be addressed to avoid the conflict.

Mr. Binod Kumar Vishwokarma wanted that the paper presented by the author should have dealt with the problems related to the Dalits and other disadvantaged groups. Social, religious and other such issues also needed to be considered in this context. The civil society should be honest and they need to have motto to contribute something positive to the nation.

Ms. Shanti Mahato said that the social problem like the discrimination with the girls and women in education and in citizenship matter need to be resolved to avoid conflict.

Mr. Dev Raj Dahal wanted that the civil society needs to be rational. They also need to play important role in promoting communications between different groups to resolve conflict.

Dr. Rabindra Shrestha and Ms. Chetana Loksun also made useful suggestions for conflict resolution and restoration of peace in Nepal.

In regards to the queries raised from the floor, Mr. Jagadish Dahal answered them satisfactorily. At the end of the session, Mr. Keshab Raj Jha made chairman's remarks quite impressively. He said that the seminar would contribute in resolving the conflict and restoring peace.

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 addressed all such aspects as the importance of media in conflict situations, cause and effect of conflict, media mission and its ownership structure, legitimacy of violence, etc.

From the floor, Mr. Kapil Deo Mishra wanted how the bottom line of the existing conflict related problem could be addressed in the media which is controlled by the elite group.

Mr. Ganga Prasad Akela said that the voice of different sections of the society should be allowed to be reflected in the media. If such voice is suppressed, it might bring out conflict.

Dr. Chuda Bahadur Shrestha said that media can both escalate and resolve conflict. It should be promoted in a way that it resolves rather than escalates conflict.

Mr. Ram Binod Jha remarked that the media was responsible for at least 50 per cent of the killings during the conflict due to its wrong approach.

Mr. Prakash A. Raj commented that the modern communication means such as internet, emails, cell phones, etc. contributed to the success of Jana Andolan II and as such it should be promoted.

Dr. Rabindra Shakya said that in India the different communication media are one on certain national issues; whereas the Nepalese media are divided on such issues.

Mr. Nazrul Hussain stated that the media is used more for creating conflict rather than resolving this. The Nepalese media have exhibited negative trends towards the minority community such as the Muslims.

Ms. Meena Subedi remarked that the voice of the women is still weak in the media. In such a situation, she asked how can the media do justice with other disadvantaged groups? It is doubtful if the media mitigated the conflict by maintaining balance between the different concerned groups.

Mr. Chandra D. Bhatta asked how the media played effective role in conflict resolution?

Mr. Som Prasad Pudasaini said that negativity is part of media. In this context, can't the media be made positive on certain national issues?

Mr. Damodar Prasad Gautam remarked that the media is not the fourth but the super world. If at all it wants, it can bring the executive, legislative and judiciary on the right track. The philosophy of one paper might differ with the other, which is natural. But the media's role should not be destructive but positive and corrective in all such national issues as related to citizenship, regionalism, etc.

Dr. Basant Kumar Vishwokarma said that the media played an important role in bringing democracy. But it needs to raise the issues of women, Dalits and other weaker sections of the society more effectively in future.

Mr. Yubraj Ghimire answered all the questions raised from the floor.

Finally, Dr. Bhekh Bahadur Thapa remarked that there has been a tendency in all the transitional phase in 1951, 1960, 1990 or in 2006 to gradually maintain status quo. But this time the traditional force is not given as much space as in the past. This is the only difference. In this respect, the media has not played exemplary role. The media should have guts and morale to say who is right and who is wrong.

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.