No War, No Peace: Nepal's Struggle

No War, No Peace: Nepal's Struggle to Implement the Comprehensive Peace Agreement

For Immediate Release. 15 April, 2011 - OTTAWA, Canada - - - November, 2011 will mark the 5 year anniversary of Nepal's Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) which brought a bloody and devastating civil war that went on for 10 years to a peaceful end.

However, as hopeful as this may seem not all is well and Nepal currently finds itself moving down a path that so many other countries ravaged by civil war have also taken.

Peace may be slipping away as the country struggles to implement the CPA. After the CPA was signed, more than 30 other agreements and memorandum were also signed between Nepal's government and different regional/ethnic political groups. These agreements are also waiting to be implemented in order to strengthen the trust between the state and regional/ethnic political groups.

The country is making a huge shift away from the previous style of governing (a monarchy with a king) to the current democratic government system. So, not surprisingly, they are struggling to embrace democracy and make peace work. The departure of UN peacekeepers in January, 2011 made this an even more difficult and daunting task and many challenges remain.

The Current Situation Since the CPA was signed there have been problems with its implementation. There has been ongoing political infighting and the parties had failed to draft a new constitution by the May 28, 2010 deadline. This deadline was consequently extended until May 28, 2011 and there are few signs that they will be more successful this time.

Implementing other parts of the CPA has also been problematic. For example, the CPA called for the establishment of Local Peace Committees (LPCs) in 75 different districts. These LPCs were to be tasked with job of resolving local disputes. To date, however only a small handful LPCs have been formed and of those very few, if any, are fully functioning at the moment.

Approaching the Five Year Anniversary of the CPA Fortunately, for Nepal it looks as though it might be on track to surpass the critical five year period after signing a peace agreement in which they are especially vulnerable to collapsing.

However, even if the CPA doesn't fully collapse, the alternative isn't much better. There is a high likelihood that the implementation of the CPA may bump along for the next few years, much the same as it has done for the last four and half years. This would, in effect, create a situation of "no war, no peace". While open violence may be averted, full peace and prosperity might not ever be reached resulting in a lack of development, continued poverty, and ongoing political instability.

What the International Community Can Do to Help There is some good news in all of this, however, and the international community can play a very important and helpful role getting Nepal back on track. At a regional level, India and China and other countries in the region with a vested interest in seeing peace in Nepal can support Nepal's political players in the peacebuilding process.

At the national level, it is clear that the international community can play a very helpful role with state building. Training and capacity building on the themes of good governance, justice, and in several other related sectors could be helpful at this time.

Lastly, support for bottom-up, grassroots peacebuilding initiatives - especially those occurring in the rural areas outside of Kathmandu - could be beneficial. More specifically, the international community can help to create a new Track 2 peace process that could support the current and ongoing Track 1 peace process that is occurring at the national level. Moreover, the LPCs could be strengthened and supported so that they can undertake their important work building peace at the local and community level.

The people of Nepal have expressed a very strong desire for peace and it is clear that they need help achieving this. The international community, as outlined above, can play an important role in this regard and further support and assistance would be warmly welcomed at this crucial time in Nepal's history.

Dr. Evan Hoffman is the Executive Director of The Canadian International Institute of Applied Negotiation (CIIAN) in Ottawa.

Mr. Shrawan Sharma if the Executive Director of The Center for Economic and Social Development (CESOD) in Nepal.

© Scoop Media