Ceasefire brings better access for rural development

Rural aid and development workers in Nepal are starting to gain access to previously cut off areas as the peace process brings greater security but more needs to be done, agencies say. “People have more access and development workers are travelling everywhere in the country,” said the UK’s Department for International Development (DfID) chief in Nepal, Mark Mallalieu. Many assistance projects in Nepal were either cancelled or shrunk due to violence across a large swathe of the country during 10 years of Maoist rebellion against the state that has left at least 11,000 dead. The Maoists are now part of a peace process together with the interim government. The new administration was formed by the country’s seven main parties in April after Nepalese monarch King Gyanendra relinquished power following prolonged nationwide protests. DfID, one of the largest donors to Nepal, pointed out that more needs to be done in rural areas to facilitate access. “The key difficulty at the moment is that the Maoists in recent weeks have increased the cost of registration for international NGOs to work in villages,” Mallalieu explained, adding that government workers involved in development projects were still not being allowed to return to several rural areas. Three rounds of talks between the government, led by Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, and the Maoists, have taken place in recent weeks. Both sides are now committed to hammering out an interim constitution, forming an interim government to include the Maoists within a month, and to holding parliamentary elections within six months. In addition, both parties have agreed to accept help from the United Nations in the demobilisation and disarmament process, according to joint announcements from both groups. “Now that the peace process is heading in a positive direction, we can expect an increase in implementation of development projects,” Rajiv Upadhaya from the World Bank said in the capital, Kathmandu. He added that rural development projects would be more effective if local decision-making bodies included Maoists.