Civic Space Situa,on in Nepal

Prepared by
Arjun Bha:araiSecretary General
NGO Federa,on of Nepal

Summited to :1

Content
1. Country Context
2. Brief history of NGO in Nepal
3. CSOs Roles in Nepal
4. Civic Space Situa?on in Nepal
5. Major Concerns and Recommenda?ons

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Methodology and Relevancy of Study
Prepara?on of this paper is based on the study of the current laws and polices and theexperiences of NFN and its members. The opinions and the issues expressed, anddelibera?ons of the thema?c workshops during the conferences and mee?ngs organized by
NFN in Nepal. Also primary data collectedcollected by the survey 75 NGOs andinterac?on with representa?ves of 150 CSOs, organiza?ons, ﬁve government agencies. In
this context, this document is the basis the present condi?on and explore the scope ofreform of government policy and prac?ces so as to contribute to reform of this sector
through advocacy. This study reﬂects common understanding and demands of NGOs andcivil society organiza?ons as a whole.

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Civic Space Situa,on and Issues of Reform in Nepal
1. Country Context
ATer the Cons?tu?on of Nepal 2015, Nepal has been established as a Federal Democra?cRepublic country and federalism has become ins?tu?onalized. Under Ar?cle 56 of the
Cons?tu?on, a three-?er poli?cal structure has been established at the federal, province andlocal levels. ATer the federal structure the ﬁrst elec?on of three ?er governments was heldin 2017. During the ﬁve-year tenure of the ﬁrst elected people's representa?ves, ?me wasspent in draTing laws. Currently, the second local and na?onal level elec?on of Nepal has
been held in May 2022. The next task of the newly elected people's representa?ves is totake the lead in fulﬁlling aspira?on of people however, the prac?ce of the past has been
frustra?ng the democra?c prac?ces in Nepal and shrinking democra?c and civic spaces.

According to this study and data collected by the secondary sources, the scope of
democra?c and civic space in Nepal has been narrowed and shrinking and laws have beenenacted by the government to curb civil society. Similarly, many incidents of human rights
viola?ons, corrup?on, crime and bribery have been reported. Public service and government
services are also cumbersome and ?me consuming, thus the reasons corrup?on is rampant.
Due to such various incidents, the slogan of peace, tranquility, prosperous Nepal - happy
Nepali has not been successful.

In current scenario, In the 2022 Global Hunger Index, Nepal ranks 81st out of the 121
countries with suﬃcient data to calculate 2022 GHI scores. With a score of 19.1, Nepal has alevel of hunger that is moderate. This shows a compara?vely higher rate of hunger issues in
Nepal, according to Global Hunger Index. As per the report of Mul?dimensional Poverty
Index (MPI), 17.4 percent of Nepalese are under the poverty line. And the Nepal GDP is
projected to trend around 30.90 USD Billion and GDP per capita is projected around 920.00
USD in 2022, according to our econometric models. Nepal recorded a Government Debt to
GDP of 36.29 percent of the country's Gross Domes?c Product in 2021.
Those ﬁgures represent the condi?on of na?on where, two in ten people in Nepal lives
below the na?onal poverty line and below 2.5 USD incomes per day. People that live under
the poverty line do not have enough money to meet their basic needs like food, clothing andshelter. Those who live in mountainous, more rural areas are the most likely to suﬀer frompoverty and hunger that aﬀects the country. In 2019 around 4.8 percent of Nepal’s
4popula?on was undernourished. In those condi?ons, there are many barrios and diﬃcul?es
to reach the target of Sustainable Development Goal as well in Nepal.

6. Brief history of NGO in Nepal

The welfare and charitable social ac?vi?es carried out locally in Nepal are known as Dhikur,
Parva and Guthi as today's non- governmental organiza?ons (NGOs). Tradi?onally in Nepali
society local people together as been seen prac?cing social ac?vi?es like small Guthi,
Mahaguthi, irriga?on prac?ce, community shelters and so on. Meanwhile, towards the endof the Rana regime, when Chandra Shamsher Rana was the Prime Minister on 1927
Kamdhenu a spinning wheel Maha Guthi was established. It is believed that thedevelopment of non-governmental organiza?ons in Nepal started aTer the Guthi started
domes?c and coeage industries through involving men and women at the local level. ATer
the huge earthquake in 1934 the Earthquake rescue team and team of service aeendantassocia?on from royal ins?tu?on were established for rescue at that ?me. Later, it made adeep impression on people about how a social organiza?ons can serve the people in need.
In 1926 there are facts that social ac?vist Tulsimehar Shrestha started a social campaign andins?tu?onalized a social ac?vist through the loud propaganda organiza?on. ATer that, in
1947, the government established a charity dispensary and started serving the needy whichis also known as the pillar of today’s non-governmental social welfare organiza?ons.

Looking at the diﬀerent history of non-governmental organiza?ons in Nepal, in the year of1960 during the ?me of the ﬁrst elected Prime Minister of Nepal, Bisheshwor Prasad
Koirala, the government tried to make non-governmental organiza?ons by issuingorganiza?on registra?on number. It showed as if the government has started the eﬀort, but
before the par?cular year, it ended in the year of 1961 where democracy was ended andcruel ruler was established, but the interest of the people towards non-governmentalorganiza?on was s?ll there. At that ?me, while pleasing the king, chari?es such as the Red
Cross, Tuberculosis Preven?on and Leprosy Preven?on con?nued to exist.

In the organiza?on of that ?me, there was a kind of compulsion that the royal family should
be in the leading posi?ons and the organiza?on should be run according to their wishes.
Later, then autocra?c Panchayat rulers realized the need for a charity organiza?on andestablished the Social Services Na?onal Coordina?ng Council in the year 1977. It wasestablished on the advice of the Panchayat for King Birendra to support the governmentorganiza?ons to improve social services and to gather interna?onal support.
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ATer restora?on of democracy in 1990 sudden increased new organiza?ons were registered.
Currently, if we look at the numbers of social ins?tu?ons, there are more than 50000 NGOs
registered as per SWC data, however NFN members are only 6700 NGOs and ac?vely
working NGOs are 3000 as well as only 700 NGOs are receiving project grant. The tableshows the NGOs registered under the SWC.

3. CSOs Roles in Nepal

Civil society organiza?ons (CSOs) can be understood as voluntary ins?tu?ons / ororganiza?ons that are formed by the ci?zens without having a purpose of gaining poli?cal
power or earning proﬁt and sharing dividends. This deﬁni?on includes formally or informallyorganized civil society, ci?zens' groups, user groups, associa?ons, organiza?ons, federa?ons,
non-governmental organiza?ons, and organiza?ons of professionals.

CSOs are considered inseparable parts of democracy. Such organiza?ons are formed andoperated under fundamental rights of ci?zens to form associa?ons. It is not only that ci?zens
choose their representa?ves by periodic elec?ons but also par?cipate in decision making
and governance individually and collec?vely. This is the interpreta?on and understanding ofmodern democracy.

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Since 2015, Nepal is in the course of implemen?ng federalism under new Cons?tu?on. On
the other hand, impact of the COVID 19 pandemic has created new challenges in theopera?onal ac?vi?es of CSOs. These have led to necessity of policy and prac?cal reforms
related to CSOs. Moreover, there are some serious issues unaddressed for a long ?me. NFN
has been to launching policy advocacy, in collabora?on with CSO networks, at the federal,provincial and local levels keeping this discussion, the purpose of which is to create
conducive environment for the opera?on of CSOs. Here is highlighted the the two major
contribu?on of CSOs of Nepal.

3.1 Devasta,ng Gorkha Earthquake in 2015
In the aTermath of the devasta?ng Gorkha Earthquake in 2015, thousands of NGOs, CBOs
and CSOs came together to support the aﬀected families for relief, rehabilita?on and in thelater stage for reconstruc?on. In fact, NGOs work with the families and communi?es and areoTen the ﬁrst responders to disasters but their importance tends to be overshadowed atother ?mes. With this realiza?on, NGO Federa?on of Nepal (NFN) ini?ated a collec?on ofsome representa?ve cases that show the involvement of NGOs helping families emerge fromthe 2015 earthquake. This collec?on has only 29 case studies and do not reﬂect the true
scale of the contribu?on and engagement but these cases deﬁni?vely provide a glimpse or awindow to have look at how NGOs’ small ini?a?ves have been helpful in bringing changes in
the lives of the people aﬀected by the earthquake disaster.

6.2.Contribu,on of CSOs during COVID-19 Pandemic
Nepalese CSOs contributed approximately USD 30 million during the ﬁrst wave of covid
outbreaks. Over 40,000 volunteers contributed voluntarily during the pandemic. Similarly,

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approximately 50,000 paid staﬀ were involved in response and recovery during the ﬁrst
wave of COVID-19.

7. Civic Space Situa,on in Nepal
7.1 General context
The Cons?tu?on of Nepal has prescribed that every ci?zen of the country shall have thefreedom to assemble and form unions and associa?ons and that no other laws and/or acts
shall restrict them from doing so. The Government of Nepal has also tried to facilitate/
regulate the presence of civil society through various laws. The Social Welfare Act, 1992 andthe Local Government Opera?on Act, 2017 are two major legal instruments that recognize
the role and importance of civil society in governance processes in Nepal. The Social Welfare
Act, 1992 in par?cular, entails the engagement of welfare-oriented non-governmentalorganisa?ons (NGOs) in carrying out social welfare and developmental ac?vi?es for theoverall beeerment of individuals and communi?es, speciﬁcally the underserved. The Act
also envisages a separate body called the Social Welfare Council for the purpose of
facilita?ng the work of organisa?ons involved in social welfare ac?vi?es in Nepal. The LGOA,
2017 requires local government authori?es to involve and create an environment for CSOs,
community-based organisa?ons (CBOs), and other NGOs, coopera?ves, consumers and theprivate sector in the planning and implementa?on of development ac?vi?es and ac?vi?esaﬀec?ng service delivery processes. Likewise, the Good Governance (Management andOpera?on) Act, 2008, too, requires public bodies to involve and consult all stakeholders,
including civil society and the general public, in planning, implementa?on and decisionmaking processes related to maeers of public interest. Clause 29 of the act has even spelt
out the provision of public hearings for the purpose of transparency, fair and lawful
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concerns. Freedom of Associa?on (FoA) and Freedom of Expression (FoE) are considered
two key facets of the democra?c way of life and for broader par?cipa?on of ci?zens in publicaﬀairs and decision-making processes.
Instead of a single legal framework, there are several laws and policies that govern theregistra?on, management, opera?on and monitoring of CSOs and NGOs in Nepal.
The legal and policy challenges of civil society and organiza?ons are wide-ranging. The laws
made in the hierarchical structure in line with the federal structure of the Government of
Nepal are contradictory and inconsistent. In par?cular, the province government has madelaws on the basis of diﬀerent ar?cles of the cons?tu?on while draTing laws related toorganiza?ons. The provisions of the Local Government Opera?on Act, which the local
government has used as a basis for draTing the Associa?on Act, are inconsistent and havenot been speciﬁed. Although the federal laws are thema?cally independent, diﬀerent acts
have made double provisions for doing the same thing.
There are diﬀerent provisions regarding the basis of organiza?on classiﬁca?on, program
details and report. Regarding the registra?on of an organiza?on, there is a provision toregister an organiza?on once in a state for a period of 5 years. And if the organiza?on is notrenewed for 3 years, it will be revoked. These provisions are self-contradictory andconfusing.
Although Nepal's civil society and organiza?ons are considered to be prac?cally and legally
non-proﬁt and charitable, the civil socie?es faced many challenges in the name of renewal,
PAN and VAT, as well as legal complica?ons.
Due to the VAT and Tax related law the behavior is not civil society friendly today so as per
study and discussion with CSOs the major obstacles of CSOs are on VAT and Tax,organiza?on renewal, shrinking funding sources and property handling.

7.2 CSO-Related Legal Background and Concern

In principle, a full commitment is expressed in rela?on to the right to form an organiza?onand assemble peacefully in Nepal. Nepal has accessed United Na?ons Interna?onal
Covenant on Civil and Poli?cal Rights, Ar?cles 21 and 22 of which guarantee the freedom ofpeaceful assembly and to be organized. Likewise, Ar?cle 20 of the Universal Declara?on of
Human Rights also protects the right to form an organiza?on and right to peaceful assembly.
The Cons?tu?on of Nepal 2015 has guaranteed right to associa?on and peaceful assembly
to an extent of limita?on as a fundamental en?tlement under Ar?cle 17.

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CSOs are registered and operate under and in accordance with Associa?ons Registra?on Act
2034 BS (1977), Na?onal Guidance Act 2018 BS (1961), the Companies Act 2063 BS (2006)
and Social Welfare Council Act 2049 BS (1992). Organiza?ons registered under Associa?ons
Registra?on Act 2034 and Na?onal Guidance Act 2018 are perceived as non-governmentalorganiza?ons whereas the ins?tu?ons operated under Sec?on 166 of the Companies Act
2063 are viewed as non-proﬁt making companies. The ins?tu?ons of these both types are
considered as CSOs. Similarly, the subject-based Users Groups under Forest Act, Coopera?ve
Act and Local Government Opera?on Act are also considered to be CSOs.

7.3 Opera,onal Situa,on and Expecta,ons
A historical observa?on of NGOs in Nepal shows that they were ini?ated with a view ofsocial welfare and their ac?ons have ?ll now been guided by the same thought andconcept. The preamble of Associa?ons Registra?on Act 1977 which has given the basis forregistering organiza?ons in largest number in Nepal indicates the same objec?ve of
establishing Social Welfare Council. Therefore, general understanding and expecta?onfrom NGOs is shaped accordingly. Helping people in emergencies, delivering service to the
beneﬁciaries even in the absence of government, and assis?ng poor and vulnerable people
are understood as the roles of CSOs by the people at large and same is expected. NGOs
and CSOs have made remarkable contribu?ons for restora?on of civil rights, jus?ce anddemocracy. In People's Movement of April 2006, representa?ves and front-runners of
CSOs played an inﬂuen?al and leading role for the restora?on of democracy. Suchcontribu?ons stand out as CSOs' contribu?ons. If the purpose of the Na?onal Guidance
Act 2018 is observed, it seems more poli?cal. The organiza?ons registered under this Act
are intended to be mobilized for implemen?ng the then poli?cal system (Panchayat
regime) to the local level. Farmers', women's, youths' organiza?ons were run under thisAct. Presently, professional organiza?ons are func?oning under this Act. Organiza?ons
including Federa?on of Nepali Journalists, NGO Federa?on of Nepal, Nepal Bar

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Associa?on, Associa?on of Community Broadcasters Nepal are in opera?on having theirregistra?on under this Act.
The companies registered under the Sec?on 166 of the Companies Act 2063 are named ascompanies, but they cannot distribute their proﬁt though they can earn proﬁt. Though thefounda?ons registered under this Act undertake proﬁt making ac?vi?es, such companies
oTen in the names of individuals are considered of func?oning for social purpose. There isconfusion among public whether or not companies be the called CSOs though they do not
distribute proﬁt to the owners. Nonetheless, they are s?ll considered as CSOs because of
their purpose and as en??es not sharing their proﬁt.
All of the types of these CSOs have contributed to advocacy and governance ac?ng in aright-based approach. However, many people perceive NGOs or CSOs only as partners of
the government in service delivery and development.

7.5 Internal Control System of NGOs in Nepal
Internal Control System of the NGOs Credibility of NGOs depends on their eﬀec?veness andaccountability. Prac?ce of ins?tu?onal good governance is prerequisite for improvement ofeﬀec?veness of NGOs. NGOs need to prac?ce internal control system to improve theirgovernance and management, and to minimize ﬁduciary risks and conﬂict of interest.
Modern management system demands evidence based opera?onal prac?ces. Organiza?ons
become strong when they have wrieen documents to regulate their organiza?ons and theyneed to develop basic policies and guidelines to improve internal control prac?ces. This
study results show that many policies and plans are in place and NGOs have started to
introduce innova?ve ideas such as digital governance as well. They are helping to enhanceknowledge and skills within NGOs. So, NGOs require strong and workable internal control
system.

7.6 Self Regula,on Policies of NGOs
NGOs are engaged in human rights, inclusive approach and capacity building to address thesocial challenges emerging in changing context. They are adap?ng new technologies toimprove their organiza?onal eﬃciencies. But, their works should be evidence based andresult based. Presence and adop?on of organiza?onal’ policies, guidelines and code of11conduct lead to improve in internal control prac?ces in any organiza?on. NGO Federa?on of
Nepal has been focusing its ac?vi?es to improve self-regula?ng policies and guidelines of its
members. The survey has assessed the availability of opera?onal policies, guidelines anddirec?ves in NGOs. During survey it was found that NGOs have developed around 15 policies
and guidelines. According to the survey NGOs are draTing policies and prac?cing thembased on nature of their organiza?ons and condi?ons of the funding agencies even in theusual context. Somehow policies are developed by many organiza?ons, for instanceadministra?ve and ﬁnance policies. Survey data showed NGOs are most likely to develop
opera?on manual, ﬁnancial policy, and administra?ve policy. But, old and more projects
handling NGOs have more policies, direc?ves and project based guidelines in comparison to
the newly started NGOs. Some NGOs are improving their policies as per the direc?on of
their donors or to fulﬁll the condi?ons induced by their donors. But, small and community
based NGOs, who are not receiving funds from outer sources; they may not have more selfregulatory policies. So, existence and enforcement of self-regula?on policies, regula?on anddirec?ves are contribu?ng to improve internal control prac?ces in NGOs.
7.8. Obstructed situa,on according to CIVICUS Monitor
The CIVICUS categorized countries into open, narrowed, obstructed, repressed and closed
on the basis of the state of civil freedom exis?ng in a country. The CIVICUS Monitor
con?nued to document restric?ons and aeacks
on civic freedoms across the Asia Paciﬁc region.
As most governments liTed controls in rela?onto the pandemic, eﬀorts to s?ﬂe dissent andcrackdown on civil society and social movements
remained prevalent and escalated in somecountries.
Among the most common viola?ons were thepassing and use of restric?ve laws to criminalize
ac?vists and cri?cs. In several countries theselaws were used to prosecute human rights
defenders and keep them behind bars for long
periods.

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Another widespread trend across the region was the disrup?on of protests calling forpoli?cal or economic reforms, with the authori?es oTen detaining protesters and using
excessive force. The authori?es also harassed ac?vists and protesters, including by haulingthem in for ques?oning, detaining them, in?mida?ng their families and imposing travelbans, in addi?on to digital aeacks.
While concluding that civil freedom in the country is facing an increasing crackdown as inmost other Asian countries, CIVICUS has rated Nepal’s civic space as ‘obstructed’.
The CIVICUS Monitor report gave Nepal 46 of 100 points to keep in the obstructed (41-60)
category. The report states that Nepal saw a number of aeacks against press freedom andpolice crackdown against peaceful protests. The report states that the use of excessive force
and ﬁrearms by the police were documented in the year 2022.
Nepal’s rank in terms of civic space freedom, however, remains beeer than all other South
Asian countries except Bhutan, which scored 59.
Among other South Asian countries, only Sri Lanka (41) has made it to the oppressedcategory whereas India (31), Pakistan (30) and Bangladesh (27) are put in the restrictedcategory. Afghanistan (13) is in the closed category as is China (12) in the Asia Paciﬁc region.
In the Asia region, there is civic space regression with an increase in countries in the closed
category from four to seven. China, Laos, North Korea and Vietnam, remaining in thiscategory, are joined by Afghanistan, Hong Kong and Myanmar.
Eight countries are rated as repressed – Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, India, Pakistan, thePhilippines, Singapore and Thailand – and seven are in the obstructed category: Bhutan,
Indonesia, Malaysia, the Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Timor- Leste. Civic space in Japan,
Mongolia and South Korea is rated as narrowed, with Taiwan remaining the only country
rated as open.

7.8 Impact COVID-19 on CSOs in Nepal
During COVID 19 pandemic ?me some NGOs faced the registra?on and renewal issues .
Most of the CSOs in Nepal are registered and renewed at the district administra?on oﬃce.
However, there is no centralized database to understand the exact number of annual
registra?ons and renewals. Hence, the data from SWC can be considered a proxy to assess13the level of impact on organiza?on registra?on and renewal. Aﬃlia?on data can be used as aproxy of annual new registra?on. COVID-19 had a signiﬁcant impact on the aﬃlia?on of neworganiza?ons in the ﬁscal year 2067-2077. The annual aﬃlia?on number for the prior two
years was 2134 and 2113, respec?vely. However, during the last ﬁscal year, the number
plumbed by 89 percent to 1120 only. Similarly, there was an 8 percent decline in the numberof new project approval. However, the last ﬁscal year saw a 47 percent growth in thenumber of renewals. The increase in number might be because of the eﬀorts from SWC to
get the CSOs renewed.

The number of renewals started plumping down star?ng April of 2020. The na?onwide
lockdown posed a signiﬁcant challenge for the organiza?ons to con?nue with the renewal of
their organiza?on. From April to July of 2019, a total of 186 organiza?ons were renewed.
However, the number declined by 2.26 ?mes during the same ?me frame in 2020. The
government stringency index of Nepal was 96.3 in April and 92.59 during May. The highscore indicates the strictest measures in place. Only two organiza?ons renewed in April andonly one organiza?on in May 2020.

9. Major Concerns and Recommenda,ons
9.1 Need of a New Law
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ATer promulga?on of new cons?tu?on and adop?on of federalism, legal ambigui?es haveemerged in rela?on to the governance of NGOs and CSOs. Though the Associa?ons
Registra?on Act is in eﬀect as a federal law, Provinces have adopted and enforced separateacts of this kind at province levels. Sec?on 11 of Local Government Opera?on Act 2018 has
authorized Local Governments for registra?on and renewal of organiza?ons. Current
anomalies add to the previously iden?ﬁed issues such as need for one door repor?ng policy,
and separate registra?on, opera?on, renewal and audit system for NGOs which do not takeforeign aid. In this context, a separate umbrella Act should be formulated at federal level
through consulta?ons with stakeholders as well as with provincial and local governments.
9.2 Need of More Eﬀec,ve Council
Social Welfare Council is subjected to poli?cal interference. The SWC is involved more inmonitoring and regula?ng foreign aid than coordina?ng CSOs. It is not func?oning as anindependent legal en?ty. It seems that it's func?ons and opera?ons are under the shadow of
Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Ci?zens. In such circumstances, it is necessary
either to restructure SWC as a more powerful en?ty or to cons?tute a new CSO Council as
an independent and dedicated en?ty to coordinate CSOs. Whatever op?ons are chosen
there is a need to establish and align such ins?tu?ons with federal structure. Such
restructured council should collaborate eﬀec?vely with interna?onal non-governmentalorganiza?ons.
9.3. Social Entrepreneurship and Management of Financial Resources
The organiza?ons registered under Associa?ons Registra?on Act and Na?onal Guidance Act
are restricted from genera?ng any proﬁt. Therefore, their ﬁnancial resources are limited todona?ons, foreign aid, membership fee and contribu?ons by the members. Based on suchforeign funding, NGOs are blamed as dollar business. It is necessary to amend the legal
provisions of NGOs/CSOs, allowing these organiza?ons as proﬁt- making but proﬁt-notsharing proﬁt en??es as is the case for non-proﬁt companies established under Sec?on 166of the Companies Act. This will be helpful to organiza?ons to become more innova?ve andmanage internal sources properly; which will be helpful for their ﬁnancial sustainability.
Addi?onally, there should be provision allowing CSOs to open saving account in banks andreceive interest for the deposit.
9.4. Iden,ﬁca,on of New Financial Sources for Economic Sustainability

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In Nepal, prac?ce of philanthropic dona?on is rare for social cause and CSOs have no accessto such dona?ons even if they exist. Private sector spends signiﬁcant amount under
corporate social responsibility (CSR) but they do not collaborate with CSOs. Governments at
diﬀerent levels also fund signiﬁcant amount to diﬀerent organiza?ons but such funding go to
the organiza?ons, founda?ons or agencies aeributed to the names of poli?cal leaders. It isnecessary to make provisions that private sector spend at least 50 percent of their CSR
collabora?vely with CSOs. Likewise, all governments should provision funding through CSOs
in a transparent and systema?c way. This would be helpful not only to mobilize resources
but also contribute to the sustainability of CSOs.
9.5. Review of VAT Ceiling for Social Work Collabora,on
If CSOs intend to collaborate with the government on social work, they are compelled to get
enrolled as VAT taxpayers. Rule 19 of Procurement Regula?ons 2072 has made it mandatoryfor government agencies to purchase goods and services of the price above 20 thousand
rupees from only en??es registered as VAT. NGOs and CSOs are oﬀered tax-exemp?on
cer?ﬁcates. Even if exis?ng policies are reviewed allowing CSOs and NGOs to make proﬁt
from service but not to distribute proﬁt as dividend, they should s?ll be provided taxexemp?on. Government's Procurement Regula?ons require amendment providing that theamount expended for social work in collabora?on with CSOs/NGOs would not need VAT
invoice. Moreover, the audi?ng prac?ce that ﬁxes taxes to the balance fund under a project
assuming it as income requires revision.
9.6 Need of Coordina,on among Governments
ATer implementa?on of federal structure of the government, regula?on and opera?on oforganiza?ons has become more complicated due to weak coordina?on between and among
the federal, provincial and local governments. Provincial and local governments are seeking
their roles in governing NGOs/CSOs. However, due to the lack of coordina?on between andamong them, there are anomalies in terms of priori?zing, approval, implementa?on andrepor?ng of projects. This has caused numerous hurdles to be faced by CSOs/NGOs. Local
governments expect social development projects but the federal government's Ministry of
Women, Children and Senior Ci?zens and Social Welfare Council direct to design projects
inves?ng at least 60 percent budget to infrastructure development. Therefore, to address
such problems associated with coordina?on deﬁcits, it is essen?al that new federal

16legisla?on must ensure a new structure of SWC or a mechanism that acts eﬀec?vely tomaintain coordina?on.
9.7 Ensuring Opportunity to Collaborate and Contribute
CSOs/NGOs can take and fulﬁll the role in policy feedback and design and implementa?on ofprojects. They have skills and experience of planning and implemen?ng developmental
projects. However, the governments lack a system of exploi?ng their skills and competencies
for formula?ng and implemen?ng public plans and projects focusing on social development.
There is neither a prac?ce nor a mechanism that ensures civil society par?cipa?on in publicplanning and implementa?on processes. United Na?ons Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs) and Open Government Partnership (OGP) recommend the concept of eﬀec?ve
development and good governance in partnership and collabora?on with CSOs. Nepali
governments have lacked to take CSOs/NGOs as partners for developmental governance.
Therefore, the governments should begin and promote a culture sharing informa?on ?melyon policy, project and budget process and seek construc?ve inputs from ci?zens and their
ins?tu?ons like CSOs and collaborate with CSOs/NGOs in development plan cycles fromformula?on to implementa?on to evalua?on processes of development projects. There is aneed of prac?ce by governments to publish the draT polices for public discourse and inputs.

10. Conclusion:
CSOs have played a great role in socio-economic transforma?on of Nepal but the statesystem has not adequately realized this fact yet and recogni?on thereof. Legal andprocedural hurdles exist in opera?ons of the NGOs and CSOs which are registered as per thefundamental freedom of associa?on. The complexi?es and hurdles added in courses ofregistra?on/accredita?on, renewal, project implementa?on approval explicitly indicate that
there is lack of full respect of the fundamental en?tlements of the ci?zens to form
organiza?ons and associa?ons. To bring the derailment into track, there is need of ensuring
and providing compa?ble law, policy and mechanism by the state so as to resolve the above
stated issues.
CSOs/NGOs have contributed a lot in human rights advocacy, social jus?ce, service delivery,
awareness raising and governance but their resources are dependent to foreign aid; so they17

lack resource sustainability. Therefore, it is essen?al for them to promote of mobiliza?on ofinternal resources.
In adherence to the na?onal laws and interna?onally established principles, state should
give full aeen?on and address the issues to establish and func?onalize a system with legal
provisions, administra?ve simpliﬁca?on, ﬁnancial management with an approach ofcollabora?on and facilita?on to promote a transparent and eﬀec?ve self-governance of
CSOs/NGOs. Likewise, CSOs/NGOs also have to contribute eﬀec?vely as per the need andna?onal priori?es while improving their ins?tu?onal governance.
References
Based on primary data of interviews of CSOs in Nepal
and secondary sources
heps://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/ccpr.aspx
heps://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declara?on-of-human-rights
heps://www.lawcommission.gov.np/np
heps://www.oecd.org/gov/open-government/civic-space.htm
heps://monitor.civicus.org/
heps://nepalmonitor.org

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