CEPPS in Nepal

CEPPS has been working in Nepal since 2010 to support political party and parliamentary development, election management, voter and civic education, domestic election observation and youth and women’s empowerment. Through these efforts, CEPPS has supported the Government of Nepal and its citizens to promulgate a new constitution in 2015, hold landmark elections in 2017-2018, transition to a federalist state and support its crisis communications efforts in the aftermath of the devastating 7.6 magnitude earthquake in 2015.

CEPPS Overarching Goals:

CEPPS works with political parties, members of parliament and staff, local government officials, civil society, the Election Commission of Nepal (ECN) and other government bodies to establish more transparent, inclusive and accountable electoral and legislative processes, improving the public’s trust in their institutions.

CEPPS Approach:

To support this overarching goal, we focus on developing internal political party structures, operations and capacities to assist leaders and members to understand, develop and implement policies within the new federal structure that are more inclusive and responsive to citizen needs.

CEPPS provides technical assistance to federal and provincial assemblies and its members on evidence-based policy research and development through policy dialogues, forums, town hall meetings, workshops and site visits.

CEPPS also provides technical support to the ECN to implement inclusive elections, reform the electoral legal framework and work collaboratively with electoral stakeholders and builds the capacity of civil society organizations to conduct civic and voter education programs to encourage marginalized groups to participate in political processes.

CEPPS Key Achievements in Nepal:

Nepal’s key political institutions have an increased understanding of their roles and responsibilities, and have built capacity to fulfill their mandate in the new federal system

Supported increased interactions between federal and provincial lawmakers to share best practices on a legislative process, discuss challenges related to coordination and identify solutions going forward
Supported election administration, observation, voter education efforts and debates for local, provincial and federal elections in 2017, the first elections since the ratification of the country’s 2015 Constitution establishing Nepal as a federal democratic republic.
Drafted an integrated election law with the ECN and electoral stakeholders through a consultative process to combine the nine separate election laws into a single law to eliminate inconsistencies and introduce important electoral reforms.

Greater inclusion of women, youth and other marginalized groups in Nepal’s in political processes

Established multi-party policy forums with youth, women and marginalized groups to build their capacity to formulate and implement policies, enhancing their ability to participate in and influence policy processes in Nepal.
Implemented civic education programs targeting young people, women with disabilities, rural communities, Dalits and other marginalized groups to share information on the federal government structure, build leadership capacity and empower citizens to advocate on their priorities for local government planning and budgeting, reaching over 5750,000 people to date.
Strengthened the capacity of elected women and leaders through the establishment of a women’s mentorship program; a multi-party group consisting of 100 women leaders that launched a national advocacy campaign on women’s economic empowerment to enable greater inclusion of women in the economy and improve Nepali women’s access to and control of their finances.