NEPAL ANNUAL REPORT 2023
1. GLOBAL SNAPSHOT | 2. INTEGRITY ICON | 3.ACCOUNTABILITY INCUBATOR | 4. OPEN DATA HACKATHON | 5. COUNTERING KLEPTOCRACY | 6. YOUTH POWER IN STRENGTHENING DEMOCRACY | 7. STRENGTHENING FEDERAL DEMOCRACY | 8. GOV-HER-NANCE | 9. JUST RECOVERY | 10. OPEN GOVERNANCE | 11. TEAM MEMBER HIGHLIGHTS | 12. OPEN GOV HUB | 13. BUDGET
2023 was already a challenging year globally. The aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war also posed various socio-economic challenges for Nepal, with the inflation rate increasing by almost 8%. Corruption is still rampant. Several instances of which were evident throughout the year, including the Lalita Niwas land acquisition case, the fake Bhutanese refugee scam, the gold scandal, and the loan shark dispute. However, these cases are also an indication of the Nepalese government’s anti-corruption efforts. Other political green shoots of hope are young independent leaders coming to the forefront after the 2022 elections.
Accountability Lab Nepal (ALN) has formed various de-kleptification networks across the country and has been promoting youth engagement to strengthen democracy in their communities while supporting governments to enhance fair and equitable governance in their jurisdictions. This year also marks ALN’s 10th year of building integrity through the Integrity Icon campaign.
SNAPSHOT OF NEPAL IN THE GLOBAL ARENA
UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY:
As Nepal is graduating from least developed country (LDC) status in 2026, it committed to making graduation smooth, sustainable, and irreversible through economic transformation. The country is also committed to climate-resilient pathways, peace-building, and collective action for tackling global challenges.
NEW CHAIR FOR LDCS:
Nepal’s honourable Minister of Foreign Affairs NP Saud was appointed as the chair of the LDCs.
PROGRESS IN SDGS:
The Constitution of Nepal 2015 and the 15th Development Plan (2019/2023-24) is also aligned with the SDGs. However, Nepal received a 66.5 SDG Index Score and ranked 99/166 countries in the year 2023.
TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL CORRUPTION INDEX:
Nepal scored 35 and is ranked 108th in the Transparency International Corruption Index.
SUMMIT FOR DEMOCRACY:
The highlights of Nepal’s commitment to the S4D included overcoming the twin challenges of climate change and post-pandemic economic recovery. The country has established a green, resilient, and inclusive development strategy that aims to foster the country’s inclusive and sustainable growth.
COP28:
At COP28, Nepal shared its commitment to achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045 – five years earlier than the global target – and highlighted how the country is disproportionately affected despite minimal contributions.
ACCOUNTABILITY LAB REACH
PROVINCES
LOCAL UNITS
INDIVIDUALS
INTEGRITY ICON – PROMOTING EXCEPTIONAL PUBLIC SERVANTS
Integrity Icon is a global campaign to find, celebrate, and connect with honest government officials. This year marked the 10th year of Integrity Icon and our efforts to build Integrity in Nepal. Our aim for this year was to; highlight the achievements made over a decade, continue to promote collaboration among alumni, and reflect on strategy.
Our team has captured how integrity is being institutionalized, with 10 blogs marking the 10th year of building integrity in the public services. The blogs can be accessed here.
43 Integrity Icon alumni came together in different thematic groups to discuss sectoral challenges and ways to institutionalize solutions. Alumni meet-ups have also promoted collaboration and provided a support mechanism for Integrity Icons and younger government officials.
Our team has made amendments to the nomination procedure, selection guidelines, and alumni engagement strategies based on the feedback and learnings over the year.
INTEGRITY ICON 2023 WINNERS
HEMA THAPA – Hospital Nursing Incharge, Narayani Hospital, Birgunj
NEERA ADHIKARI – Director, Department of Women and Children;
PADMA NATH ATREYA – Horticulture Development Officer, Temperate Horticulture Development Centre, Marfa, Mustang;
PRATIK RAI – Administrative Officer, District Administration Office, Jhapa;
RABINA MAHARJAN – Principal, Manamaiju Secondary School, Tarakeshwor, Kathmandu.
INTEGRITY ICON 2023 BY THE NUMBERS
Total nominations: 466
Districts covered: 75
Provinces covered: 7
Men: 69.53%
Women: 30.47%
Sectors: Agriculture, Health, Administration, Education, Women and Children
INTEGRITY ICON NETWORK
Government officials engaged
Icons
Integrity scholars
Integrity fellows
INTEGRITY SCHOOL
BUILDING THE NEXT GENERATIONS OF LEADERS IN GOVERNMENT:
Integrity School aims to build future leaders who will be the foundation for an accountability ecosystem. The school provides key opportunities for leadership development, learning and mentorship, hands-on training, and powerful networking to amplify the impact of integrity on governance outcomes over time. This year, Integrity Scholars received mentorship and guidance from Icons on how to apply their innovations and overcome the challenges they face in their work.
INTEGRITY FELLOWSHIP:
PROMOTING INTEGRITY AS AN EXPECTED BEHAVIOUR WITHIN SOCIETY
10 Fellows have been selected for Integrity Fellowship to engage with ALN’s network and government officials. Integrity Fellows launched an initiative called “सदाचारिताका लागि युवा” [Youth for Integrity] to enlighten young people about the importance of integrity and accountability in establishing a governance system that genuinely serves the public. They engaged over 300+ students across different academic institutions in Nepal. Get to know the 10 Integrity Fellows here.
ACCOUNTABILITY INCUBATOR
A catalytic journey for change makers implementing innovative approaches to strengthen social accountability.
11 Accountapreneurs from diverse fields were selected for the Incubator 2023 cohort. Some of the diverse range of ideas include disability and education, menstruation, and inclusion in work spaces. We held orientation and on-demand sessions for Accountapreneurs, addressing organization registration, social welfare council processes, communication strategies, and crowdfunding. Read more about them and their ideas here.
BY THE NUMBERS
- 40 Accountapreneurs
THEMES
- Governance and Transparency
- Gender
- Public Service Delivery
- Social Inclusion
- Civic Engagement
- Youth Engagement
- Labour Migration
- Financial Literacy
HIGHLIGHTS
BEYOND THE BLOOD: FROM WHISPERS TO ROAR
Pooja successfully conducted an open event, “Beyond the Blood: From Whispers to Roar,” to encourage open discussion around menstruation. The event was a beautiful amalgamation of art and activism, which covered the results of inequalities brought about by menstruation and the need for open and bold discussion around such topics. Pooja was also featured in WOW magazine.
ECONOMICS HUB NEPAL
Sajani launched her e-platform Economics Hub Nepal, a learning platform to provide economic/finance-related knowledge and connect those passionate about the sector.
ANTI-CORRUPTION CURRICULUM
Manish created and is piloting an anti-corruption curriculum for schools and has reached out to five. He is in the process of testing and applying it to more schools and using learnings and feedback to further improve the curriculum.
EQUAL EDUCATION
Saurav launched crowdfunding for his initiative promoting equal education, focusing primarily on visually impaired students.
SUPPORT MY SCHOOL
Richa was selected for HackCorruption and is working with the team to build her “Support my School” initiative, which works to improve feedback mechanisms in Nepal’s public schools.
OPEN DATA HACKATHON
The Open Data Hackathon is a platform for youth seeking to promote the culture of Open Data to enhance accountability. It is an open program for data activists, media representatives, civil society, and academia to use their skills and knowledge to use open data and create solutions that address societal issues in Nepal.
ACHIEVEMENTS
45 PARTICIPANTS
19 Women, 26 Men
Entrepreneurs, journalists, tech experts, civic leaders, and university students
10 teams from 3 cities (Birgunj, Lahan and Janakpur)
5 issues were highlighted (Improving public service delivery, Increasing local participation, Transparency in local budgeting, inclusive decisionmaking, countering social norms)
5 local mentors
COUNTERING KLEPTOCRACY THROUGH DE-KLEPTIFICATION NETWORKS
COUNTERING KLEPTOCRACY THROUGH DE-KLEPTIFICATION NETWORKS
Nepal is not immune to kleptocracy. Countering Kleptocracy is a dialogue series to bring the change makers within and outside government together to discuss Nepal’s kleptocratic nexus, its impacts, and possible de-kleptification measures. It brought anti-corruption leaders from civil society, media, and government together to brainstorm ideas and foster collaborations to generate new discourses for systemic change.
The initiative is designed to equip civil servants with the knowledge and skills to foster effective teamwork, improve group decision-making, and promote citizen-centric design thinking and problem-solving processes. It aims to improve performance of public offices, promote evidence-based decision-making and citizen feedback for inclusive decision making. and the resultant frustration of the citizens who face delays and corruption.
Read more about the Kleptocracy dialogues here.
Here are some Op-eds published by our team in the process:
BY THE NUMBERS
Provinces
Participants
Men
Women
Trans-women
YOUTH POWER IN STRENGTHENING DEMOCRACY
YOUTH POWER IN STRENGTHENING DEMOCRACY
The program aims to foster youth inclusion and participation in democratic processes by providing them with the skills, tools, and spaces to participate in policy development and decision-making at all levels of government.
Through the Civic Action Teams (CivActs), our Community Frontline Activists (CFAs) and the youth volunteers at a community level have created momentum around youth engagement and participation in local decision-making. They have reached out to the community, media, government officials, CSOs, and others. Based on these consultations and the data collected, the team produced infographics on the theme of “Youth Participation” for the local units (Here is a sample infographic)
Similarly, through the Youth Engagement in Democracy (YD ) fellowship, young people have discussed matters that concern them. The fellowship provided knowledge, a peer learning platform, and ways to amplify these voices through media products. Read more about the 14 fellows who have been selected and produced the Youth Take Over Series Podcasts.
Together with youth activists, ALN is enhancing youth participation to improve awareness and hold sub-national governments accountable for effective S4D processes.
IMPACTS
Targeting local government’s budget formulation period, CFAs provided key recommendations to their local unit to increase youth participation and ensure youth voices are heard. Local governments have committed to addressing some of the recommendations provided by the CFAs who kept track of commitments made and supported local units through feedback when necessary. Some of the commitments are already being implemented, such as in Dhangadhi Sub-Metropolitan City with ALN on the Local Representatives with Youth initiative.
BY THE NUMBERS
Provinces
Youth
Government representatives
STRENGTHENING FEDERAL DEMOCRACY BY IMPROVING GOVERNANCE AND ENABLING MARKETS
STRENGTHENING FEDERAL DEMOCRACY BY IMPROVING GOVERNANCE AND ENABLING MARKETS
The overall objective of the project is to improve understanding of the importance of public-private collaborations between state and non-state actors through dialogues and civic engagement. The aim is to enhance collaboration between the public and private sectors for improved local development.
IMPACT STORIES
BUTWAL SUB-METROPOLITAN CITY
Butwal sub-metropolitan city has budgeted for the following as suggested in our earlier policy papers and PPDs:
Collaboration with private companies to use small vehicles to manage traffic congestion and incentivize parking spaces with commercial complexes.
Constituting a body to conduct dialogue with the private sector for revenue collection, adjusting house rent for business purposes, and solving business-related problems.
Dialogue with the private sector on the PPP-laden projects.
POKHARA METROPOLITAN CITY
Pokhara Metropolitan City has collaborated with ALN and formed an informal Public-Private Dialogue Forum for the public and private sector to jointly discuss the solutions to their challenges.
GREEN ACCOUNTABILITY
ALN is working on creating a systematic way for people to have a voice and role in the climate decisions that most impact their lives.
GOV-HER-NANCE: CLIMATE, GENDER AND ACCOUNTABILITY
GOV-HER-NANCE: CLIMATE, GENDER AND ACCOUNTABILITY
Building on the learning of our Gov-HER-Nance initiative, we worked with a group of women leaders from Pokhara Metropolitan City to advocate for urgent climate actions with the government and concerned stakeholders. This work is a part of Green Accountability – creating a systematic way for people to have a voice and role in the climate decisions that most impact their lives.
2022 OUTCOMES:
DEMANDING A ‘JUST RECOVERY’ FROM BELOW
The Role of Grassroots Accountability Activism in Safeguarding Labour Migrants’ Rights in the Pandemic Era:
Using the COVID-19 disaster as a site of political possibility, the research draws on the perspectives and experiences of labor migrants, youth activists, and volunteers. This is to understand the potential of grassroots activism in challenging intersecting inequalities facing labor migrants in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis in Nepal. The political possibilities and challenges of youth-led, bottom-up activism are being investigated regarding its ability to construct alternative narratives of care and justice and forge newer alliances to hold the state accountable to the voices of returnee Nepali migrants.
HIGHLIGHTS
The team presented the paper titled Disaster as a Catalyst for Injustice: Experiences of Nepali Migrant Workers during COVID-19 during the Annual Kathmandu Conference on the Nepal and Himalaya.
POLICY RESEARCH
THE AFTERMATH OF “AAFNO MANCHHE” IN LOCAL GOVERNANCE
Our team produced policy research and policy briefs on the theme of Good Governance and Local Development, focusing on the Local Government Operations Act 2074 and the Tole Development Organization (Formation and Operation) Procedure. The research delved deep into the dynamics of local governance, emphasizing the influence of close-knit network. This network is not a straightforward connection but rather a complex and entangled network of people, connected by different factors each having their power/influence and having a significant role to play on corruption or accountability issues.
STRENGTHENING WOMEN’S PARTICIPATION IN LOCAL-DECISION MAKING E-LEARNING MODULE
The ALN team, in collaboration with GIZ, MUAN, and NARMIN supported the content development of the eLearning module on Strengthening Women’s Participation in Local Decision-Making. The module is publicly available in the Atingi-an eLearning platform and targets local units to help them mainstream gender issues The module includes interactive elements including case stories, videos, and reflective exercises. It can be accessed in both English and Nepali.
PROMOTING OPEN GOVERNANCE
Excavating local narrative to ignite global narrative to renew democracy, counter corruption, and promote open governance
HACKCORRUPTION
ALN hosted the Hackcorruption event in Nepal in collaboration with Accountability Lab, where participants from Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, and Nepal actively engaged in identifying tech solutions to combat corruption. 5 groups have been selected as the winners and are provided with the required guidance and mentorship on their idea. See the coverage of Hackcorruption in Business 360.
SUMMIT FOR DEMOCRACY
ALN is tracking the progress of S4D in Nepal and supporting youth to localize possible commitments. We are enhancing youth participation to improve awareness and hold sub-national governments accountable for effective S4D processes. We are also monitoring the advancement of S4D commitments to produce a validated data set for evidence-based advocacy. This is in addition to fostering collaboration with diverse networks to develop creative and innovative advocacy approaches for consistent dialogue and engagement.
CIVIL SOCIETY 7
Ahead of the G7 Summit in Hiroshima, Japan, Civil Society 7 (C7) presented a communique to Japanese President Fumio with policy recommendations to bring positive changes on global issues, including the complete elimination of nuclear weapons before 2045. ALN Country Director Narayan Adhikari was the Working Group coordinator of Open and Resilient Societies and led the group for recommendations.
REGIONAL COLLABORATION WITH MJF
ALN is collaborating with the Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF) in Bangladesh to strengthen youth engagement in democracy through regional collaboration in South Asia. The Nepal team also participated in a learning exchange in Bangladesh. Here’s how we are fostering meaningful regional collaborations.
SHIFT THE POWER
Accountability Lab co-hosted the “#ShiftThePower: Grappling with the Present, Looking Ahead to the Future” event at Kathmandu with other organizations including GFCF, Tewa, PeaceDirect, and NearNetwork.
C20
C20 is a platform established in 2013 for civil society organizations to engage with the G20, and it has become increasingly important over time. ALN has been the international Co-Chair of the C20 Anti-Corruption Working Group (ACWG) and a Steering Committee Member of the C20. We have developed a mechanism to track anti-corruption commitments of G20 leaders, which is open for public comment and contribution.
TEAM MEMBER HIGHLIGHTS
SUVECHHA CHAPAGAIN
Suvechchha Chapagain, our Program Officer, participated in the Community Engagement Exchange Program sponsored by the U.S. Department of State.
SHRUTI SHAKYA
Shruti Shakya, our Campaign Associate, participated in Ujyalo Foundation’s Women’s Leadership Fellowship program.
BIKIN GHIMIRE
Bikin Ghimire, our Communication and Product Manager, provided a session on Localizing the SDGs: For Myself, For My Country, For my Nation for “The Good Leadership” program at St. Xaviers College for young students.
SONI KHANAL
Soni Khanal, our Learning Manager, was a part of the Monitoring and Evaluation Team of the C7 Summit held in Tokyo, Japan.
OSHIN MAHARJAN
Oshin Maharjan, our Program Associate, is participating in the US Embassy’s Youth Council [USYC] 2023.
PREKKSHYA BIMALI & SONI KHANAL
Prekkshya Bimali, our Program Officer, and Soni Khanal, our Learning Manager, visited Bangladesh for a learning exchange with the Manusher Jonno Foundation, Bangladesh where they got an opportunity to engage extensively with youth-led organizations in Bangladesh.
NARAYAN ADHIKARI & ASHMITA SHARMA
Narayan Adhikari, our CEO, and Ashmita Sharma, our Program Manager visited Sri Lanka to share our 10-year experience and attend the Integrity Icon Sri Lanka Award Ceremony.
DRIDHATA SILWAL
Dridhata Silwal, our Program Associate has been selected for UC Davis Nepal Learning Exchange Program 2023, in collaboration with University of California students and Nepal.
SONI KHANAL
Soni Khanal, our Learning Manager has been selected as a #ShiftThePower fellow by the Global Fund for Community Foundations. Read Soni’s experience of #ShiftThePower Summit here.
SUVECHHA CHAPAGAIN
Suvechha Chapagain, our Program Officer has been appointed as a member of the advisory board of the YD Project (Youth Democracy Cohort), of the European Union.
STAFF
STAFF
PROVINCIAL
COORDINATOR
CONSULTANTS
INTERNATIONAL
FELLOW
VOLUNTEERS
FELLOWS
OPEN GOV HUB
Open Co Hub has been hosting community leaders, changemakers, and service-minded people in Nepal. It builds community, supports movements, and spreads services across dividing lines and geographies. Our physical space serves as more than simply a place to hold events; but a testbed for synergies between innovation, service, and human values. We shared our space with Digital Rights Nepal and the National Agribusiness Innovation Centre (NABIC). Open Co Hub hosted a series of events including film screenings, networking, friendraisers etc.
Some Additional Media Coverages:
BUDGET & PARTICIPANTS
TOTAL ANNUAL BUDGET
TOTAL GRANTS
TOTAL 2023 PARTICIPANTS