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Kathmandu Tuesday January 01, 2002 Paush 17, 2058.
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Looking forward to NDF meeting
By Dr Hari pokharel
Nepal is one of the poorest countries in the
world (per capita income 220 US dollars). Half the population lives on less than $ 1 per
day. One fifth are very poor. The key characteristics of poverty are low calorific intake,
low health and literacy standards, especially among women and girls, high indebtedness,
and high out-migration. The poor do not have an effective voice in the political process
and limited rights to resources. The rate of growth in per capita income needed to halve
poverty in 25 years is 1.6 percent per annum.
Government and donors blame each other for
the failure of foreign aid in the country. Fingers are pointed at each other. While donors
blame poor government policy for poor utilisation of foreign aid, the government alleges
that foreign assistance is tagged with too many conditionalities by donors.
Foreign aid in Nepal is controversial. For
some time now, members of the international donor community have begun to speak against a
plethora of shortcomings on the part of HMG and related agencies. It has been a tale of
political nepotism, interference, frequent transfers of top officials, inefficiency and
corruption. That bitter message has come from a whole series of donors, both bilateral and
multilateral. To recapitulate, "Assessing Aid and Development", was jointly
organised by the Kathmandu offices of the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the
United Nations Development Programme and the Department for International Development of
the United Kingdom a few years back.
Donors strongly feel that
"politicisation" of the bureaucracy is leading to a situation, which in other
countries has proven to be very detrimental. A consensus of all political parties to abide
by the rules and regulations that currently exist with respect to the functioning of the
bureaucracy, such as recruitment, transfers, postings and promotions and determined action
by the government to enforce these rules is vital for successful implementation of
economic and social development plans, programmes and policies.
While it is bitter to hear from foreigners
that one’s country has been inept and even corrupt in handling aid funds, still, any
honest Nepali will admit it is true. Millions of dollars have definitely been poured into
Nepal by foreign countries and agencies, but what has been achieved? Manifestations of the
patronage system in government include frequent changes in senior government personnel and
until recently, reluctance to accept competent NGOs as legitimate development partners.
Outside government, consequences take the form of rigid and exploitative social and
economic relationships. There are few source of credit, other than landlords and
traditional moneylenders, and few opportunities for savings through a reliable financial
system.
Notwithstanding the aid reduction policy of
donor countries, there has been a considerable increment in the inflow of Foreign Official
Development Assistance (ODA) commitments. The Finance Ministry’s said to have been
quoted to the effect that approximately Rs 29 billion in foreign aid has been committed as
of mid-May 2001 and the figure is expected to go as high as Rs 36 billion by the end of
the fiscal year. Once the aid comes, it will be a two-fold increment over the Rs 18
billion committed last fiscal year.
The Ninth Plan for the first time attempted
to define the long-term targets for several poverty-related indicators and collated
strategies in achieving those targets. The commitment to poverty reduction is further
reinforced |and the strategies and policy thrusts streamlined in government presentations
at the Nepal Development Forum (NDF) meeting in Paris. In order to specify these policy
statements at the programme level, and to link various policy measures explicitly with
poverty reduction efforts, the National Planning Commission is preparing the Poverty
Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP).
The government is all set to present the
Tenth Plan and the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) as the main policy document
during the forthcoming meet of the Nepal Development Forum (NDF) scheduled to be held from
February 4-8 for the first time in Nepal. This meet, organised under the joint
convenorship of the government and the World Bank, will be attended by over 30 donor
countries and agencies. The meet will focus on the overall development policies and
programmes of the government.
The four-day meeting will also make a
thorough review of the implementation of programmes and policies adopted during the last
NDF meeting held on April 17, 2000 in Paris. The meeting, which typically takes place
every two years, is now being held after an interval of 18 months, and is expected to be
attended by high-level officials from donor countries and agencies. The foreign aid policy
of the government that is currently being prepared will also be completed before the
meeting and will be floated then. The World Bank is expected to present a comprehensive
report on Nepal’s development scenario, outlining its shortcomings and suggesting
corrective measures.
The upcoming NDF meeting, formerly known as
the Paris Aid Group meeting, marks some deviations from the past. Unlike the last meeting,
donors will also present a paper focusing on their accountability while financing
development projects. Donors have clearly said that they are also ready to change their
aid policy to make the outcome of the project more effective. The Nepalese side will
present, inter-alia, a time frame for the completion of the reforms in each sector. The
government will also, for the first time include civil society as a partner in development
endeavours.
The donor community, it is learnt, will focus
on the weak monitoring and evaluation system. In Nepal the follow up part is the weakest
in the development endeavours.
The forthcoming Nepal Development Forum Meeting (NDF) meeting
is important because Nepal’s major donors would be coming together to discuss how to
support Nepal’s development efforts. Nepal, on its part, has to convince the donors
about its development priorities, strategies, policies and programmes.
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