Focus On Pro-Poor Governance
VERY often all the foreign assistance that
has come our way has been modelled on western ways, on what the donors see as right for
us. However, our actual needs may be vastly different from what the donors perceive them
to be. At the formal launching of the Enabling State Programme that focuses on Pro-poor
governance, Prime Minister Koirala also expressed his reservations about the past
experiences where alien programmes imposed on Nepal have not worked desirably because of
the unique characteristics of the Nepalese society. He also stressed the need for a
long-term perspective and a wider picture which the ESP has also been stressing upon. The
areas of intervention and the approach to it can be identified realistically only if
participation of the primary stake-holders is also fully utilised. This exactly has been
the approach of Enabling State Programme (ESP) of the Department for International
Development (DFID) of the United Kingdom and the stress has been given on active
participation of the Nepalese both in the advocacy as well as design and implementation of
governance reform activities.
There is no doubt that many of the challenges
faced by the nation today, can be traced to the rampant poverty that envelopes the lives
of the majority of the Nepalese people. Fully recognising this problem, it has been the
objective of His Majesty’s Government to eradicate poverty through different
programmes. Prime Minister Koirala has also time and again reiterated that good governance
will contribute significantly in strengthening the economy of the nation and uplifting the
living standard of the people. Because of economic indiscipline and lack of
accountability, many development projects, including those that have been provided aid
from foreign donor agencies, have suffered. However, it is encouraging that the present
government is very serious in addressing such problems and thus being "more
responsive to the needs of the poor". From the people’s level, they must also
fully cooperate in making the different programmes launched by the government successful
and also provide suggestions on what projects they need for their areas’ development.
Development programmes like the one aided by DFID, should pave the way for more people
based projects to be initiated and contribute in tackling the tough challenge of
eradicating poverty.
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