Construction Of Nepal Pavilion At Expo 2000

-By Our Correspondent

A 29-member team of specialised Nepalese craftsmen and engineers are constructing a unique Nepalese building in the form of a 23-meter high stupa together with 11-meter high temple in Germany.

According to a press release issued by Implementing Experts’ Group, referred by the German press as the masterpiece of Nepalese traditional architectural grandeur, the building is being constructed for the EXPO 2000 Hannover as Nepal’s National Pavilion.

The Nepalese technical team has been erecting the Nepalese Himalayan Pavilion for the last one month and the construction is scheduled to be completed by the end of April this year. The stupa-temple building will be a unique and the only one of this kind in the world.

Appointed by His Majesty’s Government to plan, erect, operate and manage the country’s participation at the EXPO 2000 Hannover, the Implementing Experts Group (comprised of professionals having experience and expertise of previous World Expositions) is undertaking the entire construction with its own finances and with materials carved in Nepal.

About 450 metric tonnes of construction materials, including exquisitely carved wood, stone and metal have been brought to Hannover by sea.

Nepal’s Himalayan Pavilion in the form of Stupa and Temple will remain at the centre of a 2500 sq. metres mandala shaped garden. There will also be a 150 sq. m. L-shaped pond at the front.

The 62-metre long and 4-metre width traditional Sattal (porch) walkway will surround the pond. There will be a traditional platform in the east for presenting traditional Nepalese dance performances, whereas platform in the north will serve as place for presenting live demonstration of pottery making, wood carving, metal casting, thanka painting and carpet weaving. Thatched roof farmhouse of Kathmandu valley and Tharu mud-house with colourful wall paintings will be built in the west and south side of the garden.

Nepal is presenting its rich skill in wood and stone carvings and metal engraving in the Pavilion. The Pavilion will also have regular live performances from Nepalese dancers and musicians and live demonstration by artisans who will show art of pottery making, wood and stone carving, metal casting, thanka painting and carpet weaving.

“Mankind Nature Technology” is the main theme and several sub-themes specified by Expo 2000 for each participating country to make their national presentation. Nepal is concentrating its presentation in the main theme and sub themes such as “Education & Culture”, “Leisure & Mobility”, “Environment & Development”. One hundred and seventy-three countries and 20 international organizations will have their pavilions at EXPO 2000 Hannover, which is expected to be attended by 40 to 50 million visitors from Germany and rest the world. Nepalese participation a the EXPO is expected to help promote besides national image and prestige, country’s foreign trade, investment, tourism and commercial utilization of human and natural resources. Promotion of art and architecture, cultural will also get substantial boost at the EXOP 2000, the press release said.

Even after the fair, the structure will be a permanent feature in the German city, as a symbol of Nepal’s architectural and cultural grandeur.

Listening To The Voices Of The Poor

-By Our Correspondent

The World Bank has recently published a revealing new study of the causes and effects of global poverty – “Voices of the Poor”.

According to the study, “Voices of the Poor: Can Anyone Hear Us?” presents detailed personal accounts from over 60,000 men and women in 60 countries about the realities of living with poverty, and what the poor need to improve their lives.

From Georgia to Brazil, and Nigeria to the Philippines, the World Bank says, the new study report chronicles the daily struggles and aspirations of the poor, and how their lives are shaped by common hardships such as hunger, powerlessness, social isolation, state corruption, gender inequality, and the rudeness of local officials.

Based on interviews with tens of thousands of poor people across five continents, the report, the first in a three volume series, concludes that poverty is much more than lack of income. Poverty also means having no “voice” in influencing key decisions that affect their lives, or representation in state and national political institutions.

Based on discussions with communities throughout the developing world, the book offers a number of key findings which the poor themselves say greatly affect their daily lives.

Poverty is multidimensional

The persistence of poverty is linked to a web of recurring factors. First, while poverty is rarely about the lack of only one thing, the bottom line is that the poor constantly live with hunger; second, poverty has important psychological dimensions, such as powerlessness, voicelessness, dependency, shame and humiliation; third, the poor lack access to basic infrastructure, such as roads, transportation and clean water; fourth, people realize education offers an escape from poverty, but only if the quality of education and the economic environment in the society at large improve; fifth, illness is especially feared because of exorbitant health care costs and not being able to work; and last, the poor rarely speak of income but instead focus on managing assets physical, human, social, and environmental as a way to cope with their vulnerability.

The state has been largely ineffective in reaching the poor

While recognizing the role of government in providing infrastructure, health, and education services, the poor feel that these government interventions should go much further.

Too many interactions with state representatives are marred by rudeness and humiliation as the poor seek services such as health care, education for their children, social and relief assistance, police protection or justice from local authorities.

Corruption and distrust emerge as core poverty issues

Poor men and women often do not trust government officials. This is based on their daily experiences with corrupt civil servants, their attempts to get teachers to educate their children, trying to get medicines from health clinics even after they have paid for them, seeking justice, or trying to get police to protect them.

Households are crumbling under the stresses of poverty

 Households often disintegrate as men, unable to adapt to their “failure” to earn adequate incomes under harsh economic circumstances, often turn to alcoholism or domestic violence, leading to a breakdown of the family structure. In contrast, women tend to swallow their pride and do demeaning jobs or anything that puts food on the table for their children and husbands. Gender inequity remains remarkably stubborn; economic empowerment for women does not necessarily lead to social empowerment or equality within households.

The social fabric, the poor’s only “insurance” is unravelling

Social insurance-the bonds of reciprocity and trust which the poor depend on in the absence of material assets-is unraveling. Difficult to reverse, the breakdown in social solidarity and social bonds leads to increased lawlessness, violence and crime, to which the poor are most vulnerable within a society.

“While the Bank has always listened to the poor, the sheer scale of this study and its analysis demands our attention. Around the world, poor people’s experiences highlight the role of power and social structures in determining who has opportunity and who is excluded” says Deepa Narayan, the author of Voices of the Poor and a Principle Senior Social Development Specialist at the World Bank.

“The central challenge of the 21st century is to create governance systems from the local to the global level that include and respond to the priorities and concerns of the poor. This requires investment in their organizations so they can negotiate directly with governments, NGOs, traders, and international agencies. In a sense, ‘Voices of the Poor’ is a wake up call for all people and organizations concerned with poverty.”

The way ahead comprehensive and inclusive development

Narayan says with the Bank mobilizing support for more community-based development projects those that give the poor more power and greater security and opportunity at the local level poor communities can put themselves “in the driver’s seat” in assessing their own needs and devising ways to improve their living conditions.

World Bank lending of US$3 billion in support of community-driven development has attracted an additional $US 5 billion from donors, governments, and other development banks and agencies. More than 60 countries have now set up social development funds which, in turn, have financed more than 100,000 community-based programs worldwide. Typically, these programs include improving schools and health clinics; training women in job and organizational skills; and upgrading water supplies and local roads.

This form of client-led initiative is replicated at the national level, Narayan says, with the Comprehensive Development Framework (CDF), which, in partnership with the broader international development community and civil society at all levels, lets developing countries devise development priorities and solutions that best suit their local circumstances. Along with greater Bank support for social development, Narayan believes that the challenges raised by Voices of the Poor are forcing the Bank to pursue creative new strategies in its development work.

In addition to the extensive face-to-face consultations of the Voices of the Poor Project, the Bank is also harnessing the power of the Internet to listen and learn from its clients, partners, and critics, on how best to fight poverty.

The Development Forum, the Bank’s electronic discussion space, is currently hosting a public, global consultation on the first full draft of the World Development Report 2001 on Poverty. This on-line conference is being jointly organized together with two non-governmental organizations-the Bretton Woods Project and the New Policy Institute. Over 1000 participants from across the globe are signed up to this online discussion, which runs until March 31. Bank’s partners also hear Voices of the Poor

 The new study has been welcomed by the World Bank’s partners in international development, some of whom describe it as “a remarkable testimony to the strength, and the spirit of the poor.”