Terre des hommes in Nepal
With this newsletter we report about the present commitment of Terre des hommes in Nepal and provide an overview of our present project activities.
"Nepal faced the prospect of renewed conflict in January 2006, when armed followers of the Maoist faction of the Communist Party of Nepal ended a four-month unilateral ceasefire. The Maoists launched their armed rebellion against the state in 1996 and ended their latest ceasefire in response to King Gyanendra's failure to reciprocate. Nepalis living outside the capital, Kathmandu, remain hostage to a climate of impunity that has evolved over the last decade. They are caught between local Maoist commanders and a security regime that has often operated beyond the confines of the law." Between Two Stones - Nepal's decade of conflict - IRIN Web Special, December 2005).
Nepal is a country poised on the edge of the abyss. Seventy percent of the territory of the Kingdom of Nepal is now under the control of Maoist rebels. Since the Maoist uprising began in February 1996 more than 12,800 people have been killed: 8,283 people were killed by the State and 4,582 by the Maoists until November 2005. Among them were 2,027 agricultural workers, 141 teachers and 14 journalists. Both sides killed an almost equal number of children: 172 by the State and 169 by the Maoists INSEC). According to last week's report from Human Rights Watch, Nepal has the dubious distinction of recording more disappearances than any other nation on earth. People living in outlying communities are particularly vulnerable to forced recruitment and extortion by the insurgents on the one hand, and indiscriminate reprisals by security forces on the other. The rule of law has effectively been vanquished, with criminal elements now operating in much of the nation.
The physical and psycho-social effects of the conflict on children and women will reverberate for years to come.
Projects and Programs in Nepal
Terre des hommes is working in Nepal since 1985, and implements its projects through presently 15 local partner organisations. Projects and programs include disability in children, malnutrition in children, child protection projects within the framework of the armed conflict, and antitrafficking initiatives and programs.
14 Nepali citizens are regularly employed (plus four consultants) in the two offices with seven female and seven male staff respectively. Around 180 local staff in partner organisations are paid through Terre des hommes' commitment in Nepal. In order to better respond to the worsening conflict Terre des hommes established its first field office in Nepalganj, Midwestern Nepal in 2005.
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