Karuna Center’s Work in Nepal
Recent History
In April 2006, nineteen days of massive public demonstrations forced the king of Nepal to give up absolute rule and led Maoist insurgents to agree to seek a political solution to their grievances. Nepal had been ruled as a monarchy since the 18th century in spite of several failed attempts at democratic reform. Between 1996 and 2006 over 12,000 people died in a civil war between a Maoist movement that gained control of much of the region outside of the capital and an increasingly repressive state. Democratic elections in April 2008 resulted in multi-party government with a Maoist majority and an interim parliament tasked to write a new, people-centered constitution. A major issue to be addressed by the new government is the marginalization of ethnic minorities and women, all underserved by previous governments. Nepal also faces daunting problems of poverty, underdevelopment, difficult terrain, geopolitical pressure because of its strategic location between China and India, caste and class prejudices, internally displaced people and other residues of civil conflict, and little national consensus on its future.
Karuna Center’s Engagement in Nepal
In the 1990’s, Karuna Center led a number of workshops within and beyond the Kathmandu Valley. Workshops for women focused on women’s equality and empowerment, and workshops for indigenous communities were concerned with issues of cultural preservation, human rights, and political representation. In April 2006, Karuna Center was invited by the Human Rights Organization of Nepal (HURON) to lead a conflict transformation seminar for human rights activists, just as the people’s demonstrations were building. Our workshop became a living laboratory for activists who shuttled between the classroom and the streets, for developing strategies to maintain a peaceful protest and for applying theories of nonviolent conflict transformation to the immediate situation (see Nepal, December 2006) Karuna Center has been active in Nepal ever since. We have helped various sectors of society address the root causes of the violence and deepen mutual understanding. We have also worked with our Nepalese partners to find practical ways to promote social change and healing, develop a more participatory democracy, and foster a culture of peace and justice from the grassroots to the national level.
Programs for Women Leaders: 2008-Present
Women have never had equal rights, status, or opportunity in Nepal. The interim constitution has mandated one-third representation of women in the new parliament, but much more needs to be done to make women’s participation in creating the new Nepal a reality. In July 2008, Karuna Center, with support from Hunt Alternatives Fund Initiative for Inclusive Security launched a series of programs to promote women’s leadership. We are leading seminars for women parliamentarians to promote leadership skills on issues of peace and security, the use of the constitution making process as a peacebuilding tool, coalition building, and advocacy for women’s rights. Through partnership relationships with Women in Good Governance (WIGG) and Federation of Women Entrepreneurs in Nepal (FWEAN), we are developing peace leadership programs for women in business and civil society that focus on social healing and reconciliation. Program designs have included skills in conflict analysis, impact of identity and exclusion, peacebuilding and social justice interventions, training skills, leadership tools, coalitions, advocacy and empowerment. Women in Nepal are far behind international standards and are mobilizing to demand education, equal opportunities, human rights and political inclusion. The women in our training programs are leaders in these efforts and deserving of a great deal of encouragement, support and recognition as they struggle against traditional norms of gender, caste and class exclusion.
(See Nepal, Fall 2008).
Training of Trainers for Women: 2008-Present
Karuna Center is especially committed to encouraging a new generation of women leaders in Nepal, both in civil society and government sectors. As such, we are providing opportunities for those with exceptional skills and English fluency to attend CONTACT, a Peacebuilding Summer Institute in the United States led by Karuna Center directors. Additionally, we invite these women to assist us with training in Nepal, offering them another level of leadership training and supervision.
Peacebuilding in the Birthplace of the Buddha: 2007-Present
In December 2007 and November 2008, Karuna Center responded to requests to facilitate conflict resolution processes in Lumbini, the birthplace of the Buddha in southern Nepal, close to the Indian border. This opportunity arose through the invitation of Venerable Vivekananda, a Buddhist monk and meditation teacher in Lumbini.
In this historic setting, all the Asian Buddhist countries and some European Dharma centers have built monasteries and facilities for spiritual seekers. Over recent decades, misperception and conflicts between the monastic communities, the Lumbini Development Trust and the local population have resulted in tensions and held back progress on the development of Lumbini as a spiritual and World Heritage site. Karuna Center met with many of the stakeholders in 2007 and 2008 in four-day conflict resolution workshops that enabled participants to deepen understanding of each other’s needs and fears and to seek solutions that are mutually beneficial.
Karuna Center is honored to offer our services on behalf of Lumbini and pleased that the parties shifted perceptions and opened their hearts to a fuller appreciation of each other’s concerns and obligations. We have been invited to continue this process in November 2009, and meanwhile we follow the online reports of meetings, cooperation and agreements between stakeholders that bode well for the future (see Lumbini, Fall 2008).
Promoting Multi-Sector Dialogues and Partnerships: 2007-2008
In 2007, Karuna Center led a four-part, year-long peace leadership series with our Nepalese partner, Institute for Conflict Management Peace Development (ICPD), for participants from diverse sectors, including government ministries, NGOs, political parties, human rights organizations, trade unions and the private sector. Participants developed joint peacebuilding projects with heartening practical results. For example, a group of women participants have developed a three-year reconciliation and income-generating program for women in the Rolpa district who have lost husbands either to Maoists or state forces. A journalist applied his learning on the importance of inclusion and tolerance to radio dramas and discussion forums that reach over 1.6 million listeners in districts throughout the country (see Nepal, December 2007).
In 2008, Karuna Center conducted two seminars in partnership with ICPD and the Office of the Prime Minister, in which participants from government ministries and civil society formed cross-sector working groups to develop public/private partnerships in the following areas: Constitution Making a Peacebuilding Tool, Transitional Justice, and Social Healing. Presentations of the work were made to invited national and international guests.
Constitution-Making as a Peacebuilding Tool: 2006
In August and December 2006, Karuna Center was invited by the Canadian Cooperation Office to work with their Nepalese NGO partners from all five regions of Nepal on the theme of reconciliation and civil society participation in a new constitutional process. Workshops were held in Kathmandu, Bhiratnager and Nepalganj. Recent experiments in Africa and Latin America have demonstrated that constitution-making can be an important post-conflict peacebuilding tool if it becomes a truly participatory process that reaches out to all groups, including the most marginalized. Our participants eagerly explored the potential role of their NGOs in such a process. They also worked on practical approaches for reconciliation at the community level, where atrocities by both government forces and Maoist insurgents have caused undue suffering.
