Nepal Donor Consultation Meeting 2008

Usually held in every 18-24 months, the last (the 14th) meeting of Nepal Development Forum (NDF) was held in May 2004. The 14th NDF was the second to have been convened in Nepal and the first to have been led solely by Nepal. The next such meeting was scheduled for September 2006. However, evolving political situations, among others, did not allow it to take place in the scheduled time.

With a mission of bringing development agenda on to the center stage to help stabilize the peace process and deliver a Peace Dividend during transition, the Ministry of Finance proposes a new date around early March 2008 to organize a Broader Consultation Meeting with Development Partners if not a full-scale Nepal Development Forum. The theme of the Consultation Meeting will revolve around "Supporting Nepal's Efforts toward Peace and Development through Three-Year Interim Development Plan (2007-2010)". The Consultation Meeting aims at sharing experiences and progresses of the peace process as well as development orientation of New Nepal during transition with the development partners and own citizenry. With March a tentative timeline in mind, Ministry of Finance has begun consultations with donors during local donors' meeting. The relevance of holding such an event is justified in a broader context of :

Evolving political situation and stabilization of peace process.
Government's approval of Three-Year Interim Plan (TYIP) through holding elections of Constituent Assembly as soon as possible; and urgency on its implementation to deliver peace dividend to the Nepali people; and
Need to communicate to the development partners as well the larger citizenry about the progress and achievements made and constraints being faced in managing transition.

To share the status of Peace Process and evolving political situation in the country;
To highlight the development agenda and priorities through dissemination of the TYIP and GON/development partner collaboration for implementation and delivery;
To seek unfettered support of all development partners for the peace process and development priorities of Nepal;
To reiterate commitment on Paris Principles of Aid Effectiveness and seek the programmatic and action-bound support of development partners on the same; and;
Confidence building through communication among the GON, development partners and Nepali citizens;

In line with the above objectives, the following agenda for the Consultation Meeting will be set:

Dissemination of the Three-Year Interim Plan (TYIP) and seeking support for implementation of the agreed key deliverables;
Securing donors' support to Peace and Development in Nepal: A Donors' Charter that encompasses a joint framework/guideline to follow way of doing business and modalities of funding;
Outlining a National Action Plan for Aid Effectiveness based on Paris Principles;
Revisit of Foreign Aid Policy, 2002;
Stock-taking and sharing of progress in the peace process, including the results since Peace Agreement signed; and;
Holding Thematic/Sectoral group discussions in areas such as Inclusion, Health, Education, Reconstruction and Rehabilitation, Infrastructure, etc.

An Economic Update of the Post-Janaandolan-II and Report on Development Results and Reform Initiatives;
An outline of National Action Plan for 'Managing for Development Results (MfDR)';
An outline of National Action Plan for Aid Effectiveness;
A Paper on 'Foreign Aid Policy, 2004: Revisited' ;
A summary paper on 'TYIP with highlights on Deliverables'; and;
Report on 'Peace Process and Emerging Scenario'.

To translate the above concept into practice, a detailed Action Plan will be developed and followed up.