Constitutional Assembly Election II, Nepal
2013
Report on Media Monitoring on Constitutional Assembly Election II 2013, Nepal under UNDP CONFLICT PREVENTION PROGRAMME (UNDP/CPP)
In Technical Collaboration with OUTLINE Media, Implemented by
Action Works Nepal Thapathali, Kabilmarga, House no 37, Kathmandu email:actionworksnepal.awon10@gmail.com Phone: +977-1-4227730 www.actionworksnepal.org
Supported by
UNDP Nepal, Country Office, Nepal February 2014
AWON’s Report on Media Monitoring on Constitutional Assembly Election II 2013, Nepal under UNDP CONFLICT PREVENTION PROGRAMME (UNDP/CPP) Page 1
Constitutional Assembly Election II, Nepal
2013
Abbreviation: AWON:
Action Works Nepal
CA:
Constituent Assembly
CPN:
Nepal Communist Party
CPP:
Conflict Prevention Program
UNDP:
United Nation Development Programme
UML:
Unified Marxist Leninist
AWON’s Report on Media Monitoring on Constitutional Assembly Election II 2013, Nepal under UNDP CONFLICT PREVENTION PROGRAMME (UNDP/CPP) Page 2
Constitutional Assembly Election II, Nepal
2013
Table of Contents: Abbreviation Table of contents
4
Executive Summary
5
Partnership Background
6
UNDP Conflict Prevention Programme
7
Partnership Objective
8
Implementation
8
Conclusion and Recommendation
20
Annexes
21
AWON’s Report on Media Monitoring on Constitutional Assembly Election II 2013, Nepal under UNDP CONFLICT PREVENTION PROGRAMME (UNDP/CPP) Page 3
Constitutional Assembly Election II, Nepal
2013
Acknowledgement The activities carried out before, during and after CA election II, 2013 are the collective efforts of different people at different level. In this connection, AWON likes to express its sincere thanks and gratitude to all women and men who were involved in taking interviews along with fellowship program. Their sincere efforts helped educate a large segment of population in the run up to the election. In rural Nepalese context, radio has a significant role in informing, educating and shaping people’s democratic norms and values. These radios provided prime time to broadcast and support the mission of AWON. They also covered the news of investigative reports (fellowship) as well interaction programs through online and audio. AWON would like to express its heartfelt appreciation towards them. Likewise, AWON is thankful towards journalists who are involved in 25 districts for fellowship program, interaction program and experts who presented their invaluable opinion. Last but not the least, AWON is grateful towards team of UNDP and OUTLINE Media who encouraged our team and expressed their solidarity in AWON’s mission through their moral, financial, and physical support during the program intervention.
AWON’s Report on Media Monitoring on Constitutional Assembly Election II 2013, Nepal under UNDP CONFLICT PREVENTION PROGRAMME (UNDP/CPP) Page 4
Constitutional Assembly Election II, Nepal
2013
Executive Summary: Domestic and international community is keen to see the resolution of Nepal’s politicoeconomic transition through Constitutional Assembly Election II, 2013. In this connection, Action Works Nepal (AWON) implemented a project entitled ``Media Monitoring on Constitutional Assembly Election II 2013, Nepal under UNDP CONFLICT PREVENTION PROGRAMME (UNDP/CPP)’’ in technical collaboration with OUTLINE Media, a Media partner of AWON. The main objectives of this partnership was to explore the political atmosphere surrounding election at the local grass roots, and navigate the mindset and accountability of political parties/leaders, perception and challenges at the grassroots level in favor of election and level of participation of poor, excluded and marginalized groups/community in democratization process through mobilization of various means of media and evidence-based advocacy at national policy discourse for peace building at large. A series of activities were carried out though three programs. They included; i) fellowship program: where 19 experienced journalists (female 4 and male 15) of 13 national and popular media houses reached out to 25 districts across all development regions, ii) interaction program: 8 interaction programs were carried out where a total of 220 participants benefitted including members of media, political parties/leaders, and experts, iii) radio program: 10 radio programs produced and broadcast through 10 various local and national radio on national political and democratic concerns. The product of the fellowship, interaction program and radio program were largely covered by various national newspapers and online in Nepali and English languages so a large chunk of people benefitted. All three sets of program not only educated the stakeholders but also helped to promote accountability in the election and the subsequent CA. This program is too short to fully address the issues concerned. This program will, however, strengthen the process of democratization, and constructive discourse. It needs intensive follow up and continuity of similar type of dialogue, interaction at different level to boost up the morale of political parties/leaders, and general public. Therefore, AWON and OUTLINE would like to recommend the UNDP to continue the program - along with the constitution drafting process - to promote accountability.
AWON’s Report on Media Monitoring on Constitutional Assembly Election II 2013, Nepal under UNDP CONFLICT PREVENTION PROGRAMME (UNDP/CPP) Page 5
Constitutional Assembly Election II, Nepal
2013
Partnership Background There is a general belief that political space has not opened up at the district level in comparison to the time of the previous CA Election in 2008, and neither Madhesi armed groups nor the UCPN-M is perceived to be as intimidating as previously. The CPN-M is perceived as weak and scarcely present in many parts of the country, but interlocutors do acknowledge that the party and some other political forces can disrupt the CA Elections 2013 in some districts, posing a threat to local peace and security and weakening the process. Many interlocutors believe that any repeat of May 2012’s communal tension is more likely to occur when the next CA is close to a decision on the issue of federalism, rather than during the election campaign. Nevertheless, previous elections in Nepal have been attended by some campaign violence and intimidation, and given the high political stakes and the level of political polarization there is clearly some risk of election violence this time - mainly by boycotting groups and/or dissident parties attempting to obstruct campaigning and polling, by participating parties attempting to influence the outcome through violence or intimidation, either during the campaign or on election day; and the possibility of popular protests turning violent if the election does not take place, or if the result is disputed. The purpose of this project is to analyze the potential for political violence associated with the CA election scheduled for 19 November 2013, and to mitigate the risks, by supporting national media to travel to sensitive districts and report on issues related to the election. This would include election preparations by political parties and state actors (Election Commission of Nepal, security forces, local administration), technical and political challenges faced by various actors, risks from groups/parties threatening to boycott the elections, and public perception/ engagement of elections. Implementing Partner AWON (Action Works Nepal): Brief background of the organization In order to empower poor, excluded and marginalized communities AWON has been working in four thematic areas: women empowerment, livelihood improvement, education support and humanitarian assistance since beginning at local, national and international levels. It has been working in integrated approach to address multiple causal loops for poverty, conflict and marginalization. All themes overlap, are interlinked, and are crucially important to establish a peaceful and just society through Miteri Gau-Let’s Live Together Campaign’. AWON is appealing to the global community to work with the issues and opportunities. For this, `Miteri Gau-Let’s Live Together Campaign’ is the lead strategy. The first two words in Nepali, means mutual love and respect beyond blood and marriage, and last four words are the English AWON’s Report on Media Monitoring on Constitutional Assembly Election II 2013, Nepal under UNDP CONFLICT PREVENTION PROGRAMME (UNDP/CPP) Page 6
Constitutional Assembly Election II, Nepal
2013
translation of first two. ‘Miteri Gau is an indigenous practice, widely accepted across the culture. In ancient times, Nepal traded by following the same practice of Miteri. Thus, it has great influence to create a non-violent culture, to negotiate, mediate, and share resources and ensure a peaceful and just community. Further, AWON adopted various contextual strategies such as partnership, media mobilization, policy advocacy, capacity building, right based approach etc Across all thematic areas and levels, media mobilization is considered the most effective strategy and instrument while working all above mentioned themes and at all levels. It has also become a strong component of the AWON due to having experienced journalists as board members and senior journalists in advisory committee. For instance, AWON has partnership with OUTLINE media/Ujyalo FM Network to work on sexual violence issues at public transport and educational institutions. It was for the first time in Nepal. Because of long term working partnership with OUTLINE media and Radio Nari Aawaj in Jumla, AWON succeeds in bringing the issues to the attention of national and international community. Currently, AWON is implementing the Chhaupadi project in Jumla funded by 50 Cents Period, USA where media plays a critical and crucial role. UNDP Conflict Prevention Programme (CPP) UNDP has worked in Nepal since 1963, and engages in a wide range of activities to support the government of Nepal and other entities. In 2010, UNDP, under the auspices of its Peace Building and Recovery Unit (PBRU), launched the Conflict Prevention Programme. The work of this programme is expected to continue through the current 2013-17 period of the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) that was jointly established by the Government of Nepal and the United Nations. The Conflict Prevention Programme comprises two complementary pillars; Programme Pillar 1: Collaborative Leadership and Dialogue Programme Pillar 2: Conflict Sensitivity Collaborative Leadership and Dialogue - The core objective of this pillar is to promote collaborative leadership practices across a broad range of national and local level actors. This aims to enhance the capacity of national and local leaders to better resolve disputes and generate consensus around policy and planning issues. The programme works with government officials, political party representatives and civil society actors with a strong focus on women, youth and marginalized groups. This multi-dimensional effort will seek to strengthen Nepali stakeholders’ understanding of and support for collaborative leadership as a concept, and provide essential technical tools for incorporating this approach into their own engagements. AWON’s Report on Media Monitoring on Constitutional Assembly Election II 2013, Nepal under UNDP CONFLICT PREVENTION PROGRAMME (UNDP/CPP) Page 7
Constitutional Assembly Election II, Nepal
2013
The work of this pillar includes training on techniques for conflict analysis, trust-building, the articulation of needs, interests and positions, as well as designing appropriate dialogue, mediation, and negotiation processes. This will be combined with programme support to emerging dialogue initiatives at the central and district levels, and over time, assisting with the establishment of structured and sustainable dialogue mechanisms linked to state institutions. The programme also seeks to institutionalize collaborative leadership approaches by creating training programs that will be incorporated into the work of government entities. Conflict Sensitivity - The core objective of the second project pillar is to establish conflict sensitive approaches to the formulation and implementation of policies and programming in both the United Nations Country Team and key government institutions. As Nepal seeks to consolidate peace and navigate difficult political challenges, it is essential for UN and government officials to be as aware as possible of the impact of activities in different settings across the country. The goal, in essence, is to create a greater understanding of specific regional and local contexts, and to guide the development of mitigation strategies for potential points of friction. The programme provides training and technical support on conflict sensitive and “do no harm” approaches. Partnership Objective The main objective of the UNDP CPP – AWON partnership is to produce news stories/ content focused on preventing election related localized confrontation in the immediate/ short term. Keeping the larger public informed about election developments through media would serve as a pre-emptive measure to mitigate possible violence/ conflict. Publishing local critical issues in the national media will support informed debate, bring threats and challenges to general attention before they become more serious, and help minimize electoral violence. The joint undertaking will support production and distribution of media content by offering fellowships to select journalists mainly reporting on political issues. The fellows will produce research based articles that reflect the electoral/ political environment in and outside Kathmandu in the run up to elections - drawing the state and public’s attention to potential measures that could reduce the risks of localized and regional conflict around elections. Implementation As agreed upon in the action plan and modalities, in technical collaboration with OUTLINE media, AWON and UNDP, implemented the activities. The details of activities are mentioned in following paragraphs accordingly. Key Activities 1. Preparation and finalization of the project AWON’s Report on Media Monitoring on Constitutional Assembly Election II 2013, Nepal under UNDP CONFLICT PREVENTION PROGRAMME (UNDP/CPP) Page 8
Constitutional Assembly Election II, Nepal
2013
Series of consultative meetings were held with AWON, OUTLINE and UNDP project team in order to finalize the project documents including process, coverage, approaches etc. 2. Formation of Editorial Team In order to get more sense of the country’s political context as as well as ensure the quality of project activities, an editorial team was formed including senior journalists as mentioned below. They have vast experience in journalism and represent diverse forms of media houses who have great recognition in Nepal as well as beyond Nepal for accuracy, credibility, promptness of news etc. They also further flourish the knowledge and skills of the fellow journalists through mentoring, coaching through distance, face to face interaction and other social media. S.N. 1 2 3 4 5
Name Rajendra Dahal Sushil Sharma Prateek Pradhan Chandra Kishore Jha Prasanta Aryal
Media House Ex. President, Press Council Nepal Ex. Editor, BBC Nepali Service Editor, Nagarik Daily Senior Journalist Editor, Nepal Weekly Magazine
3. Develop Criteria for Fellows and Identification of Journalist Right after the approval of the project, AWON has developed criteria for identification of journalists, which would be inclusive in terms of media house, gender, location/districts and experience. As AWON principle, more attention is paid for marginalized areas and persons. 4. Identification of the Fellow Journalists According to criteria mentioned above, a total of 19 experienced journalists (female 4 and male 15) were identified from 13 national and popular media houses. They represented 25 districts across all development regions. It is inclusive in terms of gender, caste, community, region as is shown below in the table. S.N.
Name
1 2 3
Ramesh Pandey Bachhu Bk Bachhu Bk
Name Media House Coverage Area Far West Region Bajhang onsnews Kailali Himal Kanchanpur Himal
1 2 3 4
Janak Nepal Janak Nepal Janak Nepal Tularam Pandey
Rolpa Rukum Banke Kalikot
Mid West Region Kantipur /Kathmandu Post Kantipur /Kathmandu Post Kantipur /Kathmandu Post Kantipur
Remarks Media: 2 Caste:2 District:2 Female:0 Male:2 Media: 2 Caste:1 District:4 Female:0 Male:2
AWON’s Report on Media Monitoring on Constitutional Assembly Election II 2013, Nepal under UNDP CONFLICT PREVENTION PROGRAMME (UNDP/CPP) Page 9
Constitutional Assembly Election II, Nepal
1 2 3 4 5
Pramod Acharya Pramod Acharya Pramod Acharya Chandani Hamal Dilli Aacharya
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Laxmi Shah Laxmi Shah Laxmi Shah Pramod Acharya Pramod Acharya Santosh Singh Santosh Singh Santosh Singh Govinda Khadka Chadani Hamal Samjhana Paudel
1 2 3 4 5
Benup Bhattarai Ram Bdr Rawal Pravat Bhattarai Pravat Bhattarai Pravat Bhattarai
Western Region Lamjung onsnews/ English Tanahu onsnews/ English Gorkha onsnews/ English Nawalparashi Nagarik Kaski Rajdhani Central Region Bara Kantipur Parsa Kantipur Rauthat Kantipur Chitwan onsnews/ English Dhading onsnews/ English Danusha, Nagarik/Republica Mahottari Nagarik/Republica Sarlahi Nagarik/Republica Kathmandu onsnews Chitwan Nagarik Kathmandu Outline Samachar Service East Region Ilam Nagarik/ Republica Morang Nepal Weekly Magazine Sindhupalchok Himal Kavre Himal Dolakha Himal
2013
Media: 3 Caste:1 District:5 Female:1 Male:1 Media: 3 Caste:1 District:9 Female:3 Male:8
Media: 3 Caste:1 District:5 Female:0 Male: 2
5. Two Half Day Orientation for Selected Journalists AWON organized a two-days orientation workshop for identified fellow journalists as mentioned in above table in Kathmandu. The editorial team facilitated the process by briefing about the project objectives, approach, and code of conducts during the program. During workshop, the mentors were also confirmed. 6. Fellow’s Field Visits Fellows were sent to the field. During field visits, they were constantly coached, mentored and supervised by editorial team members. Their outputs were published in various types of media in English and Nepali online, weekly magazines and radios at local and national levels. The details are mentioned in following paragraphs. 7. Publication and dissemination The synopsis of the media coverage is mentioned here. 1. OUTLINE Media: www.onsnews.com Title: ``None of the Political Leaders See us” by Pramod Acharya, Chitwan http://www.onsnews.com/index.php?pagename=topstories&id=22888 This article briefly describes the rural reality as respect to the election of CA II. Kabilash is one of the rural villages of the Chitwan district in Nepal. Usually, outsiders or reviewers do not consider that Chitwan has such remote area where most AWON’s Report on Media Monitoring on Constitutional Assembly Election II 2013, Nepal under UNDP CONFLICT PREVENTION PROGRAMME (UNDP/CPP) Page 10
Constitutional Assembly Election II, Nepal
2013
of the people belong to indigenous castes and live without any infrastructure. They are living in their own way close to nomadic lifestyle. They are engaged in subsistence farming and forest, with no education. This is not an area of priority for leaders for development. It is not even considered as vote bank. None of the political leaders visited the area during CA election II whereas most of the people there didn’t know about the CA election II. They had little knowledge about the constitution, too. Many of them hadn’t caste the vote, except few men folk. 2. Nepal Magazine:28 Poush 2070 Title: The reduced height: who is Madhes Leader Now Onwards? By Ram Bahadur Rawal Upendra Yadav, the winner of Sunsari, constituency no 3, from Madhesi Jana Adhikar Forum, went to Kathmandu right after the election. He didn’t even wait to collect the certificate, and didn’t celebrate his victory. In contrast, Bijaya Gachhadar, a winner of Sunari constituency 6, from Madhesi Jana Adhikar Forum (Loktantrik) went to the village, received certificate, delivered speech and commitment, celebrated winning, and arranged a feast to voters. However, the voters were not excited with Gachhadar like in the previous years. For details, visit www.nagariknews.com 3. OUTLINE Media: www.onsnews.com Title: Who Hears Our Voice? by Pramod Acharya, Nawalparasi Suntali Tamang is in her mid eighties. She is one of the residents of Gaida Taal, Nawalparasi- a village largely comprising Dalit & Indigenous people at a half an hour drive from the nearest city Narayangarh. When she cast her vote in first Constituent Assembly (CA) Election in 2008, she had expected that she would get a land certificate and medical facilities when needed. Five years on, the penuries have not been changed at all. She neither owns the document nor is there hospitals established in the area. For details, click: http://www.onsnews.com/index.php?pagename=topstories&id=23077 4. Nagarik Daily: Ujir Magar, Kapilbastu, 22 December, 2013 In Basuali of Kapilbastu district, Attahar Kamal, Independent candidate (with election symbol of lock and key) won the CA election II whereas other three major political parties and leaders were also contesting in the fray there. The people living there are mostly Muslim by religion, they can’t speak Nepali well though they appear to be in a hurry to narrate about the update on election and development if there is any new comer in the village. They spoke with journalist Ujir Magar, and asked for the facilities, privileges on health, education, employment, transport, water supply etc. They also asked for the mainstreaming of the Madrassas. Many of the audience requested their leaders to come and work together with the people. Earlier none of the political leaders had come and worked for them. Voters chose the independent candidate because they were already fed up with the behavior of the past political leaders. For details; http://nagarikplus.nagariknews.com/component/flippingbook/book/1623-nagarik22-dec-2013/2-nagarik.html: AWON’s Report on Media Monitoring on Constitutional Assembly Election II 2013, Nepal under UNDP CONFLICT PREVENTION PROGRAMME (UNDP/CPP) Page 11
Constitutional Assembly Election II, Nepal
2013
5) Nepal weekly magazine by Ram Bahadur Rawal, : http://www.ekantipur.com/nepal/article/?id=6274 Inaruwa: The senior voters have been taking part in the voting since 2015 BS. They know well about the importance of one vote, and way of casting vote. Unfortunately, it was a different experience during the election of CA II. They observed that even educated voters were in confusion, they made mistakes while casting the votes. They also observed that no one educated/taught them about casting vote. Some people cast vote on only one paper, some cast but folded inappropriately. Only 78 % people caste the vote, means rest of the population are not aware about the value of their single vote in democratization process. In Sunsari, only 45 % people had cast vote whereas it registered the largest number of votes that were not counted because they were inappropriately caste. Many voters used thumb stamp instead of election stamp. It was the mistake of political leaders because they didn’t educate them except for asking for votes. Election commission and NGO/INGOs who were working on election education should also take responsibility for this. There were other forms of inadequacy in CA II process e.g. Muslim women unable to have voter id due to social restriction to get out from home whereas their husbands or men members were in migration abroad. There were many more misconducts, and delays during election for CA II. The election commission spent huge bulk of money for voter education, recruited 4700 social mobilizers, and 1800 teachers. But the election commission conducted an education program only for a month between late Ashwin to late Kartik. Likewise, the IEC materials were developed at the last moment. The approaching big festivals, harvesting time and the low performance of the election commission were the most causal factors to caste the vote inappropriately in CA II. However, the election commission wasn’t ready to accept the reality. It said that the inappropriateness is the outcome of population proportion e.g. Manang, had higher votes in a ratio of densely populated areas e.g. Sunsari. 6. Nagarik News: www.nagariknews.com Title: Ten Lakh Rupees Spent for 90 votes by Benupraj Bhattarai, Poush 2070, Ilam According to the norms and values of the election, each candidate should submit the expenditure details within 35 days of voting day at their respective district election office. In Ilam, Dilendra Nembang from Limbuwan Mukti Morcha, submitted report detailing expenses of about ten lakh rupees whereas other winners like CPN UML and Nepali Congress’ Mr. Jhalnath Khanal and Keshab Thapa submitted report stating their expenses below than that of Dilendra. Many candidates neglect the rules of the election commission and submit their documents merely as formality. For details click; http://nagarikplus.nagariknews.com/component/flippingbook/book/1623-nagarik-22dec-2013/2-nagarik.html 7. Nagarik News: www.nagariknews.com , Magh 10, 2070 AWON’s Report on Media Monitoring on Constitutional Assembly Election II 2013, Nepal under UNDP CONFLICT PREVENTION PROGRAMME (UNDP/CPP) Page 12
Constitutional Assembly Election II, Nepal
2013
Title: Ex-Combatants Say They Are Happy to See Maoist Leaders Lose in Election, By Chandani Hamal, Chitwan During the CA election II 2013, many ex-combatants didn’t cast their vote because they felt that the senior leaders of CPN-Maoist had pressed combatants to return to their home without consultation and without a plan. They felt the combatants were put in tragic situation. As such, they were pleased to see some of the senior leaders lose the election. For details, visit www.nagariknews.com 8. Nagarik News: www.nagariknews.com, Magh 13, 2070, Chitwan Title: Forgiveness: Re-Opening the Wounds by Chandani Hamal In Bandarmude, Madi Chitwan, 38 people were killed and 70 others were severely wounded – some of whom are surviving with disability – during an ambush by Maoists during conflict. In course of the Maoist insurgency in Nepal, around 14000 people were killed and many disappeared. Even today, many children, wives, parents and relatives are waiting for them. The Comprehensive Peace Accord 2006 had envisaged forming Truth and Reconciliation Commission for transitional justice. However, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission has not been formed yet, which had deeply disappointed the survivors of the war. For details visit www.nagariknews.com
9. Himal Magazine: Poush 21, 2070 Title: Decrease of Vote Share of Maoists Doesn’t Mean Increase of Others, by Prabhat Bhattarai Voters exhibited change in their psychology and perception towards the political parties, and leaders. They determined their votes on various factors during the CA election 2013. For details, click on www.himalkhabarpatrika.com 10. Nepal Magazine: Magh 26, 2070 Title: Rejection of the political leaders and parties, by Janak Nepal, Nepalgunj In Mid West and Far West Region, the political parties and leaders who stood for separate and autonomous states such as Karnali, and unified Far West were roundly rejected by the voters. In Karnali’s districts such as Humla, Dolpa and Mugu where the candidates of Maoists had won in CA election 2008 were defeated this time due to unpopular agenda they raised. 11. Nagarik News: www.nagariknews.com, Poush 25, 2070, Ilam Title: Limbuwan to strengthen their organizations after their defeat in the CA election II, by Benupraj Bhattarai.
12. Kantipur News Daily: 1 February 2014, Karnali Title: Whither National Pride In Humla, people wait in line for 3-5 days to get five kilos of rice. They are compelled to buy rice because the production from their land is hardly sufficient to AWON’s Report on Media Monitoring on Constitutional Assembly Election II 2013, Nepal under UNDP CONFLICT PREVENTION PROGRAMME (UNDP/CPP) Page 13
Constitutional Assembly Election II, Nepal
2013
fulfill their demands for more than 3 to 5 months. There are some very interesting plans in paper such as Karnali Corridor, Jajarkot- Dunai road, Surket –Jumla road. But none of them are getting priority of the government and political leaders. Simply put, Karnali occupies 15 % of the total land of Nepal and is very prosperous in terms of natural resources but the people living in the region have always languished in poverty and have been struggling for basic human needs. For details; www.ekantipur.com 13. Nagarik News: www.nagariknews.com Poush 27, 2070, Ilam Title: Rules and Penalties In Paper Only, by Benupraj Bhattarai The report is all about the hardships, corruption, hindrances to development due to the absence of elected bodies at local level. 14. Nagarik News: www.nagariknews.com , Magh 13, 2070, Ilam Title: Frequent Transfers of the CDOs, Conflict Victims Affected Badly, by Benupraj Bhattrai In the absence of the elected bodies in the local level, many activities including the relief distribution for conflict victims are now carried out by Chief District Officers (CDO). Unfortunately, CDOs are transferred frequently. This has badly affected conflict victims and others. 15. Nagarik News: www.nagariknews.com ;Poush 13 2070, Kapilbastu Title: Madrassas are not mainstreamed
16. Nagarik News: www.nagariknews.com; Magh 5,2070, Sarlahi Title: Caste is more dominant than Ideology in Madhes, by Santosh Shah Voters cast their votes according to the caste of their political leaders e.g. Sharad Singh Bhandari lost when the votes were divided into Koiri and Yadav. The political leaders have used their caste and come up with caste-based slogans/agenda in order to gain more votes. For details; www.nagariknews.com 17. Kantipur Daily: 1 February, 2014 Title: Burden of not having local election, by Janak Nepal, Nepalgunj There has been no election in local bodies since 1997/1998. Therefore, the political parties are trying to occupy their space or power by installing their leaders in local development committees. Local leaders who were elected as presidents, vicepresidents and other positions in past local election are fighting in various committees in local levels such as school management committee, community forestry committee, and health post management committee and so on to maintain their hold. Due to political interference, sometimes school’s election also looks like a national election with money and muscle power on display. For details, visit www.ekantipur.com 8. Weekly Interaction Programs AWON’s Report on Media Monitoring on Constitutional Assembly Election II 2013, Nepal under UNDP CONFLICT PREVENTION PROGRAMME (UNDP/CPP) Page 14
Constitutional Assembly Election II, Nepal
2013
AWON organizes interaction programs with senior journalists as well as other concerned stakeholders in order to share the findings from the field as well as to incorporate the feedbacks into the entire project process. This will help to recognize the issues and feed into the policy makers and other stakeholders through media. 1. Interaction Program on Local Election: Urgency, Opportunities and Challenges: This was the first interaction paper presented by Radheshyam Adhikari, moderated by Pratik Pradhan at the program held in Gairidhara, Kathmandu. According to Mr. Adhikari local election has become urgent for three reasons; i) it is in high demand from the local level to strengthen the democracy as well as ensure the sovereignty of the people. Due to prolonged absence of elected bodies in the local level, the national agenda specially empowerment of women, dalit, Madheshi and other marginalized groups, peace building culture and governance have suffered reverse effect. The fund flows to the local level is huge and no one, LDOs (Local Development Officers) or political parties are accountable. The political parties are persistently putting pressures on LDOs and VDC secretaries. ii) Expectation from the CA II 2013: voters are not hugely concerned about constitution alone, they want development, and 90% of voters asked their candidates about development agenda in their constituency. iii) The international pressure: the diplomatic institutions want to see local elections for political stability. Few participants Mr Ramesh Chandra Pradhan (Sanghiya Samajbadi Party), Dhruba Sinkhada (journalist), Prabhat Bhatarai (journalist), Lal Bhadaur Khadka (UML, Dolkha), Rajendra Dahal made comments and backed the idea of urgency in holding local polls. However, other participants such as Anil Jha (Madheshi leader) opposed it as a ploy to dilute the agenda of federalism especially about Madhesh. There were a total of 20 participants in the program, composed of 2 females and 18 males. They represented political parties, media and social workers in various fields. The event was widely covered by many electronic, print and audio media. Here is the link of the news report as published in OUTLINE Media; http://www.onsnews.com/index.php?pagename=lekh&id=234 2. Interaction Program on Proportional Representation and Inclusion: Dhruba Kumar Shrestha, an expert on social inclusion presented the paper. He highlighted the trend of inclusion in policy and practices among political parties in terms of gender and caste. The current scenario; number of women, dalit, Madheshi in CA II is embarrassing, he added. His presentation was appreciated by all participants with few questions like how we can define the identity of caste and geography in case of inter-caste and intergeography marriages. There were ex CA members, current CA members, political leaders, journalists, and social workers at the program (total 20). Ex CA members; Pushpa Bhusal (NC) and Binda Pandey (UML), Ram Kumar Sharma (CPN Maoist) AWON’s Report on Media Monitoring on Constitutional Assembly Election II 2013, Nepal under UNDP CONFLICT PREVENTION PROGRAMME (UNDP/CPP) Page 15
Constitutional Assembly Election II, Nepal
2013
appealed for a new approach to advocate for inclusion and need to define the word identity. Likewise, CA members; Pasang Sherpa (Adivasi), Sher Bahadur Tamang (UML), Manju Yadav (Youth Leader), Rameshwori Panta (writer), Prabhat Bhattarai (Journalist), Ujir Magar (Journalist) made their comments. The entire discussion was interactive. It was subsequently covered by many electronic, print and audio media. Here is the link of the news report as published in OUTLINE Media; http://www.onsnews.com/index.php?pagename=topstories&id=23472 3. Interaction Program on Post Election and Madhesh: Popular journalist who keeps on writing about Madhesh through various print media and advocates the right, and issues of Madhesh, Mr. Chandra Kishor Jha made the presentation. He discussed about the historical background, contribution of Madhesh and its political scenario. He reinforced the importance of connection, and collaboration between Madhesh and hills to establish the peace, harmony and prosperous Nepal. He also discussed about the negligence by Kathmandu or national politics because it always seeks fair-skinned, Nepali-speaking person of hilly origin. He said that Madhesh itself was also quite diverse and there were lots of opportunities. He noted that political leaders were negatively influenced by India and national power whereas, he said, Madhesh has always been the safety valve to Nepali political discourse as well as for India in many ways. The people living alongside the border of India have some connections with India in terms of cross border marriage, studies, markets etc due to open border. However, they have also suffered more and are confused when they find Indian border pillars have shifted towards their farm overnight. In order to strengthen the democratization process in Nepal, politicians should be decisive and raise their voice in proper way. Otherwise, he said, there is a chance that next time arms will be raised in Madhesh. The CA II members, youth leaders, political leaders, journalists, Madhesh activists, and experts discussed the issues of Madhesh and its importance in national political discourse (the participant details are mentioned in annex). The program was moderated by Saroj Dahal, OUTLINE Media. Here is the link of the news report as published in OUTLINE Media; 4. Interaction Program on Karnali and Development: Ms. Radha Paudel presented a paper on ``Paradigm shift required to address Karnali’s inequality and Poverty’’. She is a rural activist and has been decorated by various national and international peace awards. She is the writer of a book ‘Khalangama Hamala.’ She highlighted about the issues from Karnali including health, education, women, peace, security, children, environment, climate change, hygiene, sanitation, conflict, urbanization, globalization AWON’s Report on Media Monitoring on Constitutional Assembly Election II 2013, Nepal under UNDP CONFLICT PREVENTION PROGRAMME (UNDP/CPP) Page 16
Constitutional Assembly Election II, Nepal
2013
with data and figures. She also discussed about the funding and development gaps; less interest in rural development, event or case oriented e.g. orphanages, scholarships e.g. 100 $, short term or lack of vision, attempt to address single issue in isolation, funders – looking for easy wins, power oriented- political connection, donor driven Vs actual need, popular plan/event, no proper use of funds, no retention of employees, retention of the employee. She put forward four pertinent questions as mentioned below; 1. Population: Low Population Vs Human Rights 2. Policies: Blanket Policy Vs Specific approach e.g. incentives for elder (even Karnali is very diverse) 3. Development Activities: relief/charity Vs long term approach 4. Deliverables: enforcement; human resources, politics, governance, headquarter focused, process focused (same in Kathmandu and Karnali) By considering the national economic crisis, unemployment, remittance based economy, she brought three transformative approaches which can bring about development not only in Karnali but also in national economy. All three approaches demand the long term, holistic approach which would address inequalities and poverty through trade, tourism, herbs, beans and apple cultivation like in Bhutan, Vietnam or the approach being practiced by Action Works Nepal. http://www.onsnews.com/index.php?pagename=topstories&id=23263 5. Interaction Program on Does Parliamentary system suits Nepal?: Mr. Prateek Pradhan, editor of Republica daily presented a paper on parliamentarian system. There were 25 participants joining from various sectors such as media (Nagarik, Gorkhapatra, Business, Kantipur, Radio Kantipur, CIN), political parties (CPN Maoist Ram Karki, Bishal Khadka, Khimlal Devkota), CPN UML (Ush Kala Rai) and others. Mr. Pradhan described various schools of thought on government and its goals. He emphasized that the government has two goals; i) representativeness/inclusiveness: include all major groups in government, give everyone a voice, make sure each group has a fair share of power, in proportion to their numbers in society, or to their votes, ii) Efficiency and Governability. Efficiency is the ability of voters to identify a clear choice, and to obtain alternation in government and governability is the capacity of government to make and carry out decisions. It is facilitated by coherent (especially one-party) political majorities. He also discussed about the merits and demerits of the consensual and a majoritarian government. He added a highly inclusive system may be very “fair” but prone to deadlock or slow decision-making. Likewise, where one party has a majority in parliament, or control of the presidency and congress, the system may be very efficient, but overrun minority rights – or even the interests of a majority. For Nepal, he recommended parliamentary democracy than presidential system. It was also covered by many media e.g. http://www.onsnews.com/index.php?pagename=topstories&id=23478
AWON’s Report on Media Monitoring on Constitutional Assembly Election II 2013, Nepal under UNDP CONFLICT PREVENTION PROGRAMME (UNDP/CPP) Page 17
Constitutional Assembly Election II, Nepal
2013
6. Interaction Program on Buidling Nepal: Media in Nepal: Mr. Yubaj Ghimire, Senior Journalist from Setopati presented the context, challenges and opportunities in Nepali Media. There were 29 participants in the program from 20 different media houses. They were Himal, Rajdhani, Maitri FM, OUTLINE Media, Nepal Magazine, BBC, Kantipur TV, Ujyalo FM, Nagarik, FNJ, Nagarik, CIN, Shikchhak, Nepal, Radio Kantipur, Image TV, Setopati. He recommended making a paradigm shift in Nepali media because, he said, traditional practices will not sustain any more in such dynamic and democratic culture. Even today the statements of political parties and their daily activities come into media which shows the immaturity and unprofessionalism, said Rajendra Dahal, Press Advisor of the President. Mr. Prateek Pradhan, editor of Republica daily said that journalists act like campaigners of the political parties. Shiva Gaule, President of FNJ said that the remuneration is also affected badly due to lack of professionalism among journalists. http://www.onsnews.com/index.php?pagename=topstories&id=23434 7. Interaction Program on Building Nepal: Unanswered Questions? Mr. Sushil Sharma, a Senior Journalist, presented a paper on it. He specially discussed about the external factor even though internal factors are also critical for development. He explained that the country is not moving in a pace it should. He raised a number of questions on why Nepal was not able to transform itself. As Nepal is located between giant neighbors China and India, Nepal was bound to be affected whether the two giants fight or makelove. During interaction program, a total of 40 participants participated from political parties; CPN UML (Ghanshyam Hhusal, Pashupati Chaulagain), CPN Maoist (Lekharaj Bhatta, Ram Karki, Dinesh Shah, Lekhanath Neupane), intellectuals, journalists (NEFEEJ, Shikchhak, Annapurna Post, Kathmandu Post, Kantipur, Karobar, BBC), Radios (Kantipur, Ujyalo, CIN) NGO workers; (AWON, NITI), Universities etc. They also took part in interaction followed by Mr Sharma’s presentation. Ghanshyam Bhusal, CPN UML said the parties are not ready to move ahead and he said the key problem lies with the political parties. Likewise, Lekharaj Bhatta, CPN Maoist said, the political leaders should have the willpower to build their nation instead of engaging in petty interests. Ram Karki said good party is synonymous with good nation. There is no good party, none of the political parties have institutional relationship with India and Indian political parties, said Karki. He further said that everyone should work to ensure institutional relationship. Let India talk about Nepal. The relationship with India is as mentioned in the book called Prayogshala written by Editor of Kantipur, Sudhir Sharma, said Karki. Participants also talked about the need to develop economy to build Nepal. They pointed at hydro power as the easiest way towards prosperity since Nepal has comparative advantage in it. They, however, noted that this sector must be freed from unwanted political intervention. The program was moderated by Senior Journalist Rajendra Dahal. This event was widely covered by many media, here is a link: http://www.onsnews.com/index.php?pagename=topstories&id=23561 . The Kantipur daily ran Mr. Sharma’s paper in its front page. 8. Interaction Program on Economic Growth in Nepal: Mr. Rabin Sitaula, Executive Director of the Samriddhi Foundation presented a paper during this program. There were AWON’s Report on Media Monitoring on Constitutional Assembly Election II 2013, Nepal under UNDP CONFLICT PREVENTION PROGRAMME (UNDP/CPP) Page 18
Constitutional Assembly Election II, Nepal
2013
20 journalists reporting on economic and financial matters in various media (Kantipur, Rajdhani, Himal, Nepal, CIN, Annapurna Post) in the program. Mr. Sitaula said that Nepal is unable to move economically due to extreme poverty which leads to donor dependency. Once the nation depends on donors, obviously it has to follow the gesture of the donors. If Nepal really seeks to transform from donor dependency to selfdependency, it should work on hydro power, and agriculture through the private entrepreneurship. Nepal has enough policies on face but they are very tough to implement. The obstacles are raised in every step due to corrupt bureaucracy. This huge number of bureaucrats should be cut down and the government should create enabling environment for private entrepreneurs. Like other interaction program, this event was also covered by various media houses, click here for details; www.onsnews.com 9. Radio Program In order to feed the findings to all stakeholders at various levels, ten episodes of radio programs were produced and broadcast through 10 various radios in an attempt to cover entire Nepal. It is also accessible via online: Ujyalo network and www.onsnews.com .
S.N 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Radio Ujyalo FM 90 mhz (not Confirm) Radio Nari Aawaz 100.6 mhz Sworgadwari FM, 201.8mhz Singhalila FM Annapurna FM Radio Purbeli Aawaz, 98.4mhz Hamro FM Radio Sailung Dinesh FM Radio Today, 91mhz
District Kathmandu Jumla Dang Patchar Pokhara Biratnagar Chitwan Dolakha Dhangadi Janakpur
The brief overview of the radio program is explained in following paragraphs. I.
HAMRO Nepal Episode One: Importance and Urgency of Local Election: People are unhappy because they have been deprived from electing their local leaders. They have been unable to exercise their right to vote since last 12 years. The bureaucrats have been governing the local bodies. The local development has reached a situation of stagnation. The corruption has gone up. Independent expert Radheshyam Adhikari highlighted the importance and urgency of the local election in Nepal. Local election will not dilute the concept of federalism. However, some people who strongly believe in federalism think that the idea of local election would hinder the process of federalism and constitution drafting process. To listen to the radio program, click here: http://www.onsnews.com/index.php?pagename=audiogallery&cat=4
AWON’s Report on Media Monitoring on Constitutional Assembly Election II 2013, Nepal under UNDP CONFLICT PREVENTION PROGRAMME (UNDP/CPP) Page 19
Constitutional Assembly Election II, Nepal
2013
II.
HAMRO Nepal Episode Two: Addressing Poverty and Inequalities in Karnali Region: Country has already witnessed the second election for constituent assembly. The people of Karnali are unsure whether they will get constitution this time. Despite having enough natural resources, Karnali is deprived from opportunities and growth. The decade long conflict was a further setback to its development. People are expecting development of Karnali through trade, tourism, and transport. Ms. Radha Paudel spoke about it and forwarded three options to make peaceful and prosperous Karnali; i) Trade and Tourism as practiced by Bhutan, ii) Maximization of land like Vietnam, iii) Mixed model of right based and need based initiatives. http://www.onsnews.com/index.php?pagename=audiogallery&cat=4
III.
HAMRO Nepal Episode three: Social Inclusion: Nepal is diverse in culture, language, caste and identity and many of the groups and communities are marginalized. Women, dalit, Janjati are marginalized and even today they do not have well representation in the democratization process. The political parties have committed about the proportional representation even though they often ignore it in action. From the result of CA election, one can see that the agenda of inclusion on the basis of caste (caste based states) is not favored by the people, said journalist Mr. Prabhat Bhattarai. He has done investigative report in Kavre, and Sindupalchowk. Likewise, people from Baglung, Manang, Parbat, and Myagdi districts also aired similar feelings. The people have made correction the mistakes of CA 2008 in 2013 in order to maintain the social harmony, he said. People are scared of caste-based politics but do look forward to healthy promotion of identity. Mr. Benup Raj Bhattarai, journalist, also talked about the similar scenario in the eastern region. For details, click here, http://www.onsnews.com/index.php?pagename=audiogallery&cat=4
IV.
HAMRO Nepal Episode Four: Terai Madhesh: Many of the people from Terai considered that Terai is rich in culture and tradition since long history. They rued that the region has been marginalized and excluded in one way or the other. In 2008 CA election, Madhesh leaders were in good position by number and power but in 2013 their seats decreased by 33, which was really remarkable. Corrupt leaders, their inconsistent position on agenda, continuous fragmentation and their lust for power were considered as key factors behind their loss. However, the issues of Madhesh are still in priority. Madhesh politics is based on federalism and constitution. The various Madheshi leaders, intellectuals and CA members spoke in this radio program. http://www.onsnews.com/index.php?pagename=audiogallery&cat=4
V.
HAMRO Nepal Episode Five: Parliamentarian System: Nepal is struggling about the parliamentarian system. The fraction and fragmentation can be observed even within the same political parties. The debate on parliamentarian
AWON’s Report on Media Monitoring on Constitutional Assembly Election II 2013, Nepal under UNDP CONFLICT PREVENTION PROGRAMME (UNDP/CPP) Page 20
Constitutional Assembly Election II, Nepal
2013
system is one of the obstacles for dismissal of last CA in 2012. Editor of Republica daily, Mr. Prateek Pradhan briefed about the parliamentarian system. But the CPN Maoist leader, Khimlal Devkota strongly debated in favor of presidential system. The ex CA members and current CA members talked about pros and cons of the parliamentarian and presidential system. For details click here: http://www.onsnews.com/index.php?pagename=audiogallery&cat=4 VI.
HAMRO Nepal Episode Six: Media in Nepali Market: Media is known as the fourth estate. But here it has earned bad name for itself due to lack of professionalism. Many journalists and media concentrate only on politics and report the statements of political leaders. Senior journalists Yubaraj Ghimire, Rajendra Dahal, Prateek Pradhan spoke in this program. Mr. Ghimire highlighted that the groupings among the journalists look like NGO. Because there is vested interested to form group e.g. journalists for education reporting and so on. It looks good, in principle, to improve the education but it is not seen in practice. He added that the there is no difference between a civilian and a journalist but journalists enjoy privileges. Lack of professionalism, lack of well-managed remuneration system etc are some of the problems faced by this sector. For details, click in below link; http://www.onsnews.com/index.php?pagename=audiogallery&cat=4
VII.
HAMRO Nepal Episode Seven: Political Accountability This radio program discussed how people are suffering at the hands of the political parties during election, one example being that of Nawalparasi district. There were people from landless dalit, janajati and even Brahmin communities. Almost all of them cast their votes on the election symbol of tree, which belongs to Nepali Congress party. They had no idea about the ideologies and positions of political parties. All the political parties came during the election and made many promises such as distribution of land, road, electricity etc. Some people were found to have voted for everyone because they felt that all symbols like tree, plough, sickles and hammers were important. Some people in the district also suffered because they lived in buffer zone where they ran risk of crossing the path of wild animals as well as security people. The radio program compares the situation between Kathmandu and rural areas of Nepal; and also between commitments of the political parties and what they actually do. For details, click here, http://www.onsnews.com/index.php?pagename=audiogallery&cat=4
VIII.
HAMRO Nepal Episode Eight: In this episode, program covers the political participation of the marginalized groups and communities. The people living with disability are in hunger strike to ensure the political participation in the constituent assembly. Each political party has expressed commitment to implement the international and national human right instruments and policies. AWON’s Report on Media Monitoring on Constitutional Assembly Election II 2013, Nepal under UNDP CONFLICT PREVENTION PROGRAMME (UNDP/CPP) Page 21
Constitutional Assembly Election II, Nepal
2013
Likewise, landless people, dalit, women, janjati are not getting attention as they were promised during election. Here is an interaction between the voters and political leader who won the election in CA. People of Shanti tole in Chitwan with Krishna Bhakta Sharma. For details, click http://www.onsnews.com/index.php?pagename=audiogallery&cat=4 IX.
HAMRO Nepal Episode Nine: Why Nepal did not develop? In the sixty years history of development in Nepal, there are no significant changes yet. Simply few people are becoming rich and there have been some changes in infrastructure in Kathmandu. But compared to other countries in the world, Nepal has not seen economic development and has been forced to languish in poverty and instability. There are schools of thoughts behind it. Sushil Sharma, a senior journalist claims it is because of external factors especially India. He said that only thing constant in Nepal over these years is the political instability. The political leaders from CPNMaoists, UML and some independent experts and journalists also backed his assertion whereas others said internal factors were primary – such as the culture we are brought up in and the narrow mindset of the political leaders. They just look up to power and their individual interest - that is why outsiders get the opportunity to play with Nepal’s politics and development. For details, click here; http://www.onsnews.com/index.php?pagename=audiogallery&cat=4
X.
HAMRO Nepal Episode Ten: How does Nepal become Prosperous? This episode also discusses about the economic development of Nepal. But Mr Rabin Sitaula, Executive Director of Sambriddhi Foundation, claimed that Nepal is backward due to extreme poverty. Since Nepal is highly dependant on aid, it has to follow the diktat of donors. He called for the proper policies to create environment in which private entrepreneurs can thrive and the poverty can be addressed. The participating business journalists agreed with him and discussed about the potential areas for self dependency like hydro power, tourism and agro forestry trade. For details click here http://www.onsnews.com/index.php?pagename=audiogallery&cat=4
10.
Review and reflection meeting In order to share, and disseminate the information as much as possible and get wider attention, AWON will organize a review and reflection meeting among the members of AWON, OUTLINE and UNDP including the editorial team.
AWON’s Report on Media Monitoring on Constitutional Assembly Election II 2013, Nepal under UNDP CONFLICT PREVENTION PROGRAMME (UNDP/CPP) Page 22
Constitutional Assembly Election II, Nepal
11.
2013
Reporting AWON has been communicating with UNDP on a regular basis in order to update the progress. Due to time constraint, the project was extended till 15 February, 2014 instead of 15 January, 2014. AWON has prepared and submitted report as per the extended deadline.
Conclusions and Recommendation: This program has really contributed to the process of democratization in Nepal before, during and after the CA election II, 2013 in many ways. It took important discussions from east to west, south to north, Kathmandu to Karnali, Madhesh and so on. The programs included issues like politics and development. Tools like investigative reports, interaction program, news coverage and radio programs were used. The entire program was inclusive in terms of gender, caste, issues, region, experts, media etc. Within a limited timeframe, it reached to a large number of audiences and has set the tone for larger discussions. But there is a long way to go to really make greater impact at national and international policy discourse and educate the people at the bottom rung. Therefore, a long term program is required to continue similar activities to continuously create pressure from various levels and sectors, at least, during the period of constitution making. In fact, AWON will continue these activities but its effort alone will not be sufficient to reach out to the large number of people.
Annexes I.
Name list of the participant in Interaction program S.N. Name Institution Interaction Program on Local elect 1. Radheshyam Adhikari Sinior Advocate 2 Sushil Sharma Independent Journalist 3 Prateek Pradhan Editor of Nagarik Dialy 4 Ajay Das UNDP 5 Radha Paudel President of AWON 6 Ramesh Chandra Pradhan 7 Ram Bhadur Rawal Nepal weekly 8 Pramod Acharya Ons News 9 Raju Kc Ons News 10 Lil Prakash Chanda Communiy Information Network(CIN) 11 Krishna Gyawali
AWON’s Report on Media Monitoring on Constitutional Assembly Election II 2013, Nepal under UNDP CONFLICT PREVENTION PROGRAMME (UNDP/CPP) Page 23
Constitutional Assembly Election II, Nepal
12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
Dhruba Simkhada Saroj Dahal Thiralal Bhusal Anil Kumar Jha Rajendra Dahal Tara Wagle Ramesh Pandey Lal Kumar KC Subhas Basnet Ujir Magar Samjhana Poudel Laxmi Pandey Sarita Aryal Prashant Aryal Shobha Chalise
2013
Kantipur Dialy Outline Media My Rupiblica Dialy Madeshi Leader President of Outline Media Nepal Samachar patra
Youth Organization Nagarik News Outline Media AWON AWON Editor of Nepal Weekly Miteri Recycle Center Interaction on Social Inclusion Manju Yadav Youth Leader- Madesh (UML) Srijana Thapa Mahila ko Nimti Mahila Manch Prabhat Bhattarai Himal Media Ram Kumar Sharma CPN UML Prashant Aryal Editor of Nepal weekly Pawan Acharya Kantipur FM Ujir Magar Nagarik Dialy Prateek Pradhan Editor of Nagarik Dialy Binda Pandey Leader of UML & Activist Dhruba Simkhada Kantipur Dialy Pushpa Bhusal Leader of NC Pasang Sherpa Leader of Janajati party Rajendra Subba Leader Of Sanghiya Samajbadi Pramod Acharya Ons News Radha Paudel AWON Govinda Khadka CIN Kabita Biswakarma CIN Rameshwori Panta Columnist Laxmi Pandey AWON Saroj Dahal Outline Media Ram Bahadur Rawal Nepal weekly Sher Bahadur Tamang CA member of UML Dhruba Kumar Samjhana Poudel Outline Media Sarita Aryal AWON Ramesh Pandey Interaction Program on Madesh in Post Election
AWON’s Report on Media Monitoring on Constitutional Assembly Election II 2013, Nepal under UNDP CONFLICT PREVENTION PROGRAMME (UNDP/CPP) Page 24
Constitutional Assembly Election II, Nepal
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Suresh Kumar Yadav Kuwandan Thakur Raju KC Rameshwor Bohora Ram Kumar Sharma Manju Yadav Kiran Yadav Lalbabu Yadav Binaya Kumar Dhruba Simkhda Kiran Nepal Saroj Dahal Pranab Kharel Janak Raj Sapota Uday Tiwari Tula Narayan Shah Suresh Mandal Ganesh Shah
2013
Ons news Himal Media Leader of CPN UML Madeshi youth leader of UML CA member of NC
Kantipur Dialy Editor of Himal Media Outline Media Nepal Weekly
Leader of Nepal Sadvabana party UNDP
Ajay Das Radheshyam Malla Chandra Kishor Jha Columnist Ajaya Rawat Govinda Khadka CIN Pramod Acharya Ons Radha Paudel AWON Samjhana Poudel Outline Media Ramesh Pandey Sarita Aryal AWON Shobha Chalise Interaction Program on ways forward to addressing poverty and inequalities Dala Rawal Gopal Bhadur Bom Ameleie Prevant Rajendra Dahal President of Outline Sushil Sharma Senior journalist Til Bhatta Prashant Aryal Editor of Nepal weekly Enrica Rajendra Khanal @news News Jhabindra Bhattarai Bhupendra Jung Shahi Shobha Chalise
AWON’s Report on Media Monitoring on Constitutional Assembly Election II 2013, Nepal under UNDP CONFLICT PREVENTION PROGRAMME (UNDP/CPP) Page 25
Constitutional Assembly Election II, Nepal
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
2013
Shanta Chaulagain Dhan Bahadur Lama Sarpnanda Hamal Haridevi Rokaya Gagan Hamal Gauri Kathayat Amrit Nepal Sarki Laxmi Pandey Dennis Can Meena Sharma Govinda Khadka Pramod Acharya Radha Paudel Chandra Kishor Jha Gorakh Bista Ram Bhadur Rawal Raju KC Shobha Chalise Samjhana Poudel Sarita Aryal Interaction Program on Media in Nepal Pramesh Kumar Sanjita Ghimire Sachin Rokka Raju KC Meena Sharma Amrit Pokhrel Sushil Sharma Janak Raj Sapkota Dil Acharya Bhuwan KC Deependra Kuwar Sudeep Shrestha Shiva Gaule Shreedhar Paudel Pramod Acharya Saroj Dahal Biswomani Pokharel Prateek Pradhan Tilak Pathak Ananda Rai Ujjwal Prajapati Lil Prakash Chanda
AWON’s Report on Media Monitoring on Constitutional Assembly Election II 2013, Nepal under UNDP CONFLICT PREVENTION PROGRAMME (UNDP/CPP) Page 26
Constitutional Assembly Election II, Nepal
23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 1 2 3
2013
Rajendra Dahal Ishwari Gyawali Prashant Aryal Pawan Achrya Rajan Kuikel Govinda Khadka Yubaraj Ghimire Samjhana Poudel Sarita Aryal Shobha Chalise Interaction Program on Parliamentarian System Prashanta Aryal Ram Karki Biswomani Pokharel Tilak Pathak Luccy Chaudhary Bishal Khadka Dadhiram Bhattarai Sushil Sharma Pramod Acharya Govinda Khadka Raju KC Rajendra Phuyal Sushil Panta Basanta Basnet Ratnakumar Kharel N.B. Dahal Pawan Achrya Rajendra Dahal Prakash Mahat Khimlal Devkota Ramjanam Chaudhary Ushakala Rai Deepak Acharya Prateek Pradhan Ramesh Pandey Samjhana Poudel Shobha Chalise Sarita Aryal Interaction on Nepal Building Saroj Dahal Laxman Upreti Manish Gautam
AWON’s Report on Media Monitoring on Constitutional Assembly Election II 2013, Nepal under UNDP CONFLICT PREVENTION PROGRAMME (UNDP/CPP) Page 27
Constitutional Assembly Election II, Nepal
4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 1 2 3
2013
Chandra Shekhar Adhikari Akhilesh Upadhyaya Samjhana Dahal Bimal Khadka Purushottam Dahal Sudheer Sharma Binod Bhattarai Guna Raj Luitel Buddhi Karki Ojashwi Gautam Narayan Shrestha Deepak Bhattarai Pawan Acharya Shreddhar Paudel Govinda Khadka Prabin Adhikari Ram Karki Chhambu Man Lekhanath Neupane Lekhraj Bhatta Jugal Bhurtel Shailendra Sigdel Subash KC Raju KC Bir Bahadur Shrestha Dinesh Shah Madhab Prasad Timilsena Radha Paudel Laxmi Pandey Pushpa Sharma Abijeet Sharma Dharmendra Shrestha Sumitra Neupane Pashupati Chaulagain Rajendra Dahal Sushil Sharma Samjhana Poudel Sarita Aryal Shobha Chalise Interaction on Economic Growth in Nepal Robin Sitaula Sarita Sapkota Prabhat Bhattarai
AWON’s Report on Media Monitoring on Constitutional Assembly Election II 2013, Nepal under UNDP CONFLICT PREVENTION PROGRAMME (UNDP/CPP) Page 28
Constitutional Assembly Election II, Nepal
4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
2013
Padmendra Shrestha Soumitra Neupane Ramesh Kumar Lila Nath Ghmiree Acharya Pramod Saroj Dahal Homnath Gaire Abijeet Sharma Raju KC Madan Lamsal Achyut Sharma Radha Paudel Dependra Chaulagain Suresh Raj Neupane Sanjaya Neupane Prashant Ayal Sabita Bishwokarma Govinda Khadka Ramesh Pandey Samjhana Paudel Ramesh Pokhrel
II. Revised Action Plan
AWON’s Report on Media Monitoring on Constitutional Assembly Election II 2013, Nepal under UNDP CONFLICT PREVENTION PROGRAMME (UNDP/CPP) Page 29
Constitutional Assembly Election II, Nepal
SN 1 2 3 3 4 5 6 4 5
6 7 8 9 10
Activities Preparation and finalization of the project Formation of editorial Team Develop criteria for fellows Have strategic meeting with editors Identification of journalists for fellowship Half day/one day orientation for selected journalists Field visits by Fellows Weekly interaction program Mentorship and editorial support to the fellowship recipients. Sharing and interaction meeting Publication and dissemination 20: 3 English and 17 Nepali Radio programming- weekly 10 radio stations Review and reflection meeting Reporting
Contributions AWON XX
UNDP
X X X X
X
X
X
2013 Nov X XX
Dec
X X
XX
X
X
Jan
2013 Feb
X
X
X
X X
X x
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X X
X X
X X
X
X
X
AWON’s Report on Media Monitoring on Constitutional Assembly Election II 2013, Nepal under UNDP CONFLICT PREVENTION PROGRAMME (UNDP/CPP) Page 30