Hands on Democracy

Kabita Bista, the Deputy Mayor of Badimalika Municipality, Bajura expressed her happiness after attending a two-day program on the role of civic education in promoting democracy, organized by FES Nepal.

Situated in the far western region of the country, Bajura is one of the remotest and least developed districts of Nepal. With very difficult road conditions, especially in the rainy season, Bajura is not in the priorities of the national and international development efforts.

From 8-9 August 2018 FES invited political leaders, academicians, members of civil society organisations, teachers, students, and common citizens to discuss recent political and economic developments. The seminar proceedings included inputs from local and Kathmandu-based experts on the constitutional provisions that led to a lively exchange between more than 100 participants.

Politicization of the judiciary, introduction of new taxes by different levels of government, confusion about intergovernmental power sharing, limited employment opportunities, and rising emigration of young people abroad were among the issues raised and discussed by the experts.

Aiming to broaden knowledge on the new federal system of governance while encouraging people to exchange openly on the challenges of the new set-up, FES organized 12 Civic Education programs in various places in the country in 2018.