Sundari Bhul and her family belong to a group of 36 families, almost all of them Dalits, in the small Thamchamadia village of Srikot VDC, Baitadi District in the Far-Western region. After years of struggle for land, the group in 2010 came in touch with activists from the Community Self-Reliance Center (CSRC). They were assisted to form a Village Land Rights Forum and eventually got their life-changing land titles.

Sundari Bhul tells her story in a new publication, “Rights and Governance for Development. Experiences from support to a Nepal in transition”, which chronicles experiences from Denmark’s support to a Nepal in transition. The CSRC is

an independent, Nepali non-governmental organisation championing the rights of the poor landless throughout Nepal. CSRC is also one of a dozen strategic partners that the Danish International Development Agency (Danida) supported through its Human Rights and Good Governance Programme.

The story of Sundari Bhul is just one out of many examples in the new publication illustrating that for thousands of Nepalis, democracy, human rights and good governance are not only fluffy principles but matters of survival, dignity and rights. It also illustrates that Denmark’s support—through competent and committed Nepali partners, both govern-ment/state institutions and civil society organisations—has changed the lives of many people in often marginalised groups in remote areas.

A tested partnership

Nepal became a priority country for Danish development cooperation in 1989, the year before Nepal embarked on the long and bumpy road towards democracy. Human rights, democracy and good governance have throughout been the focus areas of Danish assistance. It started modestly with, among other things, a photo copier and other office equipment for the Election Commission of Nepal but soon, the overall support became substantial, and in spite of many and serious setbacks in Nepal’s road to development, Denmark opted to stay on. A partner in deed should not leave behind

a partner in need.

The needs for addressing the democratic deficit, human rights situation, access to justice and other issues challenged Danida to work at many different levels and to do this, the Danida Human Rights and Good Governance Advisory Unit (DanidaHUGOU) was set up in 1999. With its competent staff of Nepali and Danish experts, Denmark has had a strong presence on the ground making it possible to act fast and be flexible on a solid foundation of strong links and networks and knowledge of the country context.

The publication portrays a wide range of ‘change agents’ like Sundari Bhul and CSRC, individuals and groups at the grassroots standing up to the challenges Nepal’s development and transition to democracy are facing, including women, landless, Dalits, youths and other groups. The stories give voice to the many people across Nepal striving for a brighter future, for basic rights, security, justice and access to basic services.

The publication also introduces the many dedicated individuals working for the protection and promotion of human rights—be those in the National Human Rights Commission or the many civil society organisations working in Nepal. Examples vary from support to the Election Commissio-ners’ efforts to make the election machinery run smoothly to the local VDC Secretary leading incremental change and to strengthening the government’s ability to provide better services, and to ensuring that local bodies are functioning through Ward Citizens Forums or public hearing systems.

The flagship of local governance

The publication also goes behind the scenes and tells how Nepal’s government and several development partners—including Danida—in 2008 embarked on the ambitious, joint Local Governance and Community Development Programme, which has become known as the ‘flagship of local governance’ in Nepal.

Amongst others, Gopi Khanal, Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development, explains how bringing several donors together was not an easy task and that Denmark in this process played a key role, “It took many formal and informal meetings to build trust and develop the partnership and many of these meetings were actually held at DanidaHUGOU premises. DanidaHUGOU also provided quick and flexible inception funds to take us all through this very crucial period.”

Denmark was able do this due to her central role in Nepal’s decentralisation efforts over several years, according to Khanal. “Denmark takes a particular interest and has played a pro-active role in Nepal’s local governance for decades. Denmark has supported decentralisation in Nepal since it started in the early 1990s and also contributed to the Local Government Act adopted in 1999 which was a landmark step towards decentralisation. Denmark is a good and trusted friend and partner in this field.”

The future

Over the years, Danish support to Nepal has evolved from a project approach to building strategic partnerships. In this respect, the implementation unit, DanidaHUGOU, has played a crucial role. But in 2014, DanidaHUGOU will be replaced by a new joint donor mechanism, through which Denmark will join forces with other development partners and continue and strengthen efforts in the areas of peace, human rights and

good governance.

Denmark believes in Nepali ownership and leadership and our engagement in Nepal will continue to be based on genuine cooperation and partnership. As Denmark looks forward to the implementation of another five-year programme—the Peace, Rights and Governance Programme—which we will embark on later in the year, results and challenges reflected in the publication will provide a good reference as to how Danish-Nepali cooperation can be further boosted in this area in the years to come and how more results that directly benefit the people can be achieved.

Geelan is Ambassador of Denmark to Nepal. The publication can be downloaded here: http://danida-publikationer.dk/publikationer/publikationsdetaljer.aspx?PId=6ff304ec-af6b-4792-8293-d4bf4554db9d. Hard copies are available at DanidaHUGOU,

Panipokhari, Kathmandu