<figure><img width="768" height="1024" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181148/636be7ee9c7e80680e08782ejpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption> There are nearly 2,000 Nepali nurses registered with the NHS in the UK, and the country needs more health workers.</figcaption></figure>Santosh Shah, the now famous Nepali who is a finalist in <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007mtf0" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007mtf0&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607952191831000&amp;usg=AFQjCNF7TXOI_L9k-3AhvbmN7_60pyCDtQ">Masterchef: The Professionals 2020</a>, knows how the right combination of effort and luck helped him to come such a long way from a village in Siraha to Britain and onto the world stage.This is an immigrant success story that proves talent is everywhere, opportunities are not, and migration can be an equaliser of sorts. Hard work, determination, and passion for his chosen profession made Shah one of the finalists in the coveted cookery competition.“If I can do it, so can others if they are given an opportunity – there is no shortage of talent in Nepal and I am no exception,” Shah told <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/you-inspire-others-by-learning-not-teaching-santosh-shah/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/you-inspire-others-by-learning-not-teaching-santosh-shah/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607952191831000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFpFsH-oYcei2EC9sjnh6rebJblHw">Nepali Times in an interview.</a>However, the less discussed, and perhaps less glamorous part of this globalisation of Nepali cuisine, is that the ‘chef’ occupation is one of the hard-to-fill occupations in the UK. The shortage of chefs in Asian restaurants across Britain led hundreds of them to close shop even before the Covid-19 crisis.South Asian restaurants in the UK prefer to hire migrants from the Subcontinent who are familiar with the cuisine, the flavour and the spices. But British immigration rules have made it difficult to hire chefs from non-EU countries. The minimum threshold salary and other recruitment expenses are too high for an employer to be able to sponsor South Asian migrants, says Ravi Thapaliya at City Cleaning, a placement agency.But all this is set to change from 11pm on 31 December, 2020 when the Brexit transition period expires, and the free movement of EU citizens to the UK will come to an end. <figure><img width="666" height="837" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181148/636be7f19c7e80680e08782fjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>“Non-EU and EU citizens will now be treated equally and be subject to the same set of rules,” explains UK-based solicitor Deepak Bhattarai. A point-based immigration system favouring skilled workers will require both EU and non-EU applicants to obtain at least 70 points, which depends on different criteria including job offers that meets salary threshold, English proficiency, education background, minimum salary and whether or not the occupation is in the Shortage Occupational List (SOL), which lists jobs facing a shortage and where it is ‘sensible’ to fill those with migrant workers. Now, the threshold salaries for skilled workers, including chefs, has been slightly reduced, and the point-based system has been made more flexible so the UK government can revise the criteria based on labour market requirements. Chefs have been included in the SOL which rewards additional points to the applicant, but many restaurants find the salary threshold is too high, especially with the pandemic crisis. “The incentive in the near future will be to mobilise workers who are already in the UK,” says Thapaliya.Easier immigration rules to recruit non-EU staff was one of the reasons why many in the South Asian Britons voted for the Leave option. But the inaction post-referendum has left the ‘curry industry’ that employs over 100,000 people, feeling misled by pro-Leave politicians. Hiring both EU and non-EU staff is now more difficult.“Businesses will continue to lobby with the government to further reduce the salary threshold. But there is a lot of uncertainty regarding immigration at present both because of Brexit and Covid,” Thapaliya addsThings are different in the medical sector, where there is an acute shortage of health workers and there are opportunities for nurses, including from Nepal. Both Covid-19 and the end of free movement have further amplified the demand for health workers, including from outside the EU. Britain has introduced a fast-track entry system with certain waivers including reduced fees for doctors and nurses, while visas for current healthcare workers was automatically extended for one year.  Nirmala Simkhada has been working in the UK for the last 12 years and has seen a demographic shift among her colleagues. She says, “Many of my friends from Eastern European countries like Romania and Bulgaria are returning to their countries because of the Brexit uncertainty, added paperwork, lack of access to the same benefits as British nationals.”Rising wages in their own countries and the fall in the value of the British pound after Brexit also mean that staying on in Britain is no longer as attractive as it used to be. Simkhada thinks newcomers from EU countries will also drop because of added complications like the new requirement to take IELTS language tests just as non-EU migrants have to.As a result, the proportion of health workers in Britain from the Philippines and India are on the rise. The share of European joiners to the National Health Service (NHS) since 2015/16 has decreased from 10.9% to 7.2% while non-EU/EEA nationals have increased from 8.7% to 14.5%. Some 22,000 EU nationals have reportedly quit the NHS since 2016, of which 8,800 were nurses.This could be an opportunity for Nepal, which can offer skilled migration in the global labour market, especially in the health sector.  “We have many unemployed nurses in Nepal as the health sector has not been able to absorb all graduates, so emigration is a financially safe alternate,” says Bikash Simkhada of the Nepali Nursing Association in the UK.He says English proficiency is a major obstacle, and Nepal’s nursing curriculum could be further strengthened to address geriatric care and other issues, and Nepal must prepare with better policies and partnerships with destination countries.But there are concerns about the impact of an exodus of health-workers on the health systems of developing countries. There are currently 1,988 Nepali nurses registered with the NHS in the UK. With the added demand for healthcare workers from the UK and elsewhere, Nepal will see a <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/home-health-care-during-a-lockdown/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/home-health-care-during-a-lockdown/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607952191831000&amp;usg=AFQjCNF1CV67RG_SAPgCreT6du_H3g4oJg">depletion of its own nursing workforce</a>. <img width="1398" height="892" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181148/636be7f39c7e80680e087830jpeg.jpg" alt="">Already, an increasing number of students are joining nursing schools in Nepal because it is a <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/overseas-nepalis-on-the-covid-19-frontlines/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/overseas-nepalis-on-the-covid-19-frontlines/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607952191831000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEV0ec6CHuU-P1qi8dA9eTmmjHgig">path to migration.</a> But even those who stay <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/business/caring-for-those-who-cared/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/business/caring-for-those-who-cared/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607952191831000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHL0uHvqHH5HIC32y1vxbRKop8h1g">become frustrated with the low salaries</a> and lack of respect, and end up emigrating, explains Tara Pokhrel, former president of the Nursing Association of Nepal. After spending at least Rs2.3 million for a nursing degree, they earn just Rs10,000 a month in private sector hospitals, she adds.“The government must strictly monitor the nurse-to-patient ratio in private hospitals in Nepal, and make proper salaries to health workers a criteria during license renewals. Our talent is recognised and absorbed abroad while our own hospitals especially outside the capital suffer from staff shortage. We lack health workers because we fail to reward them adequately,” Pokhrel adds.Skilled workers from Nepal are seeing an increased demand in non-traditional destination countries. Last year, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/the-future-is-older/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/the-future-is-older/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607952191831000&amp;usg=AFQjCNF8ikowcr343XFrSW03L9ii5LLt7g">Nepal signed an agreement with Japan</a> for 16 job categories including nurses and chefs and the nursing exams took place in November in Kathmandu.This year, in the midst of the pandemic <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/demand-grows-for-nepali-caregivers-in-israel/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/demand-grows-for-nepali-caregivers-in-israel/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607952191831000&amp;usg=AFQjCNE1zqyPCK3IFP6ApGGu9YirmI8udg">Nepal and Israel also signed an agreement</a> to source caregivers with backgrounds in nursing. The UAE and Oman have repeatedly expressed interest in hiring nurses from Nepal via bilateral cooperation.  There is no bilateral labour agreement between Nepal and countries like UK and Australia. In fact, due to the Code of Practice for International Recruitment, Britain’s NHS refrains from actively recruiting from countries including Nepal to prevent them from having a shortage of health workers. But the NHS has over 50,000 unfilled vacancies, and this is further complicated by the impending end of free movement of EU nationals on 31 December. Even without actively sourcing health workers from Nepal, therefore, Nepali nurses will be following the money, convenience and new opportunities abroad. Just as Santosh Shah of MasterChef has become a hero in Nepal, so has the Filipno-British nurse May Parsons who administered the first Covid-19 vaccine in the UK last week. Earlier this year, the Philippine government banned the migration of health workers because of the domestic demand during Covid-19, but the move backfired because few nurses agreed to take domestic jobs. The ban was lifted, but there is a cap of 5,000 nurses a year going abroad. Nepali Seema Pokhrel arrived in the UK two years ago and works as a nurse in Harrow. While most of her nursing friends opted for Australia, she chose UK because of the faster track to become a registered nurse.“The employer sponsored my second UK qualification exam and we could work alongside as health assistants and earn throughout,” she says. “While better salary was the primary motive for my decision to move, there is also better upward career mobility here unlike in Nepal where it was based on connections and not competence.”

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New UK job options for Nepalis

<figure><img width="768" height="1024" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191116/636beeed4b0ad905ca02ef77jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption> There are nearly 2,000 Nepali nurses registered with the NHS in the UK, and the country needs more health workers.</figcaption></figure>Santosh Shah, the now famous Nepali who is a finalist in <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007mtf0" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007mtf0&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607952191831000&amp;usg=AFQjCNF7TXOI_L9k-3AhvbmN7_60pyCDtQ">Masterchef: The Professionals 2020</a>, knows how the right combination of effort and luck helped him to come such a long way from a village in Siraha to Britain and onto the world stage.This is an immigrant success story that proves talent is everywhere, opportunities are not, and migration can be an equaliser of sorts. Hard work, determination, and passion for his chosen profession made Shah one of the finalists in the coveted cookery competition.“If I can do it, so can others if they are given an opportunity – there is no shortage of talent in Nepal and I am no exception,” Shah told <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/you-inspire-others-by-learning-not-teaching-santosh-shah/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/you-inspire-others-by-learning-not-teaching-santosh-shah/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607952191831000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFpFsH-oYcei2EC9sjnh6rebJblHw">Nepali Times in an interview.</a>However, the less discussed, and perhaps less glamorous part of this globalisation of Nepali cuisine, is that the ‘chef’ occupation is one of the hard-to-fill occupations in the UK. The shortage of chefs in Asian restaurants across Britain led hundreds of them to close shop even before the Covid-19 crisis.South Asian restaurants in the UK prefer to hire migrants from the Subcontinent who are familiar with the cuisine, the flavour and the spices. But British immigration rules have made it difficult to hire chefs from non-EU countries. The minimum threshold salary and other recruitment expenses are too high for an employer to be able to sponsor South Asian migrants, says Ravi Thapaliya at City Cleaning, a placement agency.But all this is set to change from 11pm on 31 December, 2020 when the Brexit transition period expires, and the free movement of EU citizens to the UK will come to an end. <figure><img width="666" height="837" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191116/636beeef4b0ad905ca02ef78jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>“Non-EU and EU citizens will now be treated equally and be subject to the same set of rules,” explains UK-based solicitor Deepak Bhattarai. A point-based immigration system favouring skilled workers will require both EU and non-EU applicants to obtain at least 70 points, which depends on different criteria including job offers that meets salary threshold, English proficiency, education background, minimum salary and whether or not the occupation is in the Shortage Occupational List (SOL), which lists jobs facing a shortage and where it is ‘sensible’ to fill those with migrant workers. Now, the threshold salaries for skilled workers, including chefs, has been slightly reduced, and the point-based system has been made more flexible so the UK government can revise the criteria based on labour market requirements. Chefs have been included in the SOL which rewards additional points to the applicant, but many restaurants find the salary threshold is too high, especially with the pandemic crisis. “The incentive in the near future will be to mobilise workers who are already in the UK,” says Thapaliya.Easier immigration rules to recruit non-EU staff was one of the reasons why many in the South Asian Britons voted for the Leave option. But the inaction post-referendum has left the ‘curry industry’ that employs over 100,000 people, feeling misled by pro-Leave politicians. Hiring both EU and non-EU staff is now more difficult.“Businesses will continue to lobby with the government to further reduce the salary threshold. But there is a lot of uncertainty regarding immigration at present both because of Brexit and Covid,” Thapaliya addsThings are different in the medical sector, where there is an acute shortage of health workers and there are opportunities for nurses, including from Nepal. Both Covid-19 and the end of free movement have further amplified the demand for health workers, including from outside the EU. Britain has introduced a fast-track entry system with certain waivers including reduced fees for doctors and nurses, while visas for current healthcare workers was automatically extended for one year.  Nirmala Simkhada has been working in the UK for the last 12 years and has seen a demographic shift among her colleagues. She says, “Many of my friends from Eastern European countries like Romania and Bulgaria are returning to their countries because of the Brexit uncertainty, added paperwork, lack of access to the same benefits as British nationals.”Rising wages in their own countries and the fall in the value of the British pound after Brexit also mean that staying on in Britain is no longer as attractive as it used to be. Simkhada thinks newcomers from EU countries will also drop because of added complications like the new requirement to take IELTS language tests just as non-EU migrants have to.As a result, the proportion of health workers in Britain from the Philippines and India are on the rise. The share of European joiners to the National Health Service (NHS) since 2015/16 has decreased from 10.9% to 7.2% while non-EU/EEA nationals have increased from 8.7% to 14.5%. Some 22,000 EU nationals have reportedly quit the NHS since 2016, of which 8,800 were nurses.This could be an opportunity for Nepal, which can offer skilled migration in the global labour market, especially in the health sector.  “We have many unemployed nurses in Nepal as the health sector has not been able to absorb all graduates, so emigration is a financially safe alternate,” says Bikash Simkhada of the Nepali Nursing Association in the UK.He says English proficiency is a major obstacle, and Nepal’s nursing curriculum could be further strengthened to address geriatric care and other issues, and Nepal must prepare with better policies and partnerships with destination countries.But there are concerns about the impact of an exodus of health-workers on the health systems of developing countries. There are currently 1,988 Nepali nurses registered with the NHS in the UK. With the added demand for healthcare workers from the UK and elsewhere, Nepal will see a <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/home-health-care-during-a-lockdown/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/home-health-care-during-a-lockdown/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607952191831000&amp;usg=AFQjCNF1CV67RG_SAPgCreT6du_H3g4oJg">depletion of its own nursing workforce</a>. <img width="1398" height="892" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191116/636beef14b0ad905ca02ef79jpeg.jpg" alt="">Already, an increasing number of students are joining nursing schools in Nepal because it is a <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/overseas-nepalis-on-the-covid-19-frontlines/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/overseas-nepalis-on-the-covid-19-frontlines/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607952191831000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEV0ec6CHuU-P1qi8dA9eTmmjHgig">path to migration.</a> But even those who stay <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/business/caring-for-those-who-cared/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/business/caring-for-those-who-cared/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607952191831000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHL0uHvqHH5HIC32y1vxbRKop8h1g">become frustrated with the low salaries</a> and lack of respect, and end up emigrating, explains Tara Pokhrel, former president of the Nursing Association of Nepal. After spending at least Rs2.3 million for a nursing degree, they earn just Rs10,000 a month in private sector hospitals, she adds.“The government must strictly monitor the nurse-to-patient ratio in private hospitals in Nepal, and make proper salaries to health workers a criteria during license renewals. Our talent is recognised and absorbed abroad while our own hospitals especially outside the capital suffer from staff shortage. We lack health workers because we fail to reward them adequately,” Pokhrel adds.Skilled workers from Nepal are seeing an increased demand in non-traditional destination countries. Last year, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/the-future-is-older/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/the-future-is-older/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607952191831000&amp;usg=AFQjCNF8ikowcr343XFrSW03L9ii5LLt7g">Nepal signed an agreement with Japan</a> for 16 job categories including nurses and chefs and the nursing exams took place in November in Kathmandu.This year, in the midst of the pandemic <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/demand-grows-for-nepali-caregivers-in-israel/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/demand-grows-for-nepali-caregivers-in-israel/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607952191831000&amp;usg=AFQjCNE1zqyPCK3IFP6ApGGu9YirmI8udg">Nepal and Israel also signed an agreement</a> to source caregivers with backgrounds in nursing. The UAE and Oman have repeatedly expressed interest in hiring nurses from Nepal via bilateral cooperation.  There is no bilateral labour agreement between Nepal and countries like UK and Australia. In fact, due to the Code of Practice for International Recruitment, Britain’s NHS refrains from actively recruiting from countries including Nepal to prevent them from having a shortage of health workers. But the NHS has over 50,000 unfilled vacancies, and this is further complicated by the impending end of free movement of EU nationals on 31 December. Even without actively sourcing health workers from Nepal, therefore, Nepali nurses will be following the money, convenience and new opportunities abroad. Just as Santosh Shah of MasterChef has become a hero in Nepal, so has the Filipno-British nurse May Parsons who administered the first Covid-19 vaccine in the UK last week. Earlier this year, the Philippine government banned the migration of health workers because of the domestic demand during Covid-19, but the move backfired because few nurses agreed to take domestic jobs. The ban was lifted, but there is a cap of 5,000 nurses a year going abroad. Nepali Seema Pokhrel arrived in the UK two years ago and works as a nurse in Harrow. While most of her nursing friends opted for Australia, she chose UK because of the faster track to become a registered nurse.“The employer sponsored my second UK qualification exam and we could work alongside as health assistants and earn throughout,” she says. “While better salary was the primary motive for my decision to move, there is also better upward career mobility here unlike in Nepal where it was based on connections and not competence.”

<img width="1584" height="1108" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108101148/636a26569c7e80680e043a0djpeg.jpg" alt=""/>At <a href="https://www.international-alert.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">International Alert</a>, as a global peacebuilding organisation, we often point to Nepal alongside <a href="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/%2520identical-political-trajectories-in-Nepal-and-South-Africa,4057&amp;sa=U&amp;ved=0ahUKEwj1r8WljLjgAhVBP48KHQScCPYQFggFMAA&amp;client=internal-uds-cse&amp;cx=011870630917993763279:opm7uqsat-4&amp;usg=AOvVaw2RTo4ewDKjXsEgz2vOJ76F" target="_blank" rel="noopener">South Africa</a> or Northern Ireland as a country working through a peace process successfully, proving that peace can be writ large.  Of course, all three countries are still beset by troubles and the peace is far from perfect. In Northern Ireland, for example, today <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2016/06/24/implications-of-brexit-for-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Brexit</a> threatens the peace agreement, while in South Africa entrenched economic apartheid persists. But the guns have fallen silent, and stayed silent. Given that globally, half of all peace deals fall apart within 5 years, that is quite an achievement.Recently, International Alert and our partner <a href="http://fwld.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Forum for Women, Law and Development</a> (FWLD) held a meeting in Nepalganj for victims to meet with the local service providers – local government, district administration, the hospitals, businesses and social services. The aim was to get practical help at the local level, while still pushing for a national solution.And <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-struggle-for-transitional-justice/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the scars of war</a>, still unresolved, were still fresh: One man told us how on 8 July 2001, the Maoists cut off his leg, suspecting him of being an informer. Six times he has approached the government offices seeking medical support, but no-one listened to him. <img width="1949" height="777" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108101148/636a265a9c7e80680e043a0ejpeg.jpg" alt="">The man sitting next to him told us that his leg was cut off the very next day on 9 July 2001: “My house was destroyed and I was tortured by the Maoists. I get interim relief but not adequate compensation. I registered my case with the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/12-years-later-justice-is-a-mirage/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Truth and Reconciliation Commission</a> and so want to know what is going to happen next.” He wears an artificial leg, but has to treat himself.  Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/12-years-later-justice-is-a-mirage/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">12 years later, justice is a mirage</a>, Sewa Bhattarai<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/justice-in-transition/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Justice in transition</a>, David SeddonCalmly, patiently, a woman spoke up for all those waiting for men who have disappeared, calling simply for the truth, another for a lost son, another for a missing father. A woman said she was blindfolded and raped by security forces in the barracks. Severely traumatised and suffering from serious uterus problems to this day, she needs medical support and psychosocial counselling. But like too many others, she is left without support and justice.These victims and their families are struggling to be heard by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and the Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons (CIEDP), the two bodies in charge of pushing forward transitional justice in Nepal. Both have so far failed to deliver, despite having registered 63,000 complaints. This week, the four-year tenure of both <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/justice-in-transition/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">transitional justice commissions</a> were extended, and new Commissioners will be appointed.The <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/no-country-for-women/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">victims of sexual assault, rape</a> and torture, for example, have not received any support – no recognition that they are victims, no interim relief, no compensation. That is deeply demoralising for the victims and International Alert has been calling on the Nepal government to support a gender responsive <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/just-not-justice/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">transitional justice process</a>.  Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/no-country-for-women/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">No country for women</a>, Shreejana Shrestha <img width="1280" height="720" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108101148/636a265d9c7e80680e043a0fjpeg.jpg" alt="">These initiatives desperately need substantial funds with matching political will to ensure progress. The wounds of war cannot be left to fester and must be proactively addressed. If the Nepal government seems <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/editorial/state-of-impunity,2976" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lacklustre to prioritise</a> these issues, the victims’ groups are full of gritty determination. People are more than ready to mobilise to find the truth, support victims to receive compensation and find new work or to mourn their loved, lost ones. To be more effective, the civil societies and victim groups must come under one common platform to take the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/editorial/justice-delayed-justice-denied-transitional-justice,3556" target="_blank" rel="noopener">transitional justice advocacy</a> ahead.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/just-not-justice/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Just not justice</a>, Om Astha Rai<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/rocky-transition-to-justice/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rocky transition to justice</a>, EditorialNepal still has an opportunity to move forward the transitional justice process constructively in the coming months and to address truth, justice and reparation for victims. But this work needs the Government of Nepal to step up, and it needs donors to commit. If we want peace to last (and who does not?) then it needs long term, patient investment.Which is why the long time frame of the US Global Fragility and Violence Reduction Act is so vital. The bi-partisan Act was passed overwhelmingly through the House of Representatives on 28 November. If it passes the Senate, it commits the US Government to invest in 10 countries (five  already at war, five fragile) over 10 years, with coordination across all government departments from USAID to the military.Too often, governments lose interest in countries once the crises are past. NGOs are left with one or two-year projects sputtering to an end and no donors in sight to continue investing in building everyday peace. But that is to ignore the evidence and misread the public.Read also:<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/editorial/state-of-impunity,2976" target="_blank" rel="noopener">State of impunity</a>, Editorial<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/editorial/justice-delayed-justice-denied-transitional-justice,3556" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Justice delayed, justice denied</a>, EditorialEvidence shows that peacebuilding is effective, and also cost-effective. Every $1 spent on peacebuilding saves $16 in the costs of war, according to the Institute for Economics and Peace. A 2018 global poll undertaken by International Alert with the British Council found the public strongly favour ‘dealing with the reasons why people fight in the first place’ and ‘supporting societies to deal with conflict peacefully’, as effective means of creating long-term peace.So in 2019, the community of peacebuilding organisations will be pushing for the US Act to be passed into law, for other governments to adopt the approach, and for concrete progress for victims in Nepal as another building block of lasting peace.Harriet Lamb, CEO of International Alert and Rabina Shrestha, Manager of International Alert Nepal

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Nepal’s transition to peace needs justice

<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171152/636937b89c7e80680e03fe57jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1476"/>MADRID – Sadly, 2018 will not be remembered as a year of political and diplomatic success. Though the international order had already begun to erode in 2017, the global political environment became downright chaotic, combustible, and hostile this year. That is no coincidence, as these are perhaps the three adjectives that best describe the United States under President Donald Trump.Since January 2018, when the Trump administration announced tariffs on imported solar panels and washing machines, the year has been marked by an escalating “trade war,” waged primarily – but not exclusively – by the US against China. The ongoing tariff disputes have seriously <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/10/19/the-trade-war-has-claimed-its-first-victim/">undermined</a> the World Trade Organization and deepened mutual distrust in Sino-American relations.For its part, China this year <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/10/world/asia/china-xi-jinping-term-limit-explainer.html">eliminated</a> presidential term limits, raising fears that President Xi Jinping’s so-called <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/10/18/i-mastered-xi-jinping-thought-and-i-have-the-certificate-to-prove-it/">new era</a> will end the period of collective leadership ushered in by Deng Xiaoping’s reforms, which were themselves a corrective to Mao’s cult of personality. This move could also herald a further deviation from Deng’s trademark foreign-policy restraint.Similarly, Russian President Vladimir Putin was reelected in March, to no one’s surprise. Under Putin, Russia has been re-emerging as a geopolitical force. And yet, its economy is essentially stagnant, owing in part to its excessive dependence on hydrocarbons. In the absence of growth, Putin has relied on foreign policy to shore up his domestic popularity.For example, Putin’s campaign press secretary welcomed the British government’s response to the nerve-agent attack on Sergei and Yulia Skripal, because it may have <a href="https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/kremlin-thanks-britain-for-putin-s-landslide-victory-a3793546.html">mobilized</a> Putin’s supporters in the run-up to the presidential election. And the Kremlin’s recent decision to blockade Ukrainian ports in the Sea of Azov may also have been <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2018/11/26/is-there-link-between-putins-approval-rating-aggressive-russian-foreign-policy/?utm_term=.7f850b68f13d">designed</a> to boost Putin’s domestic approval rating, among other goals. The danger now is that both the US and Russia will cease to implement the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, posing a new and acute <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2018/12/13/will-europe-try-to-save-the-inf-treaty/">threat to Europe</a> in particular.Meanwhile, the Middle East has continued to serve as a battlefield for some of the world’s most violent conflicts. Though the Islamic State (ISIS) has continued to <a href="https://bigthink.com/strange-maps/22-months-of-war-condensed-in-a-1-minute-video">lose ground</a>, it is far from defeated – contrary to what Trump <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1075528854402256896">has claimed</a> – and the death toll in Syria’s civil war continues to climb. Likewise, the humanitarian calamity in Yemen has deepened, though negotiations that ran aground in 2016 have at least resumed and made <a href="https://www.crisisgroup.org/middle-east-north-africa/gulf-and-arabian-peninsula/yemen/making-yemens-hodeida-deal-stick">some progress</a>. In Afghanistan, what is widely regarded as the longest-running war in US history continues, and <a href="https://thenewsrep.com/109943/is-afghanistan-a-lost-cause-taliban-control-more-territory-since-2001/">it is estimated</a> that the Taliban now controls more territory than at any time since their government was overthrown in 2001.Despite some recent developments in the aforementioned conflicts, the underpinnings of the Trump administration’s general strategy in the Middle East remained intact in 2018. The US has reaffirmed its <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/06/18/donald-trumps-new-world-order">support</a> for the axis of Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, which it regards as a bulwark against Iran. In May, the Trump administration moved the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. That same month, it abandoned the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and announced an abusive re-imposition of extraterritorial sanctions, which reflects the increasing <a href="https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/trump-secondary-sanctions-eu-iran-by-mark-leonard-2018-10">weaponization of the US dollar</a>.Moreover, by siding with the Saudi government over his own intelligence agencies in the <a href="https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/confronting-saudi-policies-free-speech-yemen-syria-by-leon-willems-2018-12">murder</a> of journalist <a href="https://www.project-syndicate.org/columnist/jamal-khashoggi">Jamal Khashoggi</a> in October, Trump has made clear that opposing Iran and purchasing US arms is one of the quickest ways to his heart. The result of his broad approach to the Middle East has been to empower military hardliners throughout the region. In fact, Israel and Iran this year engaged in their first-ever <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/may/11/iran-israel-little-incentive-hurry-down-path-war">direct military encounter</a>.Trump has also contributed, in one way or another, to the advance of populism around the world in 2018. In Latin America, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) and Brazilian President-elect Jair Bolsonaro have shown that “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/dec/03/what-is-populism-trump-farage-orban-bolsonaro">populism</a>” can encompass diverse ideologies. While both claim to speak for “the people” against “the elites,” the leftist AMLO was elected partly as a <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2018/07/01/mexico-election-trump-populist-lopez-obrador-664243">rebuke</a> to Trump, whereas Bolsonaro embraces a Trump-like brand of right-wing nationalism, and enjoys the <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2018/07/01/mexico-election-trump-populist-lopez-obrador-664243">support</a> of many Brazilian elites.The Russian philosopher Aleksandr Dugin, often regarded as one of the Kremlin’s main ideologues, <a href="https://www.politicaexterior.com/actualidad/trump-paso-hacia-objetivo-insuficiente/">argues</a> that “populism should unite right-wing values with socialism, social justice, and anti-capitalism.” This “integral populism,” he believes, is perfectly illustrated by Italy’s current governing coalition, which comprises the anti-establishment Five Star Movement and the nationalist League party.In October, Italy’s government instigated a conflict with the European Union (which has fortunately <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/dec/19/italy-avoids-eu-sanctions-after-reaching-2019-budget-agreement">subsided</a>) by proposing a budget that defied EU fiscal rules. Italy’s leaders justified their policies in the name of an outdated interpretation of “<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/10/eu-rejected-italy-budget-populists/573742/">sovereignty</a>,” one similar to that of the United Kingdom’s Brexiteers, whose haphazardness has left the UK’s future shrouded in uncertainty.There were a few positive developments in 2018. Certainly, the easing of tensions between the US and North Korea, and the even deeper rapprochement between North and South Korea, should be welcomed. Much credit belongs to South Korean President <a href="https://www.project-syndicate.org/columnist/moon-jae-in">Moon Jae-in</a>, who used the occasion of the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang to reach out to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Trump’s subsequent turn toward diplomacy – which led to his historic summit with Kim – should also be applauded, though his administration has <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/north-korea-rejects-denuclearization-unless-us-nuclear-threat-is-eliminated/2018/12/20/fcf642a2-0438-11e9-b5df-5d3874f1ac36_story.html?utm_term=.c0a8c770d20f">yet to achieve</a> anything more than symbolic progress toward denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.The result of the US midterm elections was also good news. Democratic control of the House of Representatives means that, from January 2019, there will be more checks on Trump’s policies. And there have been welcome developments in the Republican-controlled Senate, where a recent resolution condemning Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the murder of Khashoggi, and another to end US support for the Saudi campaign in Yemen, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/13/us/politics/yemen-saudi-war-pompeo-mattis.html?module=inline">passed</a> with bipartisan support.In Europe, the prospects for 2019 will depend primarily on three factors: Brexit, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron’s push for <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/826a4986-f7ac-11e8-af46-2022a0b02a6c">EU reform</a>, and the European Parliament election in May. In each case, one hopes that the supporters of democracy, the rule of law, European integration, and multilateralism will prevail.Those who oppose these principles have had a rather good year. But they would be mistaken to think that those who uphold them have lost the will – and the ability – to cultivate a spirit of cooperation and harmony.     © Project SyndicateJavier Solana was EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy, Secretary-General of NATO, and Foreign Minister of Spain.

Good riddance to 2018

<img width="1131" height="1700" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171136/6369349d9c7e80680e03e006jpeg.jpg" alt=""/>Game of Thrones actress Amrita Acharia has joined the online appeal for funds for the charity <a href="http://www.chorachori.org.uk/">ChoraChori</a> that has rescued 147 trafficked and displaced Nepali children from <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/runaway-boys-brought-home-to-%20Nepal,2950">slavery and abuse</a> in India.The 31-year-old Nepali-Ukrainian actress is based in Norway and acted in HBO’s Game of Thrones, UK tv series The Good Karma Hospital, the Norwegian tv series Acquitted and in the forthcoming animation The Missing Link.Says Acharia: “My father was educated, and he made sure we were educated and taught self-respect. When we moved away from Nepal, it was that education that gave us stability and the chance to follow our dreams. I love it that ChoraChori works on empowering young girls after these experiences, and gives them tools rather than just rescuing and dumping them in an orphanage”.Acharia was born in Kathmandu but her family moved to England when she was seven and after spending some years in the Ukraine, attended High School in Norway where her father is an obstetrician. She is now looking forward to going back to Nepal after 16 years to visit ChoraChori’s facilities in Thaukel. <img width="750" height="744" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171136/6369349f9c7e80680e03e007jpeg.jpg" alt="">Most of the rescued children are boys whom ChoraChori has reunited with their families who hadn’t heard from the boys in years and had come to believe them to be dead. Most of the children had left home in search of work before being trafficked, were apprehended by the Indian authorities and <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=2478#.W_yxTy2ZMWp">later rescued</a> and brought back to Nepal.Some of the children were runaways from domestic abuse whom ChoraChori funds through vocational training and into good employment. ChoraChori last year <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Nepali-children-rescued-from-India,3618">rescued Nepali girls</a> from a notorious children’s home in Muzaffarpur where at least 34 residents were gang raped by care home officials and outsiders. These girls are currently supported at ChoraChori’s child trauma management centre alongside a growing number of domestic child rape victims.“We’ve only just begun” says ChoraChori Founder Lt Col (retd.) <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=17939#.W_yxeS2ZMWp">Philip Holmes</a>. “We know that there are still scores of Nepali children trapped in Indian institutions and the Muzaffarpur case has brought into sharp focus just how dangerous these centres are for children.”With Brexit, ChoraChori is feeling the effects of a financial squeeze in the UK charitable sector. Which is why it is launching ‘The Big Give’ online Christmas appeal. For one week only from noon GMT on Tuesday 27 November, all online donations are automatically being doubled in value in the charity’s main annual fundraising drive.Says Holmes: “The truth is that some of the rescued children are so young that they even lack the vocabulary to describe what has been done to them. That is heart-breaking, but I have been encouraged and inspired by how ChoraChori-Nepal has risen to the challenge.”To see Amrita’s video appeal and donate to ChoraChori through The Big Give visit <a href="http://www.chorachori.org/">www.chorachori.org</a>

Amrita Acharia in charity drive

Robert Redford was an A-list megastar who had dominated Hollywood throughout the 1970s, generally considered the high water mark of American cinema.&nbsp; In those days Nepal was a fashionably remote destination, so it was not unusual for us to be looking after celebrity visitors. But Robert Redford was huge by any standards.&nbsp; “Call me Bob,” was the first thing he said to me, with that wonderful embracing smile that had lit up screens and quickened heartbeats around the world throughout the previous decade.&nbsp; We met over a cosy Mountain Travel dinner in Al Read’s brick and stucco house in Dhobighat. The floors were traditional terracotta tiles, the low beams darkly varnished and a cheerful fire warmed the October chill.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250921110940_32dd66ba4b578a843bbbf6a74bca7d47f9ac7083c3bf50f8213ac3e5322974fd.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20250921110940_32dd66ba4b578a843bbbf6a74bca7d47f9ac7083c3bf50f8213ac3e5322974fd" data-rendition-name="original" width="1396" height="920" loading="lazy" alt="Robert Redford in Nepal"> <figcaption>Robert Redford in 1982 at Meghauli airfield in Chitwan with young Kirsten Annapurna Read, the daughter of Al Read, managing director of Mountain Travel Nepal.</figcaption> </figure>  Our heroes often seem diminished in real life and Redford was shorter than expected, though taller than his friends and co-stars Paul Newman and Dustin Hoffman. But most striking was his pock-marked skin which must have challenged makeup artists over the years.&nbsp; I was disappointed he was not wearing his trademark cowboy boots, but Bob’s fame infused the room with his gentle politeness and low-key glamour. Next morning I picked him up from the Malla Hotel for some light sightseeing around the Valley. Under strict instruction from ‘his people’ that any fuss from fans was to be minimised, I was surprised to see him wearing a Sundance tee-shirt – just in case no one recognised him.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250921040916_1674398340a9501127e9f8b6b775f41b35703253f772ee05c6ab064819cd0abb.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20250921040916_1674398340a9501127e9f8b6b775f41b35703253f772ee05c6ab064819cd0abb" data-rendition-name="original" width="840" height="1280" loading="lazy" alt="Robert Redford in Nepal"> <figcaption>Robert Redford exploring the Kathmandu Valley in 1982. Photo: GALEN ROWELL </figcaption> </figure>  Unmolested, we walked the ancient streets of Bhaktapur, and Bob was duly entranced by the visual impact of Malla Newar’s enduring culture. Robert Redford’s main purpose in Nepal was to trek in the Khumbu with his friend Galen Rowell, an adventure photographer, conservationist and mountaineer who met a premature death in 2002 in a small plane crash in Bishop, California.&nbsp; There may have been some talk of a film about Everest, but nothing came of it. After the trek, Bob and Galen explored the grasslands and forests of Chitwan, staying with us at Tiger Tops Jungle Lodge to view wildlife from the back of a well-trained elephant.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250921110948_7c2339d73cedfcc9e659169d1d1bc2239d3d9973f6c4b1a945bfeb74b9b74d19.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20250921110948_7c2339d73cedfcc9e659169d1d1bc2239d3d9973f6c4b1a945bfeb74b9b74d19" data-rendition-name="original" width="723" height="958" loading="lazy" alt="Robert Redford in Nepal"> <figcaption>Robert Redford in Chitwan, with Tiger Tops Manager KK Gurung on 9 December 1982. Photo: GALEN ROWELL</figcaption> </figure>  Confiding that he was not much of a traveller, Bob told us Nepal was one of his first trips outside the USA. Bob preferred his homes in Malibu on the Pacific coast and the wide open spaces of Utah, which he named Sundance after his favourite role.&nbsp; SOARING GRANDEUR With his strong affinity for the outdoors, Redford’s horizons must have been significantly expanded by the soaring grandeur of Nepal's sublime mountains, untamed rivers, and tiger and rhino infested lowlands. Galen’s knowledge and enthusiasm for all things Himalayan made him the perfect person to introduce this prominent novice tourist to Nepal’s wild places. Framed photographs of Bob taken by Galen’s skilled camera still grace tourist lodges on the Everest trail, and I confess to having one hanging in our downstairs loo.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250921070932_7bff2986293742e6e97c91c879f2549f2a99095f1f4a98c50e3b74c7f91f7b84.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20250921070932_7bff2986293742e6e97c91c879f2549f2a99095f1f4a98c50e3b74c7f91f7b84" data-rendition-name="original" width="1076" height="1624" loading="lazy" alt="Rovert Redford in Nepal"> <figcaption>Robert Redford in snowbound Namche Bazar in 1982.</figcaption> </figure>  His movie classics that defined our youth included the iconic Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting, All The President’s Men and The Way We Were. With many Oscar nominations, his personal best was Ordinary People, his directing debut which swept the award board in 1980, shortly before his Nepal trip. But Robert Redford was more than just an all American action man actor and successful film director. He chose roles that highlighted his political and social outlook. He was admired as an active environmental campaigner, using his fame to fight for clean air and pure water, serving as a trustee of the Natural Resources Defence Council.&nbsp; Redford once said: “The danger of success is that it forces you into a mould. I prefer independence.” Choosing the wilds of Utah over the jungles of Hollywood, in 1981 he started the Sundance Institute to cultivate controversial and independent movie talent.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250921040916_081aa6b2c1f9f82f3ea6a550c6887d9a991f2983a0a976456d627d711ae8a2e2.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20250921040916_081aa6b2c1f9f82f3ea6a550c6887d9a991f2983a0a976456d627d711ae8a2e2" data-rendition-name="original" width="2448" height="3264" loading="lazy" alt="Robert Redford in Nepal"> <figcaption>Robert Redford being shown around Bhaktapur by Lisa Choegyal on 21 Nov 1982. Photo: GALEN ROWELL</figcaption> </figure>  Festival screenings and workshops gave thousands of film people a chance of artistic freedom, nurturing a galaxy of filmmaker greats. At the end of his long life, Redford’s Sundance is widely recognised as having profoundly influenced American cinema.&nbsp; I like to think that Robert Redford’s rare overseas holiday amidst the stunning natural beauty of Nepal’s high mountains, Sherpa villages, living heritage and endangered animals might have opened his eyes and perhaps even sparked his lifelong concern for social and environmental issues.&nbsp;

The Sundance Kid in Nepal

This text has been updated. Ten days after being nominated caretaker, Prime Minister Sushila Karki has added four more members to her Council of Ministers: Magsaysay winner Mahabir Pun, tv anchor Jagadish Kharel, former Justice Anil Kumar Sinha and Samata Foundation chair Madan Pariyar. Karki was under pressure to complete her compact Cabinet quickly. But it appears that her attempt to find professionals with non-political background, integrity, a record of professionalism while making the selection inclusive has not been easy.&nbsp; Several candidates that Prime Minister Karki had approached is said to have refused to join the interim government. Some have political ambitions and were worried that they would not be able to campaign ahead of early elections called for 5 March 2026.&nbsp; Among those who opted out for various reasons include famed ophthalmologist Sanduk Ruit who said his main responsibility was running his Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology. Also considered for the role of the Health Minister was cardiologist Bhagwan Koirala who is thought to have declined because of his association with Min Bahadur Gurung, owner of Bhat-Bhateni supermarket chain who had pledged Rs410 million to his Kathmandu Institute of Child Health. Twelve Bhat-Bhateni stores across the country were looted and set on fire during the GenZ protests on 9 September.&nbsp; The Prime Minister had finalised public health expert Sangita Kaushal Mishra for Health Minister, sending her name to the President's office along with the other Cabinet picks on Sunday evening. But the PM withdrew Mishra's name from the list on Monday after it emerged she was under a corruption investigation.&nbsp; Mahabir Pun of the National Innovation Center is the new Minister of Education, Science and Technology. Tv talk show host Jagadish Kharel who runs a popular current affairs program will lead the Ministry of Communication, while Anil Kumar Sinha seems set to be named Minister of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs. Sinha and Mishra are from the Madhes. The new ministers will be sworn in on Monday. The names of the new ministers were finalised in consultation with the representatives of the GenZ protesters. Appointments of new ministers last week, especially of advocate Om Prakash Aryal as Home Minister, was rejected by Sudan Gurung of Hami Nepal, one of the GenZ campaigners, who even demanded resignation of the newly appointed Prime Minister Sushila Karki because his group was not consulted. Last week, advocate Om Prakash Aryal was appointed Home Minister as well as Minister of Law, while former CEO of NEA Kulman Ghising as Energy Minister Urban Development Minister and Minister of Physical Infrastructure, and former finance Secretary Rameshwore Khanal as Finance Minister last week and were sworn in on 15 September. The new ministers have their work cut out as Prime Minister Sushila Karki has set elections for the House of Representatives for 5 March 2026. Electoral reform such that Nepalis outside the country could vote remains a challenge due to time limitation and because of the dissolution of Parliament. The interim government could ask for two more months beyond the initial six to prepare for voting.&nbsp; KNOW THE MINISTERS Names of possible ministers and their portfolios: Mahabir Pun, Minister of Education, Science and Technology  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250921150956_5e04418c4d79e283ac66932fbe9cffa8bfdccb8973c7ba867b3a241d0a5c19a4.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20250921150956_5e04418c4d79e283ac66932fbe9cffa8bfdccb8973c7ba867b3a241d0a5c19a4" data-rendition-name="original" width="2365" height="3143" loading="lazy" alt="Mahabir Pun"> </figure>  He is the founding chair of the National Innovation Center which was set up in 2012 and most recently restored 484 medical devices including ventilators, dialysis machines, X-rays and autoclaves worth Rs243 million in government hospitals.&nbsp; Pun, 70, is the recipient of the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award for community leadership in 2007 for his effort in connecting rural Nepal with wireless internet. Jagadish Kharel, Minister of Communications and Information Technology  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250921150956_25b90f5febc65782a3e74a288212175d075b4078802cdd1c0fe16767cf9dd95c.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20250921150956_25b90f5febc65782a3e74a288212175d075b4078802cdd1c0fe16767cf9dd95c" data-rendition-name="original" width="1920" height="1080" loading="lazy" alt="Jagadish Kharel"> </figure>  He is a tv journalist with nearly 20 years of experience. He is currently the news head of Image Channel as well as the host of the show Hot Seat, and is known for in-depth political and government policy analysis and commentary. Kharel was previously thought to have been invited to join Rabi Lamichhane’s Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) after it emerged as the fourth biggest party in Parliament after the last elections. Anil Kumar Sinha, Minister of Industry, Commerce and Supply; Minister of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs; Minister of Land Reforms, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250921150956_ba224a8c2d4c4434ed6e08e858d798b382a06c8606583841c935f927acb5d2f4.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20250921150956_ba224a8c2d4c4434ed6e08e858d798b382a06c8606583841c935f927acb5d2f4" data-rendition-name="original" width="1200" height="710" loading="lazy" alt="Anil Kumar Sinha"> </figure>  Anil Kumar Sinha was appointed as a Supreme Court Justice in 2016, and retired in 2023, after reaching the age limit of 65. Home Minister Om Prakash Aryal was formerly also given the responsibility of leading the Ministry of Law. Sinha specialises in tax and corporate law. Most recently, Sinha was a member of the Supreme Court bench that issued a verdict allowing an investigation into misappropriation of government land at Lalita Niwas in Baluwatar. Sinha played a significant role in the eventual impeachment of the then chief of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) Lokman Singh Karki ion 2016 over legality of his appointment. He also resolved the dispute concerning the first dissolution of the House of Representatives by then-Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on 20 December 2020. Madan Pariyar, Minister of Agriculture&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250921180928_83a9a885704826f04b439cf5096063a0596544a750f78b5ff02ee82df43ca0cf.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20250921180928_83a9a885704826f04b439cf5096063a0596544a750f78b5ff02ee82df43ca0cf" data-rendition-name="original" width="640" height="640" loading="lazy" alt="Madan Pariyar"> </figure>  Madan Pariyar is a scholar with notable research contribution in several fields including poverty alleviation, inclusion, good governance, agriculture, industry resource management. He obtained his doctorate and master'sin enginerring from the Asian Institute of Technology in Bangkok and Bachelors of Science in Agricultural Engineering from the Allahabad Agricultural Institute in India. Bcck in 2011, the government appointed Pariyar the chair of the State Restructuring Commission (SRC) which was tasked with advising the Constitutional Assembly on the best possible model of federalism to be adopted for Nepal. Pariyar is also the chair of Samata Foundation that advocates for the rights of the Dalit people and their capacity building.&nbsp; OTHER NAMES Ajaya Bhadra Khanal, research director of the thinktank Center for Social Innovation and Foreign Policy (CESIF Nepal) is likely to be appointed the chief adviser to the Prime Minister. GenZ campaigners have also suggested the name of veteran Nepal Airlines aptain Vijay Lama for the Minister of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation. Rights activist Mohna Ansari, heritage conservationist Ganapati Lal Shrestha and Mansi Bhattarai, daughter of former Maoist prime minister Babauram Bhattarai have also been floated for various ministries. PM Karki has said she will limit her cabinet to 11 members for 22 ministries. Karki is likely to handle two or more ministries herself. At present, Kulman Ghising is leading three ministries while Om Prakash Aryal has two.&nbsp;

Nepal PM expands her Cabinet

Last week’s GenZ protest in Nepal was one of the shortest violent movements to topple a government in modern times. Social media played a crucial and unprecedented role in it. It was the digital space that documented, fuelled, rallied and magnified the protests on 8-9 September, as well as the negotiations to form an interim government afterwards. Even a week after, netizens are posting memes, real and AI-generated videos and jokes. This has been a powerful display of the power of ridicule and free speech that also reflects the resilience of the Nepali people and their ability to bounce back. Last week, as the Nepal Army held negotiations with wannabe leaders, the joke going around was about people being worried to venture out into the streets because they might be caught and made interim prime minister of the country.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025092004094_5cdfca4511a64facbf6a95c62a5abfb367a60e658d68ad502213516c7943f7dc.png" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2025092004094_5cdfca4511a64facbf6a95c62a5abfb367a60e658d68ad502213516c7943f7dc" data-rendition-name="original" width="617" height="487" loading="lazy" alt="Nepal's meme revolution NT"> </figure>  Another video showed protesters making pretend calls on landline phones outside the burning Parliament. A British tourist’s clip about why his country could not defeat Nepal in 1814 went viral.&nbsp; Public disillusionment with the corrupt political parties was at an all time high, and the ban on 26 social media platforms on 5 September was the last straw. This did not just infringe on freedom of expression, but was important for business and trade, and it cut off the Genz’s vital communication channels.&nbsp; Everybody perceived the ban which apparently was not popular within K P Oli’s CPN-UML as the prime minister’s authoritarian ways. The government failed to understand that social media was also distracting the public with entertainment, and it was an effective way to let off steam.&nbsp; When apps like Instagram, Messenger, YouTube, X, and Reddit were blocked, youth banded together calling for an anti-corruption rally via TikTok which was functioning. &nbsp;&nbsp; TikTok exploded with users sharing #NepoBaby clips of the children and relatives of politicians showing off their extravagant lifestyles funded by corruption. It was there for ordinary Nepalis to see: the vacations, fancy restaurants, designer bags, and opulent villas.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250920030952_f8d7a287c3c472c67ac45089e5588a4ba6e615e19119222a130710f7ef660a65.png" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20250920030952_f8d7a287c3c472c67ac45089e5588a4ba6e615e19119222a130710f7ef660a65" data-rendition-name="original" width="1570" height="1446" loading="lazy" alt="Nepal's meme revolution NT"> </figure>  Put to Nepali music, these clips were edited to be juxtaposed with the lives of impoverished Nepalis leaving as migrant workers. Some tried to defend the children of politicians, but most were enraged. In response, one Instagram handle called genz.nepal was set up. Its bio says: ’Fu*k this system!! Let’s slay and stay woke!!’ and made its first post on 6 September. It was an AI generated poster featuring a raised fist calling for a national protest two days later under the banner ‘Youth Against Corruption.’ Despite the ban on social media, they were still semi-functional with workarounds such as VPNs. News of the time and venue of the protest spread rapidly through cybersphere. ‘Let it be clear, our fight is not against one party or another, it is against the system itself,’ said one of the posts. ‘We mean the government, the opposition, the bureaucracy, the judiciary, and every structure that has betrayed the people.’ Other posts called on all to keep the protests peaceful, with no party flags or symbols, no leader, and no damage to property.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025092004094_f22baab05910305ea435045824b25b796d5630715e2e17c3f3c0991e8371843c.png" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="2025092004094_f22baab05910305ea435045824b25b796d5630715e2e17c3f3c0991e8371843c" data-rendition-name="original" width="974" height="1156" loading="lazy" alt="Nepal's meme revolution NT"> </figure>  While noble, the decentralised nature of the protest also made infiltration possible, and violence inevitable. Loot and arson followed. With no clear leader, no one person could be held accountable. But perhaps if the protests had not escalated after the massacre on 8 September outside Parliament, the government would not have fallen at all. Past peaceful protests at Mandala never materialised into anything. Even the 8 September protests had started peacefully, with organisers urging participants not to indulge in violence. Outside Parliament, the commando unit of the APF were seen in wide-shared videos kneeling down to take aim at protesters with automatic weapons. With the social media ban lifted, online posts showing the dead with live round bullet wounds on heads and chests, some in college uniform, were shared widely especially through Instagram stories. Anger was boiling over at police brutality and many posts showed PM Oli with blood on his hands. All of this exemplified the brutality of the state against innocent students, and added fuel to the anger against the state. It was only a question when anger turned to revenge, and that came the next day with the targetted arson and looting.&nbsp; Social media took away any possibility of the government denying or censoring the truth as might have happened in the past at Tiananmen Square and other pre-Internet protests. Nepalis saw it all live on their phones, and the reaction was immediate.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025092004098_609488466dd350924f972b3c6bc7004bebe229d21281db2f8ca7468df5cce353.png" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="2025092004098_609488466dd350924f972b3c6bc7004bebe229d21281db2f8ca7468df5cce353" data-rendition-name="original" width="1268" height="772" loading="lazy" alt="Nepal's meme revolution NT"> </figure>  On 9 September, the shocking visuals kept playing on loop. By mid-morning all three branches of the government were burning. Politicians chased and beaten, their houses set ablaze — and all this was also streamed in real-time.&nbsp; Social media was also where relatives and friends mourned the dead, came to terms with the reality, and shared their opinions about the days ahead. Nepal now has an interim government with Sushila Karki as the Prime Minister but in the days up to the announcement and even now, social media is rife with conspiracies from India’s involvement to military-royalist collusion, as well as a potential coup. DISCORD&nbsp; To the surprise of everyone, including the GenZ, the next prime minister of Nepal was being decided on Discord, a social media platform popular among gamers during Covid for its ability to host large groups with stable voice communication.&nbsp; Amidst much chaos, people memed, reacted, and spoke in the server which quickly grew to almost 150,000. Social media, for better or worse, is now a way of life with far reaching implications. Kathmandu Mayor Balen Shah, RSP chair Rabi Lamichanne and others appealed to their voter base using social media in the last election, but the same platform was shown to also build and destroy political careers.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025092005090_a1961c27e714ddb18b916c718724f235eb7ec3380487c7dc555c4395882d0c15.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="2025092005090_a1961c27e714ddb18b916c718724f235eb7ec3380487c7dc555c4395882d0c15" data-rendition-name="original" width="1333" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Nepal's meme revolution NT"> </figure>  False narratives that are intelligently crafted using deep fake go viral in no time, and can be more damaging than other forms of communication. With high-stake early elections announced for March next year, the campaigning will be more on the digital platforms than door-to-door. There is a strong possibility for it to be used to disinformation and hate speech to incite voters, but equally it can be an interactive medium where citizens can raise their voices. &nbsp; Some candidates with digital-savvy backrooms designing memes and AI-generated visual content will be trying to set false narratives to fan populism. Because of global connectivity, the diaspora will have an unprecedented influence on how folks back home vote.&nbsp; So far, populist candidates have managed to ride on widespread public anger against the main parties and gather protest votes. This time, they may find that you cannot fool all the people all the time.&nbsp; Candidates can no longer hoodwink an unaware, docile populace anymore. People may not be able to read, but they have smartphones. And that gives them a say, an opinion and there must be space for them all as we build back stronger.

Nepal’s meme revolution

The videos are everywhere. K P Oli is lifted to safety by an Army helicopter as protesters amass at the gates of Baluwatar. The Deuba couple is bloodied by an angry crowd. Stashed with cash, homes of party leaders were were <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/kathmandu-burns-despite-pm-resignation">ransacked and set ablaze</a>.
Nepal went from an Oli-garchy to a youth-led caretaker government in two days. The idealistic anti-corruption GenZ campaign was penetrated by an array of forces intent on inflicting <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/the-day-justice-died">maximum damage on state institutions</a>.
Whatever their motivation, these disparate groups were all enraged by the kleptocracy. The state had looted the people for so long, many felt it was ok to loot the looters.
Prime Minister Sushila Karki has vowed to go after the corrupt, confiscate their ill-gotten wealth and confiscate property. As a former Chief Justice, Karki is known for her no-nonsense attitude and zero tolerance for corruption. The <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-interim-government-faces-first-hiccups">three ministers appointed </a>so far also have impeccable records for delivery and performance.&nbsp;
Young turks like Gagan Thapa of the Nepali Congress and Yogesh Bhattarai of the UML have <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/what-next-for-nepals-big-3-parties">pledged to clean up their own parties </a>with generational change in leadership. There are similar, but more subdued, voices within the Maoists and even the RSP.
For a spectacularly successful movement against corruption and for good governance, there could not have been a better outcome — even though in the public perception the GenZ revolt has been tainted somewhat by the infiltration and wanton destruction of government installations. Still, there is hope this catharsis will shake up the system and clean it up.
PARTNERS IN CRIME
Nepal’s development was systematically hollowed out by malfeasance for the past decades. But it was not just politicians and senior party leaders who were corrupt, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/slapping-democracy">usually they were hand-in-glove</a> with the civil service. Bureaucrats largely escaped the wrath of the people last week although many were partners in crime.&nbsp;
The debate in Nepal for many years has always been, who is more corrupt: politicians or bureaucrats? Or, who corrupted who? Padmini Pradhananga, who headed Transparency International Nepal, says the two complement each other.
“Politicians and bureaucrats are two sides of the same coin,” she told us. “In fact, the bureaucracy, political parties, the judiciary, security apparatus, and government agencies were all colluding in state capture.”
The Land Revenue Office, the Departments of Survey, the Department of Roads and Tax Offices were all seen as dens of thieves, so protesters torched them all. The Department of Transport Management, long seen as being in the grip of middlemen, has shut all services.
To be sure, burning down a building does not reform make. It will take much more to uproot corruption because its tentacles have burrowed deeply into every sector of the state. When the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/protest-grows-against-nepal-s-social-media-ban">government banned social media </a>earlier this month, Elon Musk posted on X that he would not register to pay taxes to a corrupt country like Nepal.
Corruption had undermined development,<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/relocate-reallocate-recover"> hurt Nepal’s investment climate, and contributed to the cost of doing business</a> which was passed down to consumers in terms of higher prices.&nbsp;
Diksha Kandel, a corporate lawyer, has seen it all. “Government offices created unnecessary hurdles every step of the way in everything from getting FDI approval to setting a date for a hearing. Everything has a rate,” she says. Even minor chores like share transfers and company address changes have taken her team months.
She adds: “The level of corruption at all levels of bureaucracy was frankly terrifying. At least with local political representatives, they are accountable to the people and get things done, even if it is to get re-elected.”
There is no shortcut to ending corruption, it has become a way of life. It was the main factor <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-s-8-september-massacre">fuelling youth rage</a>, and added to the increasing outmigration of Nepalis.
Pradhananga says impunity was institutionalised because the guilty never got punished because of corruption in the judiciary. She says: “If judges were to honestly prosecute criminals, corruption would go down by 75%.”&nbsp;
Pradhananga thinks if corruption is under control, it will only take two years to kick start development, for Nepal’s international image to improve, and foreign investment to start flowing in. “But for that we need to be run by efficient managers, not career politicians who have mistaken politics for a profession instead of a public service.”
<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/crime-and-or-punishment-in-nepal">Political interference</a> has defanged the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA). The Special Court that presides over corruption and money laundering arising from public procurement cases also needs to be overhauled.
Revolutions often start with an agenda to eradicate corruption, only for it to be further entrenched with regime change, eroding public trust in democracy. The outcome of Nepal's GenZ protest, especially after the March election, should reward candidates with demonstrable efficiency and integrity.&nbsp;
Sonia Awale

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