Impacts of armed conflicts in Nepal by Parshu Ram Rimal Date: 14/02/2013 Source: s-army-take-control-former-maoist-fighters Source: information.html Source: 1

Overview: Background Introduction Possible causes of conflicts Impacts of conflicts on - National Politics - Human rights - Displacement of people - Education - People’s health - Agriculture - Country’s economy Conclusion Reference 2

3 Objectives: to identify the possible causes of conflicts in Nepal to analyze the impacts of conflicts in different sectors to examine the agriculture based country’s economy during the conflicts

Background: 15% land – snow, 37% by forest, whereas 18% is under agriculture Population: 26,494,504 Source: Agro- ecological zone Area (km 2 )Percentage Mountain Hills Terai Total Source:- MOAC (2004) 4 Source:

Introduction: Between maoist & government after the regain of democracy in Conflict Period: Main aim - establish a republic country - change the Constitution. used guerilla warfare techniques to attack government facilities and officials. Spread to all parts of the country. In 2006, Maoists began peace talks with the government. Source: Do, Q. T., & Iyer, L. (2007). Source: 5

Possible causes of Conflicts: Conflicts of interest on political ideology Educational inequalities : 11% increase literacy- reduce 65 conflict related death (Do, Q. T., & Iyer, L. (2007). - out of 41.2% literacy, Urban % & rural -29.7% (Rural female - 22%, Rural male- 51.9%) (source: cbs.gov.np) Social inequalities: Caste based discrimination: - low and indigenous caste group – 71.8% - high cast Brahmin : 28.2% (source: Poverty and Unequal income distribution – 10% increase in poverty cause additional conflict related death (Do, Q. T., & Iyer, L. (2007). Unemployment : 65 % people depend on subsistence agriculture Geography, political instability and development failure 6

Source: Source: post/2011/02/02/oped/exclusion-through-consent/ html 7 Caste based discrimination:

National Politics: Democracy to republic country, Kingship to Presidential System Increased Political awareness among the people and different institutions Although, An estimated 13,000 people have been killed as a result of the conflict, and Nepal has the highest number of ‘disappearances’ in the world (Source: Amnesty International, 2004). Source: director-prosecute-nepal-maoists-in-international- criminal-court Impacts of conflicts: 8

Concerns over human rights abuses on the part of both the Maoists and the security forces have been raised by a number of international agencies ( Source: Amnesty International, 2004) Human Rights: Source : pictures/ 9

People displacement: After civil war in 1996, the number of migrant workers going overseas increased tremendously. Approximately 650 migrant workers from Nepal leave for various labour-receiving countries everyday It has been estimated that 100,000 to 200,000 people have been displaced over the past ten years (IRIN, 2005). - Mainly due to Increased insecurity and unemployment It is estimated that 2.27 million Nepali migrant workers, - Majority are unskilled labours With the growing number of labour migrants in foreign lands and remittance income climbing to 21 percent of the nation’s GDP - Nepal’s economy is slowly shifting towards a remittance-based from the traditionally agriculture-based economy (Source: The Kathmandu Post daily, Monday, Feb 11, 2013) 10

Source: 11 Labor migration

Impact on education: Since over 160 teachers were killed and an estimated 3,000 displaced. According to CWIN (2006), between January 2005 and April 2006 over 1,450 teachers were abducted. Schools - entry point for making campaign and spreading messages Increase dual education system Source: 2/Rebels-seize-children-as-recruits-in-Nepalese-civil-war.html 12

Impacts on People’s Health Doctors and skilled health workers are mainly urban based and were unsecure in rural Health post. Maternal mortality rate of 539 per 100,000 live births In rural areas, over 90% of births occur at home Over half of children below 5 years of age have - stunted growth, and 47% are underweight The estimated infant mortality rate is 64 per 1000 live births The under-5 mortality rate - Urban area : 147 and rural area: 201 per 1000 Maoists and government forces have made it difficult for international agencies to provide help Source: 13

Impact on Agriculture: “Land for tillers” the agriculture sector shares 38% to GDP is continued to perform poorly reaching 31% share in National GDP in 1995 to due to inefficient infrastructure to support agriculture development and lack of finance caused by the security driven lending policy of commercial banks. The bias against agriculture inherited in development policy is reflected by declining terms of trade for agriculture Nepal’s agricultural terms of trade, 1974– 75 to 2002–03 Source: Sharma, K. (2006). 14

Source: post/2010/06/30/oped/new-job-description/209982/ An intensifying food crisis triggered by decade-long conflict Male out-migration has contributed to stagnation of agriculture growth. Gender division of labor on agriculture was affected Additional burden on women was prevailed due to labor shortage. Impact on Agriculture Contd: 15

Source: Sharma, K. (2006). Real Country GDP growth reduced from 4.1% in 1995 to 3.81% in 2002 Real GDP, Agriculture GDP and Non agriculture GDP continuously fell down with frequent ups and down. Fall in the real income of the people relying on agriculture who primarily live in rural areas Impact on Country’s Economy 16

Conflicts is triggered by the multiple factors like: Political ideology, social and educational inequalities, poverty and uneven income distribution, unemployment, geographical location, Political instability and development failures. It worsens the multiple sectors in the country and affects directly to the peoples livelihood. Agrarian based country’s economy severely hinders the national economic growth due to conflicts Political awareness among the people and different institutions create an opportunity for the transformation of conflicts towards peace process. 17 Conclusion:

Reference: Amnesty International (2004) Amnesty International Report London: Amnesty International Centre for human rights and global justice, 2005: THE MISSING PIECE OF THE PUZZLE Caste Discrimination and the Conflict in Nepal CWIN (2006) CWIN Nepal factsheets. CWIN-Nepal, National Resource Centre on Children in Conflict. Available at: (accessed May 2008) Do, Q. T., & Iyer, L. (2007). Poverty, Social Divisions and Conflict in Nepal. SSRN Working Paper Series, WPS4228, 1– international-criminal-court fighters description/209982/ blind/ html 18

children-as-recruits-in-Nepalese-civil-war.html information.html IRIN (2005) Between two stones: Nepal’s decade of conflict Integrated Regional Information Network, UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Available at: (accessed February 2008) MOAC Statistical Information on Nepalese Agriculture. His Majesty's Government, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives. Agribusiness Promotion and Statistics Division, Singh Durbar, Kathmandu, Nepal Sharma, K. (2006). The political economy of civil war in Nepal. (M. Berdal & D. M. Malone, Eds.)World Development, 34(7), 1237–1253. doi: /j.worlddev The Kathmandu Post daily, Monday, Feb 11,

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