1. Building understanding and awareness around key conditions for peace;
2. Strengthening the capacity and outreach of key peace actors and alliances to support and engage in peacebuilding processes; and
3. Enhancing the responsiveness of national and international policy and programming to conditions for peace.

In the wake of the Comprehensive Peace Accord (CPA) , the Arms Monitoring Agreement the Constituent Assembly (CA) elections, there have been discussions in Kathmandu on security and justice issues (sometimes termed Justice and Security Sector Reform - JSSR). These have covered issues including police effectiveness, civilian oversight of the army and the legal framework of the justice and security sector as a whole. More contentious questions concern the ‘right sizing’ of the Nepal Army (NA), the integration of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) into the NA, how to engage with the Young Communist League (YCL) and what role the Armed Police Force (APF) should now play.

For improvements in security and justice to be sustained in the long term, any changes in the security and justice sector need to be considered and discussed right across Nepal. On the one hand, institutions and processes in Kathmandu will benefit from more information about security challenges and needs at the local level. On the other hand, people in districts will gain from having better access to information about Kathmandu policy and programming discussions. Equipped with a better understanding of the kind of pressures and limitations placed on security and justice personnel at the local and national level, people will be more likely to support processes of change and can help drive through that transformation.

1. To strengthen understanding of diverse community security and justice needs and how their provision is addressed through state and non-state mechanisms;
2. To better enable local initiatives to address security and justice concerns of both communities and service providers at the local and national level;
3. To enhance the responsiveness of security and justice-related policy and programming to local realities and perceptions of security and justice.

• Awareness-raising on policy developments in security and justice provision and relevance to the local needs of communities and providers;
• Training and facilitation in support of local, practical solutions to accountable security provision in support of national initiatives;
• Advocacy to inform national and international decision-makers of locally-owned security and justice needs and solutions.

Enhancing the ability of Nepali civil society to inform and monitor the development of inclusive justice and security sector reform (JSSR) policy and practice at the local, regional and national levels by:

• Building civil society knowledge, awareness and capacity to generate and participate in JSSR policy discussions at the local, regional and national level;
• Supporting the development of civil society advocacy networks to promote inclusion of public concerns in local and national JSSR policy development and practice;
• Linking civil society to JSSR service providers and decision-makers in order to ensure that national-level policy debates on JSSR are informed by and reflect local-level realities and concerns.

Working districts: Banke, Jumla, Kailali, Kathmandu, Nawalparasi, Siraha and Sunsari

Project partners: Antenna Foundation, Equal Access, Forum for Women, Law and Development (FWLD), IHRICON, NGO Federation, Saferworld.

The IfP is an international initiative which aims to promote improvements in international engagement in the security sphere (www.initiativeforpeacebuilding.eu). Within Nepal our work under this project seeks to explore the extent to which national level security policy and interventions (particularly SSR) are based on an understanding of what security means to people in local communities and address collective security needs and concerns by:

• Developing a nuanced understanding of diverse local security needs and perceptions of current security provision;
• Provide information and recommendations to national and international actors involved in security and justice related policymaking and programming in order to ensure that they are responsive to community needs and concerns.

Working districts: Jumla, Kailali, Morang

Business is recognised as a key potential driver in equitable economic recovery and as such, opportunities to strengthen their role in economic recovery are now a strategic priority for Government and donors alike. However, the business community has so far not been able to formulate a coherent platform of demands for it to be able to deliver on economic recovery requirements expected of it, such as job creation and increased productive investment. The capacity of business for delivering growth and social equity is also limited, nor are favourable conditions in place to facilitate it.

Both the Government and donors have commitments on inclusive growth, which they must honour if they are to set Nepal on a path to long term, peaceful development. Businesses, donors, government and civil society alike need to better understand the links between economic recovery and peacebuilding; and to advocate for its prioritization as part of the wider peace process. Alert, with its partners, seeks to support this process through bringing a range of national, regional and international business, economic and peacebuilding expertise in support of local processes.

1. Strengthen knowledge and awareness of the needs of local communities and business for equitable economic recovery;
2. Build understanding and awareness of national and international economic policy and programming and its impact on equitable economic recovery for peace;
3. Support stakeholders to build strategic alliances, prioritise and advocate for equitable economic recovery as a key condition for peace;
4. Promote economic policy and programming that supports equitable economic recovery for sustainable peace.

• Providing advice to government and donors on conflict-sensitive economic policy and practice in Nepal;
• Strengthening socially responsible business practice and the role of business in inclusive economic reform;
• Building local, national and sub-regional business for peace alliances.

2.1. Economic Opportunities for Peace

Building understanding and raising awareness of the role of equitable economic recovery in the consolidation of peace in Nepal through:

• Building understanding of national & international economic policy priorities in relation to equitable economic recovery;
• Strengthening understanding of local economic needs and interventions in relation to equitable economic recovery;
• Raising awareness among civil society networks of the issues, priorities and approaches for promoting equitable economic recovery as a key condition for peace
• Providing evidence-based recommendations to promote economic policy and programming that supports equitable economic recovery for sustainable peace.

2.2. Business for Peace Alliance

Strengthening the capacity of business to promote equitable economic recovery through:

• Supporting strategic business-to-business partnerships and best practice sharing mechanisms at local, national and South Asia levels;
• Strengthening the capacity of key Nepali business networks to reach out to district partners in their work on socio-economic development and peacebuilding issues;
• Promotion of gender and conflict-sensitive core business practices and CSR initiatives that stimulate local economic activity for marginalised groups and increase trust between business & communities;
• Increased awareness of rights and responsibilities among business, government and civil society to jointly formulate policy in support of just and inclusive socio-economic development within the constitution-making process.
• Promotion of more informed international policy-making and public awareness in support of the role of business as a driver for equitable and peace-promoting economic growth.

2.3 International Institutions & Peacebuilding

Increasing the contribution of the World Bank (and donors) to peacebuilding through:

• Analysing country strategy and lending conditionalities in the context of internally agreed principles for engaging in conflict-affected states;
• Assessing the impacts of World Bank and donor projects on the social, economic and security concerns in districts, and the extent to which power relationships (and related insecurity) determines project design;
• Raising awareness of national civil society and government of the nature and importance of donor decision-making and how it relates to local and national governance;
• Motivating, and contributing to, efforts by donors to ensure that the World Bank puts peacebuilding at the forefront of its support to equitable economic recovery.

Project partners include: Business for Peace Alliance-Sri Lanka (BPA), Federation of National Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), Federation of Women Entrepreneurs Association Nepal (FWEAN), GTZ's Inclusive Development of the Economy Programme (GTZ/INCLUDE) and National Business Initiative (NBI).

In support of awareness of, and capacity for, peacebuilding in Nepal we aim to:

1. Strengthen local capacities for peace within Nepali civil society, including NGOs, business and the media;
2. Motivate and support the development of peacebuilding expertise within local and national government;
3. Enhance the technical and strategic peacebuilding capacity of regional and international actors in Nepal.

Alert seeks to achieve this with our partners by:

• Working in support of local peacebuilding organisations to help frame an inclusive and sovereign constitution in Nepal;
• Raising media awareness on conflict-sensitive reporting, including community security and development interventions in support of peace;
• Training local and national government ministry officials in conflict and gender-sensitive approaches to development, security and justice sector reform.

• Working in support of local peacebuilding organisation, Friends for Peace (FFP), to generate knowledge and awareness among, and build the capacity of, civil society, political parties, CA members and other stakeholders to frame an inclusive and sovereign constitution in Nepal. This includes providing local capacities in training, research, facilitation and access to one of South Asia’s leading peace libraries;
• Working with and building the capacity of the National Business Initiative (NBI) in Nepal to act as a resource for the promotion of the role of business as a key agent in peacebuilding;
• Raising the awareness of media to conflict-sensitive approaches to monitoring and reporting on peace and conflict issues, including community security and development interventions in support of peace;
• Training local and national government ministry officials in conflict and gender-sensitive approaches to development, security and justice sector reform;
• Strengthening coordination between INGO peacebuilding actors to collectively support peace processes based on local and national needs;
• Providing advice to international donors on conflict-sensitive policy and practice in Nepal.

Project Partners include: Association of International Non-Governmental Organisations (AIN), Equal Access, Friends for Peace, Ministry for Peace and Reconstruction, National Business Initiative and Saferworld.