SEPTEMBER 2000 ¹

  
I.  INTRODUCTION

Nepal is endowed with rich natural and cultural diversity. From the flat plains of the Terai to the lofty peaks of the world’s tallest mountains, this varied geographic setting brings both complexity and opportunity for natural resource management and development. In addition to these geographic challenges, Nepal also must contend with extensive poverty. The Human Development Report 2000 (UNDP 2000) ranked Nepal 144 out of 174 countries in human development, and indicated that 42% of the population is living below the official poverty line. Moreover, some districts fare better than others do. For instance, "The level of human development in Katmandu is more than four times of that of Mugu (district)" (NESAC, 1999: iii). Most challenging feature for development will be addressing the connection between poverty and the environment. The majority of the poor in Nepal are dependent on the natural environment, and as their needs increase, their demand for natural resources increases making them prone for further deterioration. However, as the natural environment is overextended and destroyed, the poor are disproportionately affected.

Although Nepal has attempted to address the problems of poverty and the environment, implementation of policies and programmes has been inadequate. The multifaceted environmental problems have not been addressed, nor have the basic needs of the poor been met. However, there are a number of projects in Nepal that aim to address environmental degradation and poverty alleviation. One of the country’s most significant efforts to alleviate poverty is captured in the National Planning Commission’s ongoing Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (I-PRSP) formulation. Given the comprehensive nature of the I-PRSP, it is essential to align all future and current efforts toward poverty reduction with this policy document. An environmental strategy is HMG’s large community forestry programme. Additionally, the Sustainable Community Development Programme (SDCP), implemented by the National Planning Commission with support from Capacity 21 and UNDP, has been actively integrating environmental protection with human social and economic improvements since the end of 1996.

2.  RATIONALE

The Sustainable Community Development Programme, launched at the end of 1996, was established to support His Majesty’s Government’s efforts to promote development that reduces poverty without destroying the natural environment. The development objective of the SCDP is to enable a broad cross-section of Nepali society to engage in development activities that are sustainable economically, socially, and environmentally.

In an effort to institutionalize a national sustainable development agenda, SCDP has been charged with the responsibility of overseeing the Sustainable Development Agenda for Nepal (SDAN) process. Early discussions concerning the SDAN process led to Nepal’s participation in dialogues on national strategies for sustainable development (nssd). This initiative was funded by the OECD-DAC and was implemented by NPC in collaboration with IUCN and SCDP. Because of their similar origin and their support of sustainable development efforts, the SDAN and the nssd processes are now being coordinated together.

The SDAN process will be facilitated and directed by a team of experts. The team leader will need a broad background, encompassing all areas of sustainable development theory and practice. The remaining members of the Task Force will consist of professionals with knowledge and practice in (but not limited to): urban issues, green accounting, poverty alleviation, sociology, gender equity, youth, human resource development, capacity building, biodiversity, protected areas, tourism management, communication and transportation, resource economics, population, environment and local development.

The need for a comprehensive strategy such as the SDAN is clear. Many institutions have attempted to address the issues of sustainable development in Nepal; however, there has been a lack of coordination of efforts between agencies. There has also been a tendency to address these issues in a fragmented manner. Therefore, the SDAN initiative will address sustainable development in a comprehensive fashion and will seek to incorporate past, as well as current development strategies from all involved parties. The SDAN process will orchestrate many diverse policies and programmes, providing coordination and guidance with the explicit goal of achieving development that reduces poverty and preserves the environment.

3.  SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AGENDA FOR NEPAL (SDAN) VISION

The goal of the SDAN is ambitious; this strategy aims to provide a framework for analysis and a focus for debate on sustainable development and processes of negotiation, mediation, and consensus building. To do so will require planning and carrying out actions to change or strengthen values, knowledge, technologies and institutions with respect to essential issues of poverty alleviation and environmental protection (Carew-Reid, et. Al, 1994). As sustainable development encompasses aspects of economic, social, and environmental issues, the SDAN process will have to integrate these objectives in a manner that will foster an improvement in the quality of life of Nepali people and the ecosystems within which they dwell. The SDAN will not attempt to produce entirely new policies or initiatives to address Nepal’s need for sustainable development. Instead, it will work toward improving and expanding existing policies so that their impact may be more substantial. However, if there are needs not yet addressed by current policies, the SDAN process will assist policy makers in creating new initiatives that both reduce poverty and protect the environment.

In an attempt to build upon previous strategies for sustainable development, the current endeavor will incorporate aspects from the most successful country Agenda 21 processes. Nepal’s Agenda 21 strategy will encompass these features: participation, building on existing plans and processes, paying clear attention to environmental and development priorities, and approaching the process from a cyclical rather than linear perspective.

The purpose of this exercise is not to produce a document, but instead, to initiate a continuous process that will guide change:²

It is critical to make a distinction between the SDAN process and a policy document. The former is a comprehensive process that will have a number of outputs. One such output will be the latter, a policy document that will be used to inform the 10th 5-year plan. The SDAN process will continue after the completion of the policy document and its anticipated endorsement by His Majesty's Government. The SDAN process will produce valuable inputs for HMGN’s preparation of the Country Report for the World Summit on Sustainable Development (Rio+10) which will be organised in mid-2002.

The overall objective of the SDAN is to establish sustainable development as the overarching and crosscutting principle of HMG’s 10th 5-year Development Plan for Nepal (2002-2006). The SDAN would be an umbrella under which all other sectoral strategies would fit. The SDAN should complement and guide, but not replace other plans.³

Specifically, the SDAN and final document must encompass the following:

I.   Define Sustainable Development: 
The SDAN process will outline how development should proceed in the context of Nepal. More specifically, the SDAN will outline how to improve the economic and social status of the poorest individuals without harming the environment.

II.  Review Existing Development Policies and Programmes: 
The SDAN will analyze current development programmes and plans determining how the activities and goals of these initiatives are related. It will support the objectives of current programmes and polices, such as the I-PRSP. It will also discover whether current programmes and plans have gaps in addressing essential sectors or populations. In addition, the SDAN will highlight the lessons learned from grassroots experiences.

III.  Future Policies:  
The SDAN will establish principles that will guide future policy and strategy work.

IV.  Identify Essential Programmes: 
The SDAN will identify those policies and programmes that are essential to successful sustainable development, specifically those crosscutting initiatives that impact various sectors.

V.  Implementation, Monitoring and Review:  
The SDAN will design and establish the institutional mechanisms for SDAN implementation, monitoring and periodic review with appropriate stakeholder participation.

1. Guide and direct task force in the development of the SDAN process.
2. Establish working timeline for the completion of individual tasks.

Review Current policies and Institutional Setup in Nepal. ⁴

1. Review the existing institutional set-up of ministries and departments directly responsible for the implementation of sustainable development programmes.
2. Understand the roles of various current national strategies and policies with regard to sustainable development.⁵  These include, but are not limited to, the National Conservation Strategy, the Nepal Environmental Action Plan; policies supporting decentralization and local governance, water resources management, community forestry, buffer zone management, biodiversity conservation, eco-tourism, soil an watershed management, agricultural perspective plan.
3. Conduct field visits to observe the implementation of current sustainable development programmes.
4. Through field visits, ascertain the sustainable development needs of local-level individuals.

Objective C: Establish the SDAN Participatory Formulation Process. ⁶

1. Organise consultative regional and national workshops for broader public, line ministry and stakeholder participation. Use these workshops to create partnerships and networks of communication between various stakeholders.
2. Organise consultative meetings and roundtable workshops in conjunction with NPC and other HMG line ministries and agencies, local government agencies (DDCs, VDCs and municipalities), representatives of the private sector, NGOs and donors. Use these workshops to create partnerships and networks of communication between various stakeholders. Present the SDAN as Nepal’s ongoing participatory process that will help establish a national sustainable development agenda.
3. Encourage and increase the participation of various stakeholders in the SDAN process, especially members of disadvantaged groups.

1. Utilise national and regional workshops to help identify problems and issues in the establishment a national agenda for sustainable development.
2. Develop a monitoring and evaluation strategy for measuring SDAN progress and the impact of SDAN-supported programmes and policies.
3. By using monitoring and evaluation methods, identify successes and failures in current Sustainable Development programmes.
4. Utilise knowledge from local, regional and national stakeholders to establish strategies for SDAN development.

1. Based on lessons learned from the SDAN process, guide task force in the formulation of the SDAN document. After compiling experiences and data, draft the SDAN document. The SDAN document must include Nepal’s plan for sustainable development.
2. Organise stakeholder consultations to facilitate the roles of diverse public and private stakeholders into the document. Integrate suggestions from stakeholders into a final SDAN document.
3. Finalise the SDAN document.

1. Secure endorsement of SDAN by HGM of Nepal.

1. Continually consult stakeholders for feedback on the SDAN process.

The comprehensive nature of this endeavor demands participation from many sectors and agencies in Nepal. Great effort has been put forth to include members from diverse areas of interest and expertise as well as the inclusion of persons from various backgrounds (e.g. women and members of disadvantaged groups). The key participants in this process will be members from the following communities: (1) Ministries / Departments of HMG/N, (2) DDCs, (3) VDCs, (4) NGOs, (5) Private Sector, and (6) CBOs.

Facts regarding the SDAN process and all other relevant information will be on the SCDP web site at: http://www.scdp.org.np. All documentation produced during the process will be posted on the web site for stakeholder review and suggestions.

The SDAN process will encompass a review and identification of sustainable development approaches and outline the Agenda 21 development goals for national planning and policy formulation. The task force will submit an inception report at the beginning of the SDAN process. This inception report will address what the Sustainable Development Agenda for Nepal will encompass and how that agenda can be accomplished. Currently, the following sectors have been identified as topics to address in the national sustainable development process:

• Legislation, Regulation and Good Governance
• Financial Resources and Mechanisms of Implementation

Social Development

• Population Growth and Human Settlements
• Basic Education
• Social Services
• Health and Sanitation
• Women and Youth
• Social Mobilization and People's Participation
• Human Resource Development and Capacity Building
• Disaster Mitigation

Economic Development

• Poverty Alleviation
• Agricultural Development
• Land Management Practices
• Green Accounting
• Industrial Development
• Tourism Development and Management
• Energy Development and Consumption
• Communication and Transportation Networks / ICT

Environmental Management

• Forest Resources Conservation and Management
• Biodiversity Conservation
• Management of Protected Areas and Landscapes
• Mountain Ecosystem Conservation
• Water Resource Use and Management
• Air Pollution Problems
• Solid Waste Management and Pollution Control

An important component of this comprehensive SDAN process is information exchange. To facilitate the exchange of information between grassroots associations and international NGOs, NPC, with the support of OECD and IUCN, organized a series of regional dialogues. Feedback received during these discussions helped to incorporate the voices and concerns of people at the local, regional, and national levels surrounding sustainable development. Summaries of these dialogues have been produced and will be included in the finalised SDAN document.

Please refer to Annex 1 for a detailed layout of the SDAN process work plan.

   
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1. This TOR is an updated version (April 2001) of the formally approved Terms of Reference.
2. Adapted from J Carew-Reid et al 1994, Strategies for National Sustainable Development. A Handbook for their Planning and Implementation, IUCN, IIED, Earthscan.
3. The Ministry of Population and Environment (MoPE) has also prepared background papers on National Agenda 21 which will complement the current SDAN process.
4. Through the nssd process, IUCN has produced policy analysis covering the following sectors: land and agriculture; forestry, rangeland and biodiversity; tourism; health, population, drinking water and sanitation; education; good governance inclusive of disadvantaged groups; and poverty reduction (I-PRSP).
5. It is understood that some of the policies contribute to the sustainable development, while others may contradict or be silent / neutral on it.
6. The nssd dialogues and workshops carried out in December 2000 – January 2001 have established a participatory environment, and have outlined successes and problems with implement sustainable development. Documentation of these discussions is available.

Annex 1

A Draft Plan of Activities for
Formulation of Sustainable Development Agenda for Nepal (SDAN)
(NPC/UNDP/ NEP/ 99/ G81)

Step I: Preparatory Phase (January to May 2000)

• Approval of SCDP (Nepal Capacity 21) Project document
• National Planning Commission as an Executing Agency
• Formation of Steering Committee/Executive Committee

• China and Mongolia visit to learn and share experiences in formulation of National Agenda 21.
• Preparation of TOR for SDAN formulation task force

• Consultative Planning Workshop with stakeholders and donor communities
• Presentation of China and Mongolia visit's experiences and NPC's call for policy dialogues

• Finalise ToR
• Selection of nssd dialogue task-force members/institution

• Review of existing policies and collection of necessary documents
• Organise five regional workshops in collaboration with nssd process
• Organise first national workshop in collaboration with nssd process

• Organise second national workshop in collaboration with nssd process
• Coordination with national and international institutions involved in sustainable development

• Selection of SDAN task-force members/institution
• Review of existing policies and collection of necessary documents (continued from nssd process)
• Coordination with national and international institutions involved in sustainable development
• Policy dialogue to bring consensus on the focus and contents of the SDAN
• Preparation of inception report by the Task Force/ Working Group
• Consultation with various stakeholders and workshops as required
• Formulation of draft Sustainable Development Agenda for Nepal

• Review of draft SDAN document by Environment Protection Council and Parliamentary Committees (e.g., Natural Resources Conservation Committee)
• Review of draft SDAN document by stakeholders and experts
• Roundtable workshop with government sectoral ministries, local governments, NGOs, private sectors, donors etc.
• Compilation of feedback and incorporation of the comments in the draft SDAN
• Finalisation of the draft SDAN

• Endorse the Sustainable Development Agenda for Nepal document by His Majesty's Government
• Publish the document for circulation to stakeholders, policy makers, donors, NGOs, private sectors, local governments, etc.

• Adopt the SDAN as a guiding document in preparation of Nepal's 10^th Five Year Plan
• Link the essential programmes in line ministries' and DDC's plans and programmes
• Resource mobilisation to effectively translate the policies into actions