INGOs and NGOs in Nepal, Iris Kobek and Ram Pratap Thapa, December 2004 INGOs and NGOs in Nepal: Status and Areas of Work during the Conflict Iris Kobek and Ram Pratap Thapa 1 Nepal is presently going through an especially difficult phase in its development owing to the ongoing political conflict in the country. There can be no doubt that the conflict has direct bearing on the life of the people and the functioning of their external partners in development. The longer the situation persists, the greater the impact on people and progress within the country. Therefore, the present political situation in Nepal and its effects on the work of German non­government organizations(NGOs) in that country were the principal items on the agenda of the Tenth NGO Conference of German organizations active in Nepal, which took place in Cologne, Germany, in September of this year. 2 The participating organizations expressed a strong desire to see the political conflict in Nepal find a quick end to ensure smooth continuation of their work in Nepal. However, any viable solution to the political problem continues to remain difficult and elusive and a quick end to the conflict is nowhere in sight. In spite of the challenging work environment, the German NGOs in Nepal continue to function. This paper seeks to describe ­with examples of effective cooperation between the government agencies, the local NGOs, German Development Service(Deutscher Entwicklungsdienst, DED) and the German Embassy - how the work of the German NGOs in Nepal is organized and how it is affected by the prevailing conditions. Status quo Nepal was ranked 140(out of 177) on the 2004 Human Development Index. Thus the Himalayan kingdom with its 24.8 million inhabitants and a per capita income of US$ 246 is placed among the poorest nations of the world. The proportion of the population living below the poverty line is officially around 38%. According to the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, this percentage has been brought down to 30%. Indeed, this was one of the stated goals included in the Tenth Five-Year Plan, which was designed as a Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper. NGOs and Self-Help Initiatives(SHI) play an important role in the practical realization of the goals set by the National Planning Commission. The Nepalese government’s appreciation of this fact has led to considerable growth in numbers of NGOs in recent years, even though their work has been made increasingly difficult by the ongoing conflict and political instability in the country. As the presence of government offices has become restricted to larger district towns and cities, it is now almost exclusively due to the work of NGOs that people in remote or rural areas and minority populations find the minimum support and services necessary for survival, let alone improve their living conditions. Even though the government of Nepal has created the Social Welfare Council(SWC), a central coordinating agency for NGOs, there still is a lack of operational networking and communication among the NGOs. Social Welfare Council and the NGOs Founded as far back as 1977, the SWC’s mission is to mobilize and further the work of socially active organizations and to coordinate social services with the national development activities, 1