Two steps forward, one step back: the Nepal peace process

The enduring dominance of established elites and the historic

discrimination of marginalised communities acted as key drivers
to sustain Nepal’s civil war from 1996 to 2006.

In response, how to support greater inclusion has been central

to efforts to build peace. Yet it has proved challenging to push
forward the inclusion agenda in Nepal’s complex post-war
social and political landscape.

Inclusive change has been variously advocated, incited,

resisted and negotiated amongst social and political groups –
elite and non-elite - for decades and in multiple forms

Deepak Thapa and Alexander Ramsbotham, Accord 26 issue

editors
In reviewing Nepal’s peace process, this 26th edition in our
Accord series takes a special focus on the function of power on
inclusion, and the role of the peace process as a means to
facilitate transition from negative to positive peace, or from
horizontal (elite) to vertical (societal) inclusion.

Since Nepal’s 2006 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA),

constitutional federalism has been a central focus of efforts to
reconfigure power and representation. But with constituencies
from across Nepal’s political spectrum showing little willingness
to compromise, attempts to embed inclusion in formal political
structures have faced tough challenges.