English - Support to Participatory Constitution Building in Nepal ...

The forgotten forces6.2 billion) received by the Philippines was nearly three times greater thanthe world’s combined foreign aid to this country (The World Bank 2007). 7Though countries like India and Mexico are the leading beneficiaries, smallcountries gain most by relative terms. A study of UNFPA (2006) shows that10 per cent increase in share of remittance in the countries GDP can leadto 1.2 per cent reduction in poverty. Remittance inflow in Bangladesh hasmade it possible to cut poverty by six per cent (The World Bank 2007).Foreign employment and remittances has become the lifeblood of Nepal(Gautam 2006). Even during the period of intense conflict during 1996-2003, resulting in severe economic impact, it is predicted that remittancehelped to keep Nepalese economy afloat. Remittance has emerged asthe second largest economic activity next to agriculture and today itconstitutes around 23 per cent of Nepal’s GDP (ibid).Remittance not only helps reduce poverty but also does so in overall humandevelopment of receiving families. It can be used to educate children, tolook after family health etc. and thus can develop the socio-economicindicators of the country as well. Demographic and Health survey hadshown that there was a great improvement in socio-economic indicatorslike infant and maternal mortality, life expectancy etc. during the time ofcrisis (DHS 2003). Remittance was said to have played a great role in it. So,productive use of remittance should be a strategy of the reconstructionand development component of the state-building efforts. It can be usedin the emergency phase to meet reparation needs and in reconstructionof damaged infrastructure, in the transition phase to check inclusionand human rights and in the longer stabilisation phase to invest in longand short-term development activities. This would give them a sense ofgratification. To the country, it would not have to oblige to unsuitable andhigh demands of the aid giving international organisations.It has also been found that highly skilled are not necessarily the largestremitters (Orozco 2005) but they are more likely to make productiveinvestments (Lowell et al. 2004). Studies in Nepal (Khatri 2007) regardingeconomic status, destination and remittance have also shown that therelatively well-off migrants who go to the USA, the UK or Australia donot send back much money home. They earn money and invest in theircountry of residence or use it to take their family members to the newcountry. However, in the face of conflict, they have come together in anorganised way and shown their interest to invest in Nepal. Policies and7However, the same has not been true for many of African countries.178