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

The Remake of a Stateactors currently involved in Nepal can pay more careful attention to whenplanning their engagement. There are, of course, many other ways theinternational actors can make an impact in this transition.5. Role of international actorsCountries in post-conflict situation, by definition, are in an unstableenvironment. They are usually divided, as can be seen in the cases oftoday’s Sri-Lanka and Nepal, or South Africa in the aftermath of end ofapartheid regime. More than often, international actors get involved inthese countries, sometimes facilitating the peace process, and sometimesfurther complicating it! But assuming the international actors are therewith good intentions, they will have to recognise that different domesticstate actors will have different pathways to stability, some more compatiblethan others with internationally accepted standards of human rights anddemocratic values. Whichever the pathway, however, it is likely to beshaped, at least partly, by economic performance. International actorstherefore are likely to be more effective in their missions if they also haveeconomic incentives in their agenda that work towards economic capacitydevelopment of the country, that continue even after three to four yearsof end of conflict, as argued above. This sort of incentive is still limited inNepal, as most of the involvement is getting, it appears, more and morepolitical lately.Successful state building will almost always be the product of domesticaction, though it can be significantly enabled by well-targeted, responsiveinternational assistance. Ultimately, it is the local leaders who drivenational political processes. International intervention can providetechnical assistance to such processes. New entities such as the MediationSupport Unit at the UN Department of Political Affairs are recognising theimportance of this assistance. In case of Nepal, a special mission calledUNMIN was created to support the peace process. It was establishedin response to the letter to the Secretary-General sent in August 2006,in which the then Seven-Party Alliance Government and the then CPN(Maoist) requested United Nations’ assistance in creating a free andfair atmosphere for the election to the CA and the entire peace process.However, now in its fourth year in Nepal, the role of UNMIN has not beenwithout controversies. It has been more than once criticised for lack ofimpartiality and independence on some sensitive issues of peace process.But it has in many ways played a commendable role in mediation andfacilitation in this process. This kind of third-party mediation has attracted309