A vast majority of Nepali migrant workers are hankering to return home as there is no much scope to survive in the destination countries due to the pandemic.

According to the ‘Rapid Assessment of the Situation of Nepali Migrant Workers’ conducted in 8 primary destination countries including India, Malaysia and Gulf countries revealed that 80% of the migrant workers are longing to return home.

They expressed their interest to engage in self-employment in agricultural and non-agricultural sectors.

The remaining 20% are interested to engage in wage-employment in agriculture or non-agricultural sectors.

Although the Nepali Government has prioritized policies and programs for returnees in the annual budget of FY 2020/21, the rapid assessment revealed that staggering 70% of the respondents are completely unaware of these programs. Meanwhile, an extremely low 2% knew how to get access to them.

While most of the migrant workers are aspiring to return home, many are perplexed to return owing to the uncertainty in employment opportunities and rapid spread of COVID-19 infection in Nepal.

“Returning to Nepal would mean navigating the complicated repatriation process, paying the expensive airfare, spending two-weeks in poorly-equipped quarantine centers, and potentially facing further lockdowns in Nepal,” stated the survey.

Major constraints in engaging in self-employment are

• Lack of finance
• Lack of skills or training
• Lack of access to professional networks
• Complex administrative barriers

Major constraints in engaging in wage-employment are

• Lack of skills, training or experience
• Lack of information regarding opportunities
• Inability to navigate the application process

The survey also revealed the pathetic conditions of the migrant workers living abroad. According to the report, 58% are concerned about getting infected due to poor working conditions, while 17% are concerned about their living conditions.

The study revealed that the local governments should establish a database of returnees and facilitate their social and economic reintegration.

It urged the government to ensure that vulnerable groups such as undocumented migrant workers are rescued and not left out in the reintegration process and programs funded by the Foreign Employment Welfare Fund (FEWF).

“This issue is of importance as workers may have traveled irregularly without obtaining labour approvals or overstayed their visas abroad without renewing their labour approvals in a timely manner, but are now returning home and require support,” stated the rapid assessment report.

The Nepal Policy Institute (NPI) and Migration Lab (MLab) had jointly conducted the Rapid Assessment on 625 Nepali migrant workers.

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In this regard, Nepal Foreign Affairs Minister Pradeep Gyawali said the government is ready to work with NPI in its policy-level initiatives.

Speaking at the NRNA first NRN Global Knowledge Convention under the theme ‘Diaspora’s Role in Development Policies of Nepal’, Gyawali welcomed NPI to audit the country’s existing policies on the basis of world’s best practices and make necessary recommendations for alternative policies.

Commending Nepali diaspora’s research efforts, Gyawali urged NPI to help the government leverage their strengths towards achieving the aim of ‘prosperous Nepal, happy Nepalis’.

“Many things which are not possible to do living away from the motherland have become possible now due to the ICT facilities and advanced modes of connectivity,” said  NPI Chair Khagendra Dhakal.

Meanwhile, the Vice-chairperson of the National Planning Commission Puspa Raj Kadel also expressed willingness to work with NPI.

“NPC being the major government think-tank, I would appreciate the collaboration of NPI in areas of government priorities,” Kadel added.

As part of the session, NPI Executive Member Sharad Neupane presented NPI’s Strategic Plan (2019-2021) and said the institute was ready to partner with the government.

Krishna Adhikari from Oxford University, Yubaraj Pokhrel from South Asian University of Delhi, Economist Madan Kumar Dahal, social leader Sharu Joshi Shrestha and NRNA Chair Bhaban Bhatta were among other dignitaries present at the event.

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As a global initiative of the Non-Resident Nepali Association (NRNA), NPI has been actively focused on social and economic development of Nepal.

In a recent move, NPI has decided to unveil its Strategic Plan (2019-2021) for the country’s development at a plenary session of the first Global Knowledge Conference to be held in Kathmandu during October 12-14, 2018.

“After 10 months of internal preparation, NPI is all set to unveil its Strategic Plan for 2019-2021 and this will be NPI’s first public presence while the team was working internally for several months,” says NPI Chair Khagendra Dhakal.

As part of its plan, NPI will be presenting eminent speakers to discuss development policies of Nepal, Dhakal adds.

Why Nepal Policy Institute (NPI)?

To a question on what different NPI will make compared to the other existing think-tanks, Dhakal clarified saying, “NPI is not to take other’s space in Nepal but to strengthen think-tank and public policy research, analysis and advocacy ecosystem in Nepal through collaboration, partnership and exchanges.”

Dhakal was confident in saying that NPI makes difference with its swift, wide range and multi-angled strategy recommendations for effective implementation of the country’s public policy.

“What makes NPI unique is that it will bring the world resources to Nepal and bring Nepali experience to the world by promoting Nepal in the global arena,” adds Dhakal.

According to Dhakal, NPI will be a consortium of Nepali-origin public policy experts, practitioners, researchers and consultants globally working in collaboration and partnership with people and institutions working in the interest of Nepal and Nepali people, including Nepali diaspora.

NPI aims to work as a border-less organization working and connecting Nepalis, globally.

Focus & Priorities
As the first step in its strategy, Dhakal said they would work with the National Planning Commission (NPC) towards identifying national needs and priorities before deciding on the final action plan.

NPI’s current list of core activities includes labor migration, utilization of remittances, revenue & expenditure management across the provincial & local levels, international investment, trade, and tourism.

Besides, the organization has some long-term priority tasks including R&D for economic diversification, value addition in health, environment, agriculture and natural resources, and meeting Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) under UN 2030 Agenda.

NPI & First Global Knowledge Conference 2018

NPI’s plans as part of the Global Knowledge Conference 2018 include:

• NPI Proposal Presentation by NPI Executive Member Sharad Neupane
• Speech by the National Planning Commission’s Vice Chair Pushpa Kadel, NRNA Founder and International Coordinator Bhim Udash, Foreign Secretary Shanker Bairagi and Krishna Adhikari from Oxford University on the role of Nepali diaspora in developing effective policies for Nepal
• Panel discussion on NPI’s proposal involving NRNA President Bhaban Bhatta, Economist Madan Kumar Dahal and Nepali social leader and NPI Executive Committee Member Sharu Joshi Shrestha

 
Former Nepali Foreign & Finance Minister Bhekh Bahadur Thapa is going to chair the session that will be moderated by NPI Chair Dhakal.

NPI will finalize its strategy based on the inputs of the session, informed Dhakal.

The Background
NPI is a result of NRNA’s 15-year-long journey across the global network and emerged out of a dire need for policy institute in Nepal as part of NRNA Vision 2020 and Beyond.

The concept of NPI was first tabled at the NRNA Convention 2017 along with the vision document, which received a wide applaud from the global diaspora.

Further, NPI was integrated with the Constitution and the current President of Nepal Bidya Devi Bhandari appointed Hongkong-based Dhakal as its Chair for further development.

In the next 10 months’ time after the prior announcement, NPI spread its wings with a new steering and research committees and formed its medium-term Founding Strategic Plan.

Now, the organization is all set to present its Strategic Plan (2019-2021) for Nepal as part of the Global Knowledge Conference during October 12-14, 2018.

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