The Missing Persons in Nepal- 2011

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Nepal Red Cross Society (NRCS) on 29th August 2011 published the names of 1,383 people who went missing during the Maoist insurgency (1996-2006) on the eve of the International Day of the Disappeared on August 30.

A report titled ´The Missing Persons in Nepal: The right to know´ released on the occasion has updated the list of persons still missing, according to an ICRC press statement issued on Monday. This is the fourth such list published by the institution since the end of the Maoist insurgency in 2006.

Since 1999, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), supported by the Nepal Red Cross Society (NRCS), has maintained contact with the families of missing persons across Nepal and has been encouraging the former parties to the conflict to clarify the fate of those who remain unaccounted for. Over the years, the ICRC has received 38191 reports from families regarding the disappearance of a relative in relation to the conflict. While the fate and whereabouts of hundreds of people has been established, 13832 people are still missing, nearly five years after the end of the conflict. Their families are anxious to know what happened; they need a formal answer so they can get on with their lives. Until then, they are torn between despair and hope: despair at the loss of a relative and hope that he or she may reappear, against all odds.

For three consecutive years (2007, 2008 and 2009) the ICRC and the NRCS published lists of missing persons in Nepal. These lists contained 812, 1227 and 1348 names respectively. In 2010, the ICRC published the updated list of 1369 names on its website, in English and Nepali (www.familylinks.icrc.org).

Since 2007, 42 families have received an answer and have been able to move on with their lives; meanwhile many more have come forward and asked the Red Cross to help them obtain information.

The present document contains an updated list of 1383 missing persons, taken from ICRC records. This is not a comprehensive list of everyone who went missing during the conflict; it only includes people whose families have approached the NRCS or the ICRC looking for information about a missing relative. Each name represents the missing person, his or her family, the suffering of that family, the statements the families provided to the ICRC, and the ICRC’s repeated representations to the authorities.

For original report click here.

Need Assessment for Nepal 2010

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 'Need Assessment for Nepal 2010' released 24th August 2011 revealed that the country suffers from a resource gap to the tune of Rs 451.43 billion (a 32.34 per cent) over the last 5 years of the MDGs period. This further slims the country´s chances of achieving the goals by 2015. However, it points out that during 2011 and 2015, a total of Rs 1,395.8 billion is required to achieve targets.

In the context of shifting global priorities towards fighting global recession and climate change implications, it is difficult to manage.

Nepal is on track to achieve goals like universal primary education, rise in household income, improvement in child health and maternal health.

Targets that Nepal is likely to miss, according to the report of National Planning Commission (NPC) and UNDP, include the ones like halving the population below minimum level of dietary energy consumption, proportion of underweight children (aged between 6-59 months) and proportion of stunted children (aged 6-69 months).

Nepal also faces difficulty in achieving targeted survival rate to Grade 5 in primary education, literacy rate for 15-24 years old, proportion of births attended by skilled attendants, universal access to reproductive health, and proportion of population using an improved sanitation facility.

If Nepal is to achieve the targets, it must reduce proportion of population below minimum level of dietary energy consumption to 21 percent by 2015 whereas such proportion stood at 25.4 percent in 2010.

Likewise, the report notes the proportion of underweight children in 2010 stood at 36.4 percent against the target of 29 percent, proportion of stunted children is 46.8 percent against the target of 30 percent, survival rate to Grade 5 in primary education is 77.9 percent against cent percent target and literacy rate for 15-24 years old is 86.5 percent against the target of cent percent.

Third Nepal Living Standards Survey

Nepal has made significant progress in the social sectors in the last seven years.

Also, the income gap between the poor and the rich is shrinking, according to findings of the Nepal Living Standards Survey (NLSS)- III whose preliminary report was unveiled by the Central Bureau of Statistics on 8th August 2011.

The NLSS 2010-11 said common Nepalis' access to basic facilities has improved in the years.

Despite political upheavals and unrest, average household income of Nepalis has increased by more than four-fold to Rs 202,374 over the span of 15 years due to rise in the number of employed population, switch from agricultural to non-agricultural jobs and increased receipt of remittances.

Remittance is widely spent on daily consumption, followed by loan repayment and household property instead of capital formation. Some 78.9 per cent of the remittance is used on daily consumption, whereas 7.1 per cent of the remittance is used to repay loans followed by 4.5 per cent on household property, 3.5 per cent on education and only a minimal 2.4 per cent is used on capital formation.

However, percentage of household receiving remittances has also more than doubled from 23.4 per cent 15 years ago to 55.8 per cent in 2010.

Consumption of expenditure on food, housing and education has increased but on other non-food items it has decreased. Share of food in total household consumption has seen a increased to 61.5 per cent from 59 per cent in 2003-04, whereas share of non-food consumption has decreased to 22.2 per cent in 2010-11 from 2003-04’s 28.7 per cent, according to the survey that reflects the migration has not only increased the average income of a Nepali and consumption pattern but changed the social structure too.

The female headed households percentage has doubled — to 26.6 per cent from 13.6 pre per cent — in the last 15 years since the first Nepal Living Standard Survey 1995-96.

For instance, the third edition of the survey, which compared living standard of same households that were studied during the first NLSS in 1995/96, says almost 70 percent households have access to electricity at present, whereas only about 14 percent and 37 percent households had such access in 1995/96 and 2003/04 respectively.

The number of households with access to safe drinking water too has increased to 83 percent from 70.4 percent in 1995/96. Likewise, almost 18 percent households are presently using liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) - efficient and less polluting fuel - for cooking, up from 8.2 percent of 2003/04 and 0.1 percent of 1995/96.

Over the span of 15 years, access of Nepalis to primary school has jumped to almost 94.7 percent from 88 percent, access to health centers to 73.8 percent from 45 percent, market center to 45 percent from 24 percent and paved road to 51 percent from 24 percent

Over the same period per capita income of an individual has undergone a tremendous growth that average per capita income of Nepali has gone up to Rs 41,659 in 2010/11 from just Rs 7,690 in 1995/96.

The survey also shows a significant change in sources of income of Nepali households. According to the survey, more Nepalis have started to make non-agricultural income, whereas in the past, agriculture used to contribute the bulkiest share in households income.

The contribution of agriculture sector in the household income has come down to 27.7 percent from 61 percent in 1995/96. Subsequently, share of non-agricultural income in household income has increased to 37.2 percent from 22 percent of 15 years ago. The survey notes that in 2010/11, almost 56 percent of total Nepali households are receiving remittances, which is a remarkable rise over 23.4 percent recorded in 1995/96 and 31.9 percent in 2003/04.

The survey has also traced striking growth in the number of employed population. According to the survey, a total of 78.5 percent of the total population were employed in 2010/11, whereas in 1995/96 only 67.2 percent Nepalis were employed.

The percentage of not active population has dropped to 19.9 percent now from 29.4 percent of 1995/96.