Kathmandu, June 14

Nepal has a great potential to take the lead among South Asian countries in terms of decentralisation and public accountability, according to Nathaniel Heller, executive vice president of Integrated Strategies of the Results for Development Institute, USA.

Sharing the findings of Results for Development Institute regarding decentralisation and public accountability of different nations during an US Embassy-organised event here today, Heller said that Nepal can take the lead in both areas by acknowledging and adopting various global evidences in designing the forthcoming constitutional reforms and decentralisation processes.

“As the fiscal transparency movement remains robust globally, Nepal could benefit by learning from regional and global peers in the run-up to potential decentralisation, where fiscal transparency and accountability issues are crucial,” Heller said.

Informing that Nepal boasts a vibrant ‘civic tech’ scene, he opined that blending the civic tech with an explicit political strategy will offer a more sustainable path forward.

Heller is currently in Nepal for a four-day visit, during which he is sharing his experiences on decentralisation and public accountability. He is also the co-founder of Global Integrity, an international non-governmental organisation focused on accountability and anti-corruption issues and serves as a civil society steering committee member of the Open Government Partnership in United States