KATHMANDU, OCTOBER 17
Stakeholders from public policy and governance sectors joined forces to discuss new dimensions of local governance innovation at the National Governance Symposium 2022 organised by the Governance Lab.
The two-day symposium titled 'Promoting Innovation in Local Governance for Inclusive Economic Development of Nepal' held here brought together more than 300 relevant stakeholders from government, private sector, civil society, and international scholars and development agencies.
Inaugurating the symposium, Kalyan Shrestha, former chief justice of the Supreme Court of Nepal said, "Development without inclusiveness will not bring peace but crisis. Our development plans and policies have not been able to incorporate inclusiveness so far. Therefore, it is very important that we create a common vision about inclusive development in Nepal."
Addressing the event as the keynote speaker on the second day, Swarnim Wagle, former vice-chairperson of National Planning Commission and chairperson of the Institute of Integrated Development Studies, stated, "Federalism wasn't given a fair chance due to the heavily divided public and political opinion over its adoption and that was reflected in performance of local governments. Implementing truly innovative financing and citizens' feedback mechanisms, digitisation of services, increasing local citizens' engagement and promoting financial literacy is paramount for ensuring accountability, transparency, and overall good governance."
Highlighting the objectives of organising the symposium and sharing the experience of working in the field of governance in the past 10 years Pukar Malla, chairperson of the Governance Lab said, "Nepal's governance system will be strengthened only when the trust gap among the government, community and private sector gets filled and this triangular collaboration gets stronger."
Similarly, day two witnessed a seminar on 'Building Gender Sensitivity in Government Institutions' and various dialogue sessions, where international experts and scholars like Professor Soledad Prillaman, assistant professor of political science at Stanford University and Professor Ben Berger, associate professor of political science and executive director at Lang Centre for Civic and Social Responsibility, Swarthmore College joined virtually as keynote speakers.
The symposium concluded with the Kathmandu Declaration for Collective Action, which highlights 'Inclusion, Innovation, Local Governance and Economic Development' as the four core commitment areas.
The symposim was organised with the objective to share innovative practices of local governments, to discuss ways to bolster the local governance system and to strengthen the networking among stakeholders working in public policy and governance.
A version of this article appears in the print on October 18, 2022 of The Himalayan Times.
