KATHMANDU; Non-Resident Nepalis today opined that though NRN returnees cannot compete in this market still they have the capacity to build their own niche market. They added that NRN returnees can provide historic support for the development of Nepal.

Informing about women labourers in the international market, UNIFEM’s Saru Joshi Shrestha said foreign employment is the main

issue currently and

there are few initiatives taken in the case of women NRN returnees.

“We have an open border system and more

than 4 lakh Nepali going

to the labour markets.

Despite labour laws and policies, thousands of Nepali women wind up in the labour market,” said Shrestha.

She also said that

there are 50 per cent of Nepalis working in the international market are women and according to World Bank data of the total 22 per cent of remittance, 11 per cent of it is sent by women.

Speaking during the programme, NRN returnee Kanchan Jha, currently executive president of Sano Paila (A Small Step), said returnees can certainly help the country in various aspects.

Talking about Sano Paila, he said the Tarai region currently is in a sorry state with many youths addicted to drugs. He added that the foundation is working to create awareness. “We can bring a change and create awareness,” said Jha.

Writer Jagdish Ghimire complained of mismanagement. He urged the government to bring effectiveness in the management system as a whole. He said that NRNs have skills and they can coordinate with the government in the management process.

The fourth NRN global conference today had

four sessions: Constitutional Process and Prosperous Nepal, Nepal’s Transformation, NRN Philanthropy and NRN Returnees.

The national councils from 26 countries also presented their papers on ‘Diaspora in transition’.