Kathmandu, January 31:

With a view to manage the post-conflict situation and provide financial support, the government has established a ‘Peace Fund’ and promulgated Peace Fund Management Procedural Regulations - 2063.

The fund will provide financial and physical support to five broader and current issues of the post-conflict management. They include rehabilitation of internally displaced peoples (IDPs), providing support for constituent assembly polls, rehabilitation and strengthening of internal security bodies, cantonment management and rehabilitation of the Maoists army, and implementation of programmes and accords signed during the comprehensive peace agreement.

“This is a unique fund created to address the immediate issues of post-conflict management, where the government, donor agencies, private sector as well as national and foreign individuals can contribute as charity or donations,” said Vidhyadhar Mallik, finance secretary, announcing the launch of the fund, today.

All the monetary and other supports collected at the fund will be utilised for the above-mentioned five broader areas of the post conflict management, he said, adding that an account has been maintained at Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) for three years period. The account No is ‘S. A. 163585/063’.

For the management and execution of the fund, a Fund Management Committee will be set up with finance minister in the chair. Four ministers including home affairs, physical planning and works as well as two others appointed by the Prime Minister will be the members of the committee.

Other members include vice-chairman of the National Planning Commission, chief secretary and secretary at the Peace Secretariat. The finance secretary will be the member secretary in the committee.

The committee can invite representatives from constitutional bodies, donor agencies, political parties and the office of UN secretary general’s personal representative in Nepal for consultation and project implementation, said Mallik. “The management committee will select project and grant support to any institutions, NGOs or INGOs based on the five broader objectives of the fund,” he added. Those interested can apply with a project proposal through the Peace Secretariat, where a technical team will examine the proposal. The technical team will forward the approved proposals to the fund management committee for final approval and the agreement signing between the fund and execution parties will take place, said Krishna Hari Baskota, joint secretary.

The fund management committee will also conduct supervision, monitoring and evaluation as required in order to check whether the grant or support is being utilised properly, he said. “This is the first of its kind of regulations, which contains all details about project proposal framework, agreement, annual programme calendar, output index, procurement planning and so on,” Baskota informed.

“Bilateral donor countries and agencies have shown interest to contribute for the fund. Donor agencies like DfID, SDC, DANIDA and others have made commitment to support the fund. Based on the commitment made so far, we are expec-ting about Rs 1.5 billion from donor agencies,” Mallik said.