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Asia
A state of emergency, frequent changes of government, a civil war that began in 1996 and claimed more than 16,000 victims: the Himalayan country of Nepal has gone through some difficult times. It was in the spring of 2006 that the disputes over domestic policy and constitutional issues between, on the one side, the then reigning monarch, King Gyanendra, and the government which he had appointed, and, on the other side, the established parties and the Maoist rebels finally came to a head. After weeks of civil protest, the King at last renounced his claim to absolute power in April 2006 and agreed to reinstate the parliament that he had dissolved in 2002. On 21 November 2006, a transitional government concluded a peace agreement with the Maoist Communist Party of Nepal, thus formally ending the civil war.
In January 2007, an interim constitution was adopted and an interim parliament including Maoist members was installed. In April 2007, a transitional government was formed – also including Maoist members. On 10 April 2008, the Maoists won the elections that were held to establish a constituent assembly. On 28 May 2008, Nepal was declared a republic, thereby officially confirming the abolition of the monarchy.
However, in May 2009, the Maoist Leader, Pushpa Kamal Dahal ("Prachanda"), who had been elected Prime Minister in August 2008, resigned unexpectedly. The following government under Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal, General Secretary of the CPN-UML, the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist), also collapsed. As no clear parliamentary majority could be found, by the end of 2010 no stable government had yet been formed. This made it necessary to extend for a further year the deadline for drafting a new constitution, which had in fact already ended on 28 May 2010. The three largest parties in the constituent assembly (UCPN-Maoist, the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML) are all obstructing each other.
This means that, four years on from the conclusion of the peace agreement, the political conditions for a successful peace process remain difficult. Key challenges remain unsolved, such as the rehabilitation and reintegration of Maoist ex-combatants, the reform of the security sector, the checking of violent political groupings, and the country's future federal form.
Development cooperation
Since the end of the civil war, the German government has significantly increased its funding for development cooperation with Nepal. The aim of this support is to help stabilise the peace process, facilitate the country's recovery from the aftermath of the violent conflicts and combat poverty in Nepal. Cooperation is focused on three priority areas in particular: health, local self-government and renewable energies/energy efficiency. The German government is also supporting a number of measures directly related to the difficult peace process.
Nepalese-German cooperation goes back a long way. Diplomatic relations began back in 1958 and the first development projects followed quickly, in 1961. Germany enjoys an excellent reputation in Nepal, based on its long-term involvement in the country and the continuity and transparency of its development programmes, which it maintained whilst the conflicts were going on. In addition to Germany's implementing organisations of official development cooperation, there are also many German non-governmental organisations that are actively engaged in Nepal.
German Embassy

German Embassy in Nepal
Gyaneshwar Marga 690
P.O. Box 226
Kathmandu
Nepal
Phone: + 977 / 1 / 441 27 86
Fax: + 977 / 1 / 441 68 99






