NES NEPAL: Good practices from a multi-stakeholder platform

Location: Nepal
Timeline: 2011-present

The National Engagement Strategy (NES) NEPAL has been active in protecting land rights and promoting access to and use of land for landless and land-poor people. The platform was initially composed of six ILC members.

A new and progressive Constitution was promulgated in Nepal in 2015, but people‑centred land policies that would ensure its actual implementation are still lacking. NES Nepal was the initiator and a crucial part of a larger platform called the Land Governance Working Group (LGWG), which was formalised under the leadership of the Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation (MOLMCPA) in 2018 and which currently brings together government agencies and civil society organisations (CSOs) working on land governance. Through the LGWG, the NES promotes policy dialogue among diverse stakeholders working on land issues at community, provincial, national and international levels.

Additionally, through its members, the NES fosters people-centred land governance at the local level. For instance, by using action research NES Nepal members have developed model land laws, which have been discussed and then adopted by local governments.