8 June 2024, Kathmandu: Conflict victims, with assistance from Advocacy Forum-Nepal (AF)’s Koshi Province Office, submitted a demand paper to various provincial ministries on 7 June 2024. The paper requested the inclusion of specific budgets and activities targeting the victims’ needs.
The Office of the Chief Minister and Council of Ministers, Province Planning Commission, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Law, Ministry of Finance, and Ministry of Forest and Tourism received the demands. Prior to submission, conflict victims discussed their concerns with ministerial officials, highlighting the discriminatory nature of existing government programmes in distributing benefits.
Finance Minister Ram Bahadur Magar expressed commitment to allocating a budget specifically for conflict victims in the current fiscal year.
Kedarnath Sharma, Chief Secretary of the Office of the Chief Minister, assured them that the upcoming budget will prioritise families of the killed and disappeared who were previously excluded from initiatives.
Rupesh Sah, Chairman of the Network of Families of the Disappeared Nepal (NEFAD), submitted the paper and urged the Planning Commission Secretary to incorporate victims’ concerns into future plans. Secretary Mimamsa Adhikari committed to the inclusion of these demands in the next year’s provincial planning.
