ELECTUIB

RPP NEPAL LAUNCHING ITS ELECTION CAMPAIGN SATURDAY
Kathmandu, 27 July: RPP-Nepal is launching its election from villages in
Maakwanpur Saturday.
Chairman Kamal Thapa is launching the campaign from his home
district adjoining Kathmandu by fanning out to villages
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NGOs  WORKING ON BILATERAL RELATIONS MUST REGISTER
WITH FOREIGN MINISTRIES
Kathmandu, 27 July: The government has endorsed a set of new
guidelines that require NGOs working in areas of bilateral relations to register at the foreign ministries of Nepal and the other country they work with, Anil Giri writes in The Kathmandu Post.
.The guidelines adopted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs aim to “bring into order” the work of the NGOs, according to government officials.
All NGOs are currently registered at the Social Welfare Council and the District Administration Offices of the districts they are located in.
Officials say that in the absence of a proper monitoring mechanism, the NGOs, which have the names of both the countries, have been creating confusions, while there is a risk of misunderstandings cropping up between the two countries.
According to the new guidelines, the NGOs must submit the details of their working module, while also “taking into confidence the other country with which they associate their names or identity.”
“We sometimes receive complaints that some NGOs working in areas of bilateral relations are found to be working beyond their mandate, creating unnecessary confusion among Nepal and the friendly countries concerned.
“To prevent this, we made it mandatory for these NGOS to register in both the countries before they can operate here,” newly appointed MoFA spokesperson Dipak Dhital said.
“We are not against such NGOs, but we want them to work here in a decent manner, without harming Nepal’s priority and sensitivity,” he said.
Govt asks diplomatic community, NGOs to follow poll code of conduct
Meanwhile, the ministry has said it expects the diplomatic community to follow the election code of conduct. The Diplomatic Code of Conduct-2011 and the election code that came into effect on July 22, bar foreign missions, diplomats and NGOs from making political statements as long as the code is in place.
The diplomatic community is, however, free to carry on with its regular job, Dhital said.
“We have not received any complaint against any diplomatic community or NGO or any donor community regarding the election code of conduct. In fact, the government has got rousing support for the elections from these communities,” he said.
The ministry had asked the Election Commission to prepare a separate code of conduct for the diplomatic community and donor agencies for the November elections. The EC, however, refused to frame such a code.
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