Kathmandu, March 13: The two-day National Civil Society Conference-2081 BS organised by the NGO Federation of Nepal concluded here on Wednesday (March 12), electing a new leadership for the Federation with Arjun Kumar Bhattarai as the President.
The event attended by 900 participants including civil society organisation representatives from across the country coincided with the 11th General Convention and 30th AGM of the Federation. Other office-bearers of the 51-membership new executive committee include Nani Maya Thapa (Senior Vice President), Rajendra Sharma (Vice Chair), Sanjay Lamsal (Vice Chair), Devi Khadka (General Secretary), Bhawaraj Regmi (Deputy General Secretary), Kiran Thapa (Deputy General Secretary), Govinda Bahadur Shahi (Treasurer) , Buddha Sharan Lama (Secretary), Rajendra Prasad Paudel (Secretary), Sarita Angdembe (Secretary), Ramchandra Sah (Secretary), Sabitra Ghimire BK (Secretary), Namaskar Shah (Secretary) and Jaja Raj Shahi (Secretary). The new leadership ensures the representation of province leaders as well.
Talking to RSS, the newly-elected President Bhattarai, said he is fully committed to utilising his three-year term as the Federation leader mandated by the 11th General Convention to taking the organisation to a new height, advocating for the improvement of civic rights. Acknowledging challenges primarily of economic sources to civil society organisations (CSOs) at home in the aftermath of the USAID sudden funding cuts, he said, “The new leadership will explore internal sources management with a focus on production, productivity and entrepreneurship for the sustainability of CSOs.” Other priorities for the new leadership include strengthening human rights, safeguarding the Constitution, supporting the government’s progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and addressing legal hurdles in CSO registration.
“We have assessed social and economic justice as one of our key agenda, ensuring that the Federation remains both a watchdog and a partner to the government,” he said. Nani Maya Thapa, the newly elected Senior Vice President, emphasized her commitment to promoting inclusive and participatory roles within CSOs. As a woman leader with over three decades of experiences in the civic movement, Thapa has faced significant challenges as the overall social structures are male-dominated. “We all know for the mass, generally females are not leaders, but they are males and this notion must be dismantled,” she asserted. She vowed to advocate for increasing women’s participation in CSOs beyond the existing 33 per cent.
“The mandatory 33 per cent is the take-off point for women’s representation but not the destination, as it is largely perceived.” She expressed her ‘goal’ of making CSOs model institutions of inclusion and social justice with the proportional representations of all genders at the decision-making levels.
