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Nepal – Youth Political Participation

#Research on Youth Political Participation

Nepal is located in South Asia with a total population of over 30 million people. With a long history of a monarchy, Nepal officially became a democratic republic in 2008 after several years of pro-democracy movements and wars. Nepal has a growing youth population, with young people aged between 16–40 years old accounting for 40.68% of the country’s total population1. Since its transition into a democratic country, Nepal has experienced increasing youth participation in public affairs, specifically holding political offices and advancing several socio-political issues. In particular, the Nepalese government has also made conscious efforts to integrate young people into the country’s public affairs through the launch of the National Youth Policy (2072) in 20152.

Understanding youth-focused policies and initiatives

National Youth Policy: The National Youth Policy (NYP) outlines the government’s strategies and action plans for advancing youth development and participation in public affairs. Published in 2015, the NYP is a major policy document that focuses on advancing youth priorities in Nepal3. With Nepal’s history of civil wars and social unrest, the NYP seeks to significantly integrate young people into public affairs at all levels, further adopting it as a significant strategy to promote peace and stability in the country. Mr. Rashtra Raj, a founder of a civil society organisation in Nepal, noted that “we have experienced a cycle of civil wars and revolution in the past. Therefore, embracing democracy and integrating all groups, including the youth, is an important step to our country’s stability4”. The NYP presents 15 major strategic objectives of the Nepalese government in promoting youth development in the country5. Some of these objectives include quality education, youth empowerment and leadership opportunities, employment, meaningful participation in public affairs, and youth participation in sustainable peace and conflict resolution. Additionally, the NYP outlines the relevant institutional bodies that will implement the youth policies, such as the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the National Youth Council, and the provincial governments. The policy document further outlines the significant role of NGOs and INGOs in achieving the key priorities of the Nepalese government regarding youth development. The NYP notes the possible funding sources to implement youth-focused policy programmes including budgetary allocation to government ministries and agencies, as well as grants from international bodies and the private sector.

The Ministry of Youth and Sports is primarily responsible for the implementation of the NYP. The ministry also monitors and evaluates the country’s progress in driving young people’s participation in the country’s public affairs. The ministry works with the National Youth Council (NYC) to promote active youth engagement in the country’s socio-political and economic affairs. As a recognised government agency that represents the youth, NYC is at the centre of driving youth-focused initiatives, such as organising youth events, coordinating Model UN events, conferences, tech bootcamps, and training workshops.

Decentralising Governance in Nepal: With the National Youth Policy in place, decentralising governance structure in provinces and local councils has given young people opportunities to engage in politics at the local level. Hon. Biraj Bhakta Shrestha, a federal parliamentarian in Nepal, hinted during our interview that the 2015 Nepal constitution played a significant role in improving young people’s participation in public affairs6. It featured them not as disruptive agents but as major players in fostering good governance and stability in Nepal. In particular, the 2015 Nepal constitution decentralised the country’s governance structure, giving young people the rare opportunity to participate in provincial and local elections, both as voters and candidates seeking political office. This is evident in the increased participation of young people in the 2017 and 2022 general elections in Nepal. In local elections, young people contested more than 41% of the elective positions and won nearly 50% of the seats in parliamentary elections, signalling growing youth participation in the political system7. However, Mr Rashtra noted that “there is still very slow youth political participation at the federal level, unlike what we see at the provincial and local levels. The little progress we have experienced at the federal level is quite tokenistic8”.

Policy Implementation

Advancing Effective Partnership: To advance youth participation in public affairs, the government is leveraging partnerships with youth-led organisations, civil society organisations, UN agencies, and international NGOs. As clearly outlined in objective 15 of the NYP, the Nepal government is leveraging its network of partners – both locally and internationally – to advance youth participation in public affairs in the country. Nepal’s Ministry of Youth and Sport has been in partnership with the National Youth Council to advance a series of youth development programmes in Nepal, such as conferences, bootcamps, and youth-led campaigns. UN agencies and INGOs are partnering with Nepal’s government institutions to promote youth inclusion in the country’s public affairs. To achieve this, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has been partnering with the Nepal government to build the capacity of young people for leadership, gender inclusion, and advocacy. Additionally, the Nepalese government, in partnership with the European Partnership for Democracy (EPD), is co-leading the Youth Democracy cohort of the Summit for Democracy – a platform focused on advancing meaningful integration of young people into political and civic engagement. This international engagement further signals the Nepal government’s commitment to advanced youth inclusion in public affairs. 

Exploiting technology: Another notable implementation pattern in Nepal is the role of technology – specifically social media – in promoting youth participation in public affairs in the country. According to the findings, young people in Nepal are leveraging social media to advance their voices on several socio-political issues in the country, such as climate change and inclusion of minority groups. This is evident in the massive #EnoughIsEnough campaign on social media platforms, including X (formerly known as Twitter) and Facebook, in 2020. This was spearheaded by young Nepalese demanding transparency in the NPR$10billion COVID-19 budget, as well as calling out the government for mishandling the pandemic outbreak in the country9. Additionally, in the build up to the 2022 parliamentary elections in Nepal, the country’s social media was flooded with the hashtag #NoNotAgain – a campaign advocating for young people to take up the political space and vote out the ageing politicians10. According to Hon. Shrestha, “many young political aspirants are using social media for their campaigns and showcasing their ideas11”. While this is not necessarily facilitated by the government, it has significantly increased youth engagement on topical policy issues that affect their future and increased their chances of being involved in elective positions.

Key Successes

Increasing Participation in Elections and Political Landscape: The National Youth Policy created a policy framework for young people to thrive in Nepal. With this policy document, young people are speaking up on issues that concern their future, while also actively participating in politics and civil engagement. The 2022 general elections in Nepal signal an increasing participation of young people in politics. Youth accounted for 41% of the total elected representatives in the country’s 2022 local elections12. Beyond elections, Nepal is also experiencing young people being vocal on political issues, using democratic instruments rather than resorting to violent conflicts. However, it is imperative to note that youth participation in politics is still relatively low, especially at the federal level, where there are still very little opportunities available for young people to actively get involved in the political space13.

Increasing Youth-led Advocacy and Initiatives: Nepal is experiencing a growing landscape of youth-led initiatives that seek to promote several socio-political and economic issues. With the presence of UN agencies and other multilateral organisations, such as the UNFPA, young people in Nepal are gaining financial and technical support for their initiatives and ideas. According to Hon Shrestha, “we are experiencing technological innovations in several areas here in Nepal. Thanks to our youth and support from the government and international organisations14”.

This case country is taken from a comprehensive examination of successful youth-led policy initiatives drawing from the insights of a scoping study “A comparative analysis on National Youth Policies”.

Read the full scoping study on Youth Political Participation here

This study is supported by a European Union-funded project called WYDE Civic Engagement led by EPD that aims to improve the inclusion of Youth in all levels of democratic participation at the national, regional and global scales.  The opinions expressed are those of the author(s) only and should not be considered as representative of the European Commission’s official position.

  1. UNFPA, “For young people, by young people,” August 12, 2022, https://nepal.unfpa.org/en/news/young-people-young-people#:~:text=In%20Nepal,%20young%20people%20account,the%20age%20group%2016-40. ↩︎
  2.  Nepal Government, “National Youth Policy 2017 (2015),” 2015, https://www.moys.gov.np/sites/default/files/nitiheru/National%20Youth%20Policy%202072_2.pdf. ↩︎
  3.  Ibid ↩︎
  4.  Interview with Mr Rashtra Raj – a founder of Non-Profit in Nepal ↩︎
  5. Nepal Government, National Youth Policy 2017 (2015), 2015, https://www.moys.gov.np/sites/default/files/nitiheru/National%20Youth%20Policy%202072_2.pdf. ↩︎
  6. Interview with Hon. Biraj Bhakta Shrestha; Member of Parliament in Nepal ↩︎
  7. Hari Bansh Jha, “Entry of youth in Nepalese politics: Will they bring change?,” December 21, 2022, https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/entry-of-youth-in-nepalese-politics/. ↩︎
  8.  Interview with Hon. Biraj Bhakta Shrestha; Member of Parliament in Nepal ↩︎
  9. Diya Rijal, “Social Movement Through Social Media,” June 17, 2020, https://www.globalissues.org/news/2020/06/17/26531. ↩︎
  10. Samik Kharel, “New forces take on Nepal old guard in November 20 national polls,” Aljazeera, November 16, 2022, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/11/16/new-forces-take-on-nepal-old-guard-in-november-20-national-polls. ↩︎
  11. Interview with Hon. Shrestha ↩︎
  12.  Republica, “Youths constitute 41 percent of the total elected representatives in local level polls,” Republica, July 27, 2022, https://myrepublica.nagariknetwork.com/news/youths-constitute-41-percent-of-the-total-elected-representatives-in-local-level-polls/. ↩︎
  13. Hari Bansh Jha, “Entry of youth in Nepalese politics: Will they bring change?,” December 21, 2022, https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/entry-of-youth-in-nepalese-politics/. ↩︎
  14. Interview with Hon. Biraj Bhakta Shrestha; Member of Parliament in Nepal ↩︎