§ 20. Mr. Campbell-SavoursTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will assist programmes of good governance in Nepal; and if she will make a statement. [62763]
§ Clare ShortWe are assisting programmes of good governance in Nepal and hope to do more in the future. Nepal's new democracy has led to increasing recognition of the need for fundamental reforms to bring about more effective government. The Government's plans for decentralisation may lead to improvements. We shall be looking at ways in which we can support this. We believe that Government and donors need to do more to empower the people to pursue their basic rights. The success of the national community forestry programme demonstrates that the right combination of legislative reform, administrative change and empowerment has great potential for changing the lives of the disadvantaged. This is part of DFID's strategy which we recently published in the Nepal Country Strategy Paper, a copy of which is available in the Library of the House.