Interactive Dialogue with Newly Appointed Joint Secretaries of the Government of Nepal

Date: 7 April 2022

Place: Policy Research Institute

At the request of Nepal Administrative Staff College (NASC), Policy Research Institute (PRI) held an interactive dialogue on “Policy Management in Nepal: Reframing the Perspectives and Processes” amongst the newly appointed Joint Secretaries of the Government of Nepal. The dialogue was a part of the five-day Leadership Development Programme of NASC.

The event was chaired and facilitated by Dr. Bishnu Raj Upreti, the Executive Chairperson of PRI. Initiating the discussion, Dr. Upreti gave a brief introduction of PRI and ran through what could be an ideal policymaking process based on PRI’s soon-to-be-published guidelines on ‘public policymaking’ and ‘public policy review.’

Suggesting that policymaking should not be influenced by outsiders and should rather draw on internal resources, Dr. Upreti reminded the participants of the PRI’s policy of not using foreign funds in policy research and knowledge development processes. Meaningful participation of all stakeholders concerned is necessary in policymaking, Dr Upreti underlined, or else, the resultant policy would not ensure their buy-in and risk falling by the wayside. He also added that policymakers and policy implementers need to be held accountable when policies are not effectively implemented.

A question-and-answer session followed the presentation in which the Joint Secretaries shared their views and ideas on how policymaking and implementation can be improved and what areas PRI should concentrate on.

For more details, please read this Nepali Note.