Publication

This paper considers the effects of the current conflict on rural livelihoods and development interventions in Nepal. It reveals that a failure of development and of governance created the pre-conditions – poverty, inequality, social discrimination and lack of social justice and democracy – for widespread discontent, and ultimately for the Maoist insurgency. The authors show that the government has been ineffective in providing for the needs of the poor and that international and national development agencies have also failed to strengthen the capacity and commitment of state structures.