Week 9: The UN and Chitwan
The UN
One of my early assignments during this internship was to evaluate the Foreign Employment Act (FEA) and help propose some recommendations from a counter-trafficking in persons perspective. I completed the project a while back, as it seemed the Government of Nepal was ready to hold discussions soon, but several weeks passed without any news on the legislation. After devoting so much time to working on this project, I was starting to feel somewhat disappointed with the reality that I could leave Nepal and not see any substantial progress in amending the FEA.
While in Dhangadhi the previous week, Hamro Samman’s Chief of Party, Carolyn, informed me that the Migration Group of Nepal was planning to meet at the UN house in a few days. The Migration Group consists of representatives from the International Organization for Migration, the International Labour Organization, and other civil society organizations and government entities that advocate for safe migration. Although the Migration Group is still in the early stages of determining its full responsibilities, it serves as a vital platform for the Hamro Samman project to raise awareness about the risk of labor trafficking in foreign employment. In fact, the Migration Group asked the Hamro Samman project to present proposed recommendations to the FEA at the meeting.
The beginning of the week flew by, as I helped Carolyn prepare the presentation. About three years ago, the ILO prepared their own set of recommendations on the FEA. With the ILO largely conducting the upcoming meeting, it was important our team was well-versed in ILO’s stance on the FEA and our justifications for additional recommendations that focused specifically on a counter-trafficking perspective. By Tuesday afternoon, our team had a thorough list of recommendations to propose, and Carolyn was kind enough to invite me to tag along to the meeting.
The presentation went smoothly, and we were thrilled to see the positive reception to our proposals, even the ones that we thought may receive some pushback. The Government of Nepal may not be ready to amend the FEA, but it was certainly encouraging to see some of the major advocacy organizations in Nepal commit to seeing change. It makes leaving Nepal soon just a little bit easier.
Chitwan
Besides my trip to Dhangadhi last week, I have only explored the Kathmandu Valley. On Friday, I decided to take advantage of a long weekend and fly to Chitwan.
What was supposed to be a 20 minute flight from Kathmandu to Chitwan turned into an all-day event. I arrived at the airport in Kathmandu early on Friday morning, only to wait several hours as my flight kept getting delayed. We are well in the midst of monsoon season here in Nepal, but I had yet to see it rain as intensely as it did on Friday. By early afternoon, reports came in that a plane skidded off the runway during landing, just moments before my flight was supposed to finally leave. The crash shut down the airport for the rest of the day, but thankfully everyone was okay.
Not wanting to waste what little time I have left in Nepal, I managed to arrange for a car to drive me to Chitwan. I intentionally avoided going by car or bus, as I heard there was a high risk for mudslides on the main highway leading there, but it was my only option left. So, I very anxiously rode the six hours to Chitwan, gripping the car door nearly the entire time as my driver weaved around mudslides and other vehicles on a very steep and narrow mountain road. Needless to say, I was pretty grateful when we finally made it to my hotel.
It was still raining when I arrived to Chitwan on Friday night, and I awoke the next day to reports that much of eastern and central Nepal was flooded, with several reported as missing or killed. Despite its location in the lowlands of Nepal, the rain subsided in Chitwan by Saturday morning, and it proved to be a safer place to stay for the weekend than Kathmandu.
Much of the activities I planned for my Chitwan trip were canceled due to the flooding the previous day, but I was still able to spend most of Saturday on a jeep safari through the national park. I am told it is usually pretty common to see wild rhinos in the park, but the weather seemed to displace a lot of the wildlife. Still, the national park is beautiful, and I managed to see quite a few monkeys, boars, elephants, and crocodiles. I originally planned to take a canoe down the river that runs through the park, but after my safari guide casually explained how aggressive the crocodiles are, with some attacking the boats, I decided I had enough adventure for the weekend.
