28July: Three major donors have decided to withdraw their approval for the tender of Rupantaran Nepal, a nonprofit organisation based in Kathmandu, to implement the four-year multi-million dollar forestry programme.

The Multi Stakeholder Forestry Programme (MSFP) worth Rs 4.45 billion—funded by the British, Finnish and Swiss governments—was dogged by accusations of non-transparency and the donor community’s controversial alignment with a non-government oraganisation from several quarters.

In a statement on Friday, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), said that a meeting of the ad-hoc steering committee of the MSFP on Friday decided to cancel Rupantaran Nepal’s tender for the implementation of the programme in 18 districts of Nepal. “A fresh, redesigned tender, splitting the previous bid into smaller mandates will be called soon,” the statement reads. A new working group has been formed to work on the matter.

The statement, however, adds that the decision to cancel the bid is in no case an act of questioning Rupantaran Nepal’s professionalism or integrity.

Besides the SDC that holds the secretariat for the MSFP, the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and the government of Finland are contributing a combined 63 percent of the project’s total budget while the Nepal government is funding the rest. The programme, endorsed by the National Planning Commission, aims to contribute to inclusive economic growth, poverty reduction and to tackle climate change through good governance of the forestry sector. The project is expected to benefit around 1.7 million poor and disadvantaged people.

Various groups, including foresters, civil society and a consortium of non-government organisations, had objected after the steering committee announced to accept Rupantaran Nepal’s bid to implement forestry activities of the project on March 15.

One of the serious accusations made by the bodies was that Rupantaran Nepal is an NGO formed by the donors to execute their programmes. Devesh Mani Tripathi, former president of the Nepal Foresters’ Association, had called the programme “a result of a pre-planned design that came without holding consultations with partners concerned, including the civil society”. One of the major concerns from the opposing parties against the donors’ decision was that “the programme lacked transparency during the preparatory phase in terms of institutional role and funding modality, including representation at the multi-stakeholder steering committee”.“Though the programme document clearly suggested that the steering committee would be comprised of representatives from all concerned parties including the civil society, it did not comply with it,” says Netra Timilsina, chairperson of the NGO Federation of Nepal. The five-member steering committee had failed to represent the civil society.

Rupantaran Nepal, which was set up in 2009 by a group of development professionals from then Livelihood Forest Programme and the Swiss Community Forestry Project, has been involved in implementing various programmes on improving livelihoods with funds from the SDC and the DFID.

The representatives of the donors, after being questioned over their decision to award the tender, had stated that the selection of Rupantaran as an implementing agency for the transition phase was in line with international standards and that any formal complaint received as part of the SDC’s procurement procedure would be investigated properly.

Friday’s statement further said that the ad-hoc steering committee has decided to invite relevant civil society groups active in the forestry sector to participate in a full-fledged steering committee as per the programme document.

28July: Three major donors have decided to withdraw their approval for the tender of Rupantaran Nepal, a nonprofit organisation based in Kathmandu, to implement the four-year multi-million dollar forestry programme.

The Multi Stakeholder Forestry Programme (MSFP) worth Rs 4.45 billion—funded by the British, Finnish and Swiss governments—was dogged by accusations of non-transparency and the donor community’s controversial alignment with a non-government oraganisation from several quarters.

In a statement on Friday, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), said that a meeting of the ad-hoc steering committee of the MSFP on Friday decided to cancel Rupantaran Nepal’s tender for the implementation of the programme in 18 districts of Nepal. “A fresh, redesigned tender, splitting the previous bid into smaller mandates will be called soon,” the statement reads. A new working group has been formed to work on the matter.

The statement, however, adds that the decision to cancel the bid is in no case an act of questioning Rupantaran Nepal’s professionalism or integrity.

Besides the SDC that holds the secretariat for the MSFP, the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and the government of Finland are contributing a combined 63 percent of the project’s total budget while the Nepal government is funding the rest. The programme, endorsed by the National Planning Commission, aims to contribute to inclusive economic growth, poverty reduction and to tackle climate change through good governance of the forestry sector. The project is expected to benefit around 1.7 million poor and disadvantaged people.

Various groups, including foresters, civil society and a consortium of non-government organisations, had objected after the steering committee announced to accept Rupantaran Nepal’s bid to implement forestry activities of the project on March 15.

One of the serious accusations made by the bodies was that Rupantaran Nepal is an NGO formed by the donors to execute their programmes. Devesh Mani Tripathi, former president of the Nepal Foresters’ Association, had called the programme “a result of a pre-planned design that came without holding consultations with partners concerned, including the civil society”. One of the major concerns from the opposing parties against the donors’ decision was that “the programme lacked transparency during the preparatory phase in terms of institutional role and funding modality, including representation at the multi-stakeholder steering committee”.“Though the programme document clearly suggested that the steering committee would be comprised of representatives from all concerned parties including the civil society, it did not comply with it,” says Netra Timilsina, chairperson of the NGO Federation of Nepal. The five-member steering committee had failed to represent the civil society.

Rupantaran Nepal, which was set up in 2009 by a group of development professionals from then Livelihood Forest Programme and the Swiss Community Forestry Project, has been involved in implementing various programmes on improving livelihoods with funds from the SDC and the DFID.

The representatives of the donors, after being questioned over their decision to award the tender, had stated that the selection of Rupantaran as an implementing agency for the transition phase was in line with international standards and that any formal complaint received as part of the SDC’s procurement procedure would be investigated properly.

Friday’s statement further said that the ad-hoc steering committee has decided to invite relevant civil society groups active in the forestry sector to participate in a full-fledged steering committee as per the programme document.