NRNA TERMS OF REFERENCE OF THE NRN TASK FORCE ON DUAL CITIZENSHIP

मिती | March 28, 2010 | Posted By | पहिलो प्रतिकृया दिनुस् | 438 पटक पढेको

I. BACKGROUND

For many years now Non-Resident Nepalis have been waging a campaign for dual citizenship rights and privileges. Accordingly, one of the founding goals of Non-Resident Nepali Association (NRNA) has been to secure dual citizenship (DC) rights for all NRNs and Foreign Nationals of Nepali Origin (FNNOs). To coordinate NRNA’s activities aimed at achieving the important DC goal, the International Coordination Council (ICC) of NRNA appointed a Task Force on Dual Citizenship (TFDC) in 2005 under the leadership of Mr Ram Pratap Thapa (Germany). This first TFDC completed its term in October 2009. Although substantial progress has been made toward attaining the goal, starting from zero to where are today, much remains to be done; and we have arrived at a crucial phase. In view of this, subsequent to the Fourth NRN Global Conference in Kathmandu in October 2009, the ICC, at its Meeting No. 21, held 12 & 20 December 2009, adopted a decision to again appoint a TFDC, with Mr. Ram Pratap Thapa as the Chair, to build on the achievements made so far and carry on the task of coordinating and guiding NRNA’s efforts and activities toward the important DC goal. The term of this TFDC will end in October 2011.

II. OBJECTIVE

The TFDC’s overall objective includes:

1. Prepare NRNA’s Position Paper on Dual Citizenship for adoption by ICC and

2. Coordinate, facilitate, encourage, initiate, or strategize NRNA’s lobbying and advocacy efforts in support of NRNA’s pursuit of the DC goal, consistent with the framework outlined in the adopted Position Paper of NRNA on Dual Citizenship.

3. The objective of TFDC’s activities in support of the lobbying and advocacy efforts will be (a) inclusion of provision in the new constitution that NRNs who have taken foreign citizenship would be allowed to keep Nepali citizenship and (b) amendments to the prevalent laws of Nepal (such as the Nepal Citizenship Act, the NRN-related Act) to remove gender-based discrimination and include explicit provision for dual citizenship rights and privileges for NRNs their spouse, children and grandchildren.

TFDC’s operational principle is that NRNs’ DC goal cannot be achieved without organized, coordinated lobbying and advocacy efforts on a massive scale – with full and active support and participation of all NRNs, their NCCs and all NRNA officers and members. In other words, many, many voices but one single message.

III. ACTIVITIES

Toward achieving its objective, the TCDF will undertake the following specific activities.

a) Finalize the TFDC’s Terms of Reference (TOR).

b) Draft NRNA’s Position Paper for adoption by NRNA with inputs from NCCs, NRNA executives officers, advisors, experts and other interested NRNs.

c) Collect/compile, and make available, basic information regarding DC mainly from NCCs.

d) Set up a Website dedicated and limited to supporting the work of TFDC. The Website will not have any relationship, formal or informal, with NRNA. It will not be financed or sponsored by NRNA. The Website will be strictly informational and publicly accessible. Links will be exchanged with Websites of NRNA, NCCs and other relevant organizations.

e) TFDC Website’s specific purpose is to:

(i) serve as a Clearing House of information regarding TCDF’s work, NRNA’s DC-related goal, various NCCs’ efforts and activities as regards DC goal;

(ii) serve as an Interaction Forum for exchange of opinions and information as regards our DC goal and efforts in that regard;

(iii) provide information about TFDC’s ongoing activities, relevant events, interactions, conferences and so forth in Nepal and elsewhere;

(iv) provide relevant DC-related articles, papers, reports, and links and or directions to such information; and

(v) serve as a source of public-service announcements relevant to DC issues or humanitarian interests.

f) TFDC anticipates, with ICC’s support and cooperation, that each and every NCC will participate in the lobbying and advocacy efforts, in coordination and cooperation with TFDC, by

(i) setting up a special DC Team of its own and furnishing the team leader’s name to TFDC;

(ii) meeting with and lobbying 10-15 Constituent Assembly Members (per NCC), face-to-face, in Kathmandu, Nepal, at an early date, between now and May 20 or so (see (h) below in this section for help with meeting facility); the ists of the Constituent Assembley members and the various committees are available at http://www.can.gov.np/en

(iii) getting their members to mobilize their family and friends as well as various elected officials back in Nepal in support of dual citizenship for NRNs;

(iv) organizing interaction programs, panel discussions, if it’s practical; and

(v) getting as many NCC members as possible to write and publish articles, notes and so forth advocating dual citizenship for NRNs.

g) TFDC encourages all possible interactions and meetings with Constituent Assembly members by NCC DC Teams. TFDC also encourages the DC Teams and all those NRNs who are visiting Nepal take part in the lobbying and advocacy in support of DC–by participating in interviews, discussions, meetings involving government ministers, Constituent Assembly members, political leaders, civil society leaders, legal and constitutional experts, media and business/industry leaders.

h) We are stakeholders in the constitutional process in Nepal, so TFDC and our DC Teams have access to the meeting facilities at the Centre for Constitutional Dialogue (CCD) in Kathmandu as long as there is no scheduling conflict. In this regard, the Teams should contact Mr. Budhi Karki, Senior Legal Offcier at the CCD, and request his assistance with scheduling/booking the facility, giving as much advance notice as possible. CCD’s Website is http://www.ccd.org.np/new/ and phone number is 478.5466. DC Teams are welcome to hold their meetings at alternative sites.

i) TFDC expects that NCCs’ DC Teams will pick the Constituent Assembly members they intend to contact and lobby. The Teams are encouraged to contact the CA members as soon as possible and initiate lobbying by setting up a meeting. The Constituent Assembley members’ roster (list) is available at http://www.can.gov.np/en

j) TFDC will provide the NCC DC Teams or individuals with a tip sheet with some tested and tried lobbying tips that could be adapted for our purposes.

k) Encourage and publicize presentations and panel discussions on DC at relevant conferences in Nepal and elsewhere.

l) Periodically review the activities planned and undertaken and make necessary adjustments for efficiency and effectiveness.

m) Prepare and submit a TFDC Report at the end of the term with inputs from all members from TFDC and its Advisory Panel, members and officers of ICC and NCC presidents, members and NCC DC Teams’ leaders

n) Organize a TFDC panel discussion at the 2011 NRN Global Conference to present the TFDC Report and discuss DC issues.

IV. COMPOSITION

TFDC is comprised of the following individuals (Annex with their profiles will be e-mailed separately):

Mr. Ram Pratap Thapa (Germany) – Chair
Capt. (Ret.) Hit Man Gurung (UK) – Vice Chair
Mr. Bhawan Bhatta (Japan) – Member
Ms. Kiran Kumari Bhattarai (Canada) – Member
Dr. Jugal Bhurtel (Russia/Nepal) – Member
Dr. Dev Kazi Dangol (Qatar) – Member
Dr. Sharmila Gurung (Hong Kong) – Member
Mr. Bhim B. Karki (USA) – Member
Mr. Deepak Khadka (Australia) – Member
Mr. Ram Babu Nepal (The Netherlands) – Member
Ms. Kabita Nirola (The Netherlands) – Member

TFDC has appointed the following individuals to its Advisory Panel to advise it on an as needed pro bono basis:

Dr. Kul Chandra Gautam (USA/Nepal)
Mr. Dev Man Hirachan (Japan)
Mr. Naresh Koirala (Canada)
Dr. Upendra Mahato (Russia)
Bishwa Kanta Mainali, Esq (Nepal)
Ms. Kalpana Ghimire Nourisson (France)
Professor Surya Subedi (UK)

V. MEETINGS AND CONSULTATIONS

Given the fact that TFDC team members reside in many different time zones of the world, the Task Force will hold its meetings and consultations in cyber space – via e-mails, messaging services and telephone. Meetings will be held periodically while communication and consultations will take place on an ongoing basis.

VI. TIMELINE

TCDF envisions the following timeline at this time and make the most of the time available for achieveing our objective. TFDC will remain alert and maintain a relatively high degree of flexibility in order to be in sync with the events, developments and unpredictable changes in circumstances in Nepal. Our timeline and activity focus will thus be fine-tuned as necessary for effectiveness.

10 January 2010: Announce the composition of the Task Force and its Advisory Panel

25 January – 15 March 2010: Hold consultations with ICC members, NCC presidents, knowledgeable NRNs and collect/compile relevant information, views, suggestions, recommendations collected;

draft TFDC’s Terms of Reference; draft NRNA’s Position Paper on Dual Citizenship with inputs from TFDC members and advisors, ICC and NCC members, knowledgeable and interested NRNs and receive reviewers’ comments

16 – 18 March 2010: Submit TFDC’s Terms of Reference and the Final Draft of the NRNA Position Paper on DC to NRNA’s ICC for adoption

22 – 31 March 2010: Receive formal comments and consent on the Position Paper

1-5 April 2010: Finalize, and officially circulate, the Position Paper

1 April – 28 May 2010: Focus on intensive and massive-scale advocacy ad lobbying of Constituent Assembly members, government ministers and political leaders by DC Teams from every NCC as well as officers and members of ICC and the Council of Patrons for inclusion of DC provision in the new constitution and for removal of any clauses likely to hurt the interest of NRNs; include business and industry leaders in the intensive lobbying and advocacy efforts; interviews and discussions in mass media (TV, radio, online); assume that the Constituent Assembly will meet the constitution-drafting deadline of May 28

1 June – 15 December 2010: Continue lobbying the Constituent Assembly members, government ministers, political leaders and the media, with the specific message and immediate focus to be decided on the basis of whether the Constituent Assembly was able to meet its mandated May 28 deadline or whether it received a six-month extension; carry on intensive advocacy work in tune with how the situation evolves in Nepal

15 January – 30 April 2011: Intensive lobbying and advocacy for amendments to the prevalent laws and rules – the Citizenship Act, the NRN-related Act and the NRN-related Niyamawali – for removal of provisions such as automatic loss of citizenship, gender-based discrimination and inclusion of dual citizenship goals as per the Position Paper; encourage or facilitate publication of news reports, papers, interviews highlighting the outcomes of all DC-related efforts and activities

1 May – 30 June 2011: Carry on lobbying and advocacy efforts for dual citizenship rights and privileges and related issues; at the same time, draft TFDC Report based on Task Force members’ and Advisory Panel members’ experiences and observations and inputs from NCC DC Teams, NCC presidents and members, ICC officers and members, NRNs involved in the lobbying and advocacy campaign

1 July – 30 August 2011: Circulate the draft TFDC Report for review and comments; incorporate received comments and suggestions into the report and submit the same to the NRNA ICC

October 2011: Organize TFDC panel discussion at the NRN Global Conference and present TFDC Report; TFDC’s term expires at the NRN Global Conference .

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