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Barbara Kellerman, a lecturer in Public Leadership at the Har­vard Kennedy School and a famous author, recently called for a new approach to leadership studies and practices in an industry worth billions of dollars. Kellerman advocates a scientific approach and in a recent webinar for the International Leadership Association, she decries the fact that “leadership is not treated as a profession or even a vocation but merely as an occupation, taught quickly and casually”.

The industry is also expanding in emerging countries like Nepal with more leadership practitioners and an increasing number of training programs. Recently, Rice University in the US partnered with Leadership Academy Nepal to provide an execu­tive leadership training for CEOs and other senior executives.

But it is also important to think of leadership from a different perspec­tive, as a tool to develop the poten­tial of those at the bottom of society.

In Nepal, there is a small minority of students with access to elite schools who come from financially secure backgrounds, speak good English and have dreams to attend top colleges around the world.

Then there is a vast majority of youths attending public or mediocre private colleges. Among them, there are a few who are always on the lookout for opportunities for self-de­velopment. They should be praised for their effort and willpower to keep exploring. Yet most students in this category are not motivated to face challenges. Nor are they driven by a positive ambition.

And then there is another big cat­egory of youths who do not even think about going to college but rather about finding a precarious job in transport or other ill-regulated sectors. If you live in a constant state of vulnerability, for example, if you belong to a historically marginalized group, if you are a poor woman in a patriarchal society or if you live with disabilities, simply getting by every day could be a challenge. While there are exceptions, the vast major­ity of vulnerable youths are stuck, with constant pressure and fading hope for a better future. There are no easy solutions to turn the tide.

The state, with its three tiers of government, has a duty to offer better options to these youths. The private sector can also do its part by rolling out employability skills. Marginalized youths can defy odds through sheer resilience, strength­ened by their daily struggles. But we might need a different, more purpose-driven leadership, one that inspires, supports and builds the confidence of vulnerable youths.

The case of Dan Theengh, a Jawalakhel-based wheelchair basket­ball champion, is an apt example. If provided with the right tools, youths like Dan can thrive and become role models for others.

Finding a purpose in life is not easy; it might take years of hard work. It also requires consistent sup­port and a set of leadership practices that focus on the strengths rather than the weakness of youths. Lead­ership practices need to be more rig­orous and academically grounded. They should also be supportive of youths who are left behind. These youths can find exciting interests, and they can develop new skills and achieve amazing goals. More youths like Dan are needed for the develop­ment of the country.

A recalibrated mission of lead­ership practices and studies can make a difference. It can be a launch pad for higher social mobility for those youths who are otherwise con­demned to remain at the bottom.

Simone Galimberti is the Co-Founder of ENGAGE, an NGO partnering with youths living with disabilities

[email protected]

 A culture of volunteerism is one of the greatest intangible assets of Nepal. Till now the National Development Volunteering Service (NDVS), a successor of a pan­chayat-era scheme that sent grad­uate students for community work in rural areas, has been successfully offering opportunities to local youth to develop their volunteering skills. Thousands of skilled youth have been engaged in the NDVS, with a strong sense of mission and humble but effective leadership. With the country’s restructuring as a federal state, the modus ope­randi of the NDVS, a program here­tofore run by the National Planning Commission, a strategy and policy making body rather than an imple­menting one, had to change. While many details are still unknown, the NDVS has stopped operating and possibly the Ministry of Youth and Sports is taking over its work.

Even more realistically, the scope, mission and activities of the NDVS will be integrated into the National Youth Council, an autonomous apex body within the ministry in charge of implementing actions and poli­cies supporting self-empowerment of local youth.

With this development, we have an incredible opportunity to bring volunteerism to the mainstream. Yet we need to make sure that the concept of the NDVS, the idea of mobilizing skilled youth for local development, remains not only alive but also gets up-scaled.

We need to think from the per­spective of the federal system, and how each state can promote and facilitate community-led social actions. The new government units, at all levels, can play an important role in engaging youth and other members of the community for social and economic development.

The fact that a central level minis­try is now taking full responsibility for spreading and supporting volun­teering is something positive.

My preferred option would have been to turn the NDVS into a fully autonomous agency as volunteer­ism is something that can be prac­ticed by everybody regardless of age. There are several examples from around the world, including from fully federal states like the US and Australia, where a central body promoting volunteerism cooperates and co-lives with state-based agen­cies in charge of rolling out volun­teering programs in collaboration with the civil society.

Perhaps it is still premature to talk of such a big change in Nepal. We have to make the best of the opportunities arising from having the ministry take charge of volun­teerism. The National Youth Coun­cil, if properly supported by the ministry, could roll out different volunteering schemes that could be co-developed and embraced by state and other government units.

General outlines could be enriched by taking into account local needs, or local government units can be supported technically in devising their own schemes that are backstopped or financially sup­ported by the center.

One such program could be a revi­talization of the activities that until recently were undertaken by the NDVS and which offered a platform of self-development for recently graduated students. Perhaps a prob­lem with the NDVS was a lack of visibility as too many youth were still unaware of the opportunities it offered.

Now with the ministry and the National Youth Council fully in charge, there is greater scope to market and promote volunteerism, a rich and diverse phenomenon that includes both formal and informal ways of helping others or a cause.

It can be carried out through local or international NGOs or even by bilateral partners through their skilled overseas volunteers (think of KOICA, JICA, PEACE CORPS and Australian Aid Volunteers). But also, and this is really important and often neglected, through small, informal initiatives where a mother group, a parent-student associa­tion or a youth club carry out social actions based on local needs.

Recently the Ministry of Youth and Sport in collaboration with United Nation Volunteers called a meeting with all the key volunteering pro­moting agencies in the country. The goal was to understand the contri­bution of volunteerism for the real­ization of the country’s Sustainable Development Goals, assess the num­ber of volunteers engaged at local levels, and measure their impact as well as their working modality.

When all the information is put together, the ministry will roll out a ‘National Situational Analysis’ that will used as a baseline feeding into a 2019 high-level political forum called ‘Empowering People and Ensuring Inclusiveness and Equal­ity’. This will be held regionally in the Asia-Pacific but also globally at the UN Headquarter in New York.

For long, there have been discus­sions about a national network of all agencies, national and international, involved in volunteerism. But it was not possible to run such a network on continuous basis and inclusively.

Perhaps the organizations involved in the situational analysis of volunteerism in Nepal could be the constituent members of such a network under the leadership of the National Youth Council or the Ministry of Youth and Sports.

Doors should also be open for organizations mobilizing volunteers who are in different age brackets, as volunteerism should be inclusive of all, especially those who have few opportunities for self-development or those who have retired but still want to contribute. Hopefully the National Situation Analysis can be used as a launch-pad for discussions leading to a national volunteering strategy. Incorporating and using the institutional memory and exper­tise of what remains of the NDVS would facilitate the process.

The author is a co-founder of ENGAGE, an NGO partnering with youths living with disabilities

With the upcoming Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIM­STEC) Summit in Kathmandu on August 30 and 31, regional coopera­tion will once again be at the center of our national discussion. Yet BIM­STEC, chiefly an economic initiative that links South Asia with South East Asia, is certainly not a forum that has so far brought any substantive gain to any of its members. In con­trast, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is a much stronger institution with a clear vision for the region, at least on paper. Perhaps the new government will inject new energy in promotion of regional integration both with nearby countries as well as those in South East Asia, some of which are far more advanced than Nepal. What is missing right now is the political will to make it happen. But let us talk about SAARC here.

It is true that Indian Prime Minis­ter Narendra Modi at the start of his tenure tried to promote a new vision for South Asia. But the momen­tum was soon lost mainly due to the long-standing bilateral disputes between India and Pakistan. It is to be hoped that the soon-to-be-formed government of Imran Khan in Pakistan will help relaunch the stalled SAARC project.

Besides the obvious step of improving relations between India and Pakistan, two more things are essential if SAARC is to achieve its goal of shared prosperity and development in South Asia: capable leadership of SAARC Secre­tariat and grassroots ownership of regional integration.

By leadership, I am not only refer­ring to determination of national leaders to promote integration. Obviously if the heads of govern­ment of Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives make a concerted effort to reenergize the organiza­tion, perhaps Pakistan and India would have no option but to come on board. But the missing element at leadership level that I am talking about is the fact that SAARC has been run by career diplomats rather than current or former national leaders from the region. This bureaucra­cy-led leadership has many limita­tions irrespective of the goodwill, integrity and competences of the secretary generals in charge of day to day operations.

Imagine the unfolding dynamics if an unequivocally acclaimed pol­itician like Manmohan Singh with his impeccable integrity and proven track record of delivery were to assume leadership of SAARC Secre­tariat. One of secrets of the relative success of the European integration process is that the president of the European Commission, the power­ful executive body of the European Union, has always been a prominent politician of a member country; since 1995 all the presidents of the European Commission have been former prime ministers.

Having a former Head of State or Head of Executive as SAARC head would allow for more frequent inter­actions among regional leaders. Formal diplomatic channels, which are now bogging down SAARC, would be replaced by stronger per­sonal interactions, even of informal nature, among key stakeholders.

I remember a former diplomat of a European Union member country saying that when the prime minister of Italy wants to talk to the German Chancellor, he simply picks up the phone and connects directly with Berlin, without going through any of the formal diplomatic channels. The same could happen at South Asian level.

Having a prominent political leader at the helm of SAARC could inject a new dynamic in the process of regional integration: even more frequent phone calls among lead­ers under the auspices of a strong SAARC Secretary General would make a huge difference.

In relation to the second enabler, grassroots participation, I would focus on the role South Asian youths can play. We need stronger interactions among local youths and the SAARC Secretariat not only to promote short-term exchange programs but also longer-term cross boundaries interactions.

From a regional exchange pro­gram at undergraduate and grad­uate levels modeled around the famous Erasmus program being implemented by the European Union, to volunteering experiences in different countries of the region, there are many ways to involve and engage local youth. This way youths from member states will gain unique life exposures and understanding of the commonalities among South Asian citizens that are all too easily overlooked or forgotten.

The participating youths would turn themselves into ambassadors of a new South Asia, creating a new interest in the project of regional cooperation while also contributing to its strengthening. I guess only a strong political leadership at the SAARC Secretariat could envision and deliver on such symbolic and yet powerful initiatives.

More delicate issues that have stalled the process of regional inte­gration could be set aside and pave the way for novel ideas on develop­ing future generations. It is high time leaders of South Asia brainstormed about their common future and sketched out a new vision to be implemented with small, incremen­tal “win-win”. Giving the youth of the region a chance would be a great start.

The author is the Co-Founder of ENGAGE, an NGO partnering with youths living with disabilities sim­[email protected]

Disability is back on the global development agenda. Hope­fully, rights of people with disabilities will now enter national development plans of developing and emerging countries. This hope stems from a major ini­tiative being undertaken by the Brit­ish Government through its over­seas aid agency, the Government of Kenya and the International Dis­ability Alliance. Disability activists around the world are set to gather in London on July 24 for the Global Disability Summit.

Disability has unfortunately never been the main focus in the overall developmental agenda. Even though experts acknowledge it as import­ant, it has always been considered an “add on”, secondary or in worst cases, not given any attention.

The Summit, with a Civil Society Forum taking place a day earlier, is an opportunity to reset the global development agenda, so that rights of people with disabilities are given priority in the sustainable develop­ment agenda. It will be cohosted by an interesting triad: a govern­ment development agency from the North, a government of the South representing an emerging region like eastern Africa and the global alliance of networks and agencies focused on disabilities.

Nepal will be represented by the Minister for Women, Children & Social Welfare and a group of select activists. They were instrumental last year in ensuring the enactment of the new Disability Rights Act, a groundbreaking document that aligns the country to the Interna­tional Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities and makes Nepal a progressive nation on social inclusion, at least on paper.

In preparation of the global sum­mit, a stakeholder summit was recently organized in Kathmandu. Dozens of activists showcased their achievements and shared their sto­ries. Rarely has such an event been organized in Nepal where social inclusion and disability activists meet. As Shudarson Subedi, the President of the National Federation of Disabled Nepal, highlighted in his opening speech, disability agenda is rarely linked to overall national development agenda. There are pos­itive changes in terms of social inclu­sion in Nepal but disability issues are still neglected. Mainstreaming complex issues like social inclusion of marginalized groups, including people with disabilities, is hard.

Independent, full-fledged pro­grams focusing on disability rights are rare. Even though explanation of such misery is found in the “main­streaming” principle, it is hard to justify it from a practical point of view especially if nothing else hap­pens for the cause.

The national event in Nepal made it clear that there is an incredible group of activists and experts, with tremendous passion and determination working to bring positive changes.

Other positive things are happen­ing too. The Ministry of Education with the support of external devel­opment partners are working on a more inclusive education system. This long term plan, if implemented properly, will allow children with disabilities in integrated schools.

However, more effort is required to make Nepal an inclusive and open society for the disabled. Resources are required to scale up and bold partnerships called for to pro­mote best practices and innovative approaches. Organizations working for the cause of disability must be able to work together, sharing prac­tices and promoting joint initiatives.

Thematic clusters on single issues related to disability and social inclu­sion could be rolled together to create more synergies and achieve scale. It should also promote sus­tainable initiatives to break the usual dependency trap.

If businesses and citizens consider improving lives of the disabled as a personal responsibility, it would play a crucial role in making Nepal a better place for all. External devel­opment partners could play an important role in supporting such an eco-system, rewarding actors who bring tangible results.

The state at all levels have the duty to act and promote the imple­mentation of the new Act, starting with a massive capacity building of local bodies. Elected officers must be considerate of people with dis­abilities and other disadvantaged groups. They must be responsive and accountable to them, as they constitute a considerable voting bloc. Helping the disabled should always be a part of the broader agenda of developing Nepal, where marginalized and vulnerable groups also have a role to play.

Hopefully the Global Disability Summit will help create momentum both internationally and locally.

The author is co-founder of ENGAGE, an NGO partnering with youths living with disabilities.

[email protected]