Indigenous Peoples’ Experiences of Autonomy and Self-Determination in Nepal

The purpose of this study is to investigate the experiences Indigenous Peoples in Nepal have of asserting autonomy, and their struggle to ensure their right to self-determination. This report includes a specific focus on the work of LAHURNIP, which offers support to Indigenous Peoples in their struggle to achieve autonomy and self-determination.

Indigenous Peoples’ right to self-determination, autonomy and self-government is recognized in international law in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). The instruments to achieve this, such as Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC), and participation in decision-making, are both set out in this declaration, and in ILO Convention 169 on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and Tribal Populations. Indigenous Peoples’ right to self-determination involves their right to govern themselves, their ancestral land and territories, as well as the resources within them, their right to cultural integrity, to pursue their own development and, at the same time, the right to be part of decision-making in the country in which they live.

Nepal is party to ILO Convention 169 and voted for the UNDRIP but, according to the Indigenous Peoples’ movement, their implementation is lacking. Nepal was federalized through the 2015 Constitution. Although most of the Indigenous Peoples’ input to the Constitution and their visions for the federal structure were ignored in the end, there are some small opportunities in national legislation that can be used by Indigenous Peoples to take further steps towards realizing, to some extent, their right to autonomy. The delegation of power to local governments, in particular, offers space for Indigenous Peoples to advance in their work of seeing their rights fulfilled. Some Indigenous communities have already been able to obtain levels of autonomy in certain areas through local governments.

The report’s first section establishes the meaning of self-determination, autonomy, and customary self-governing systems. The second describes the Indigenous Peoples in Nepal, followed by an analysis of the opportunities for autonomy within the legislation, including the work done by LAHURNIP to this end. The last two sections of the report offer two case studies from Indigenous communities in Nepal that have achieved some degree of autonomy by using the legislation. Lastly, final reflections and recommendations from the experiences of the communities and the work of LAHURNIP are presented.