Your 'Quote of the week' (#249) from one of my CIDA colleagues may be misinterpreted as criticism of the action taken by donors to suspend development activities in Kalikot. Nothing could be further from the truth. As a donor to WFP Rural Reconstruction Infrastructure Works Program and as a signatory to the Basic Operating Guidelines (BOGs), CIDA fully endorses the careful and appropriate course of action taken by GTZ, WFP and DfID in Kalikot. As the BOGs clearly state, we do not accept our staff and development partners being subjected to violence, abduction, harassment, intimidation or being threatened in any manner. An attack against one development worker is an attack against all. I sincerely hope that the government of Nepal and the insurgents will publicly commit themselves to respect the BOGs and, despite the violent conflict, allow development workers and resources to reach their intended beneficiaries without diversion for any other purpose and without intimidation. If faced with grave BOGs violations comparable with those committed in Kalikot, CIDA would adopt a very similar course of action for any project that we support in Nepal.

Jean-Marc Mangin,
CIDA Representative to Nepal