I was pleased to read Ashutosh Tiwari's Strictly Business column ('Dealing with disputes', #302) on the importance of alternative dispute resolution in Nepal. The formal judiciary is inaccessible to most Nepalis. While communities traditionally have relied on informal dispute resolution practices, those have broken down in recent years as society has changed.

For the past six years, a handful of local and international organisations have promoted community mediation as a means to fill this gap. The Asia Foundation and its partners have trained more than 2,800 mediators who currently provide community mediation services in coordination with local government offices in
13 districts. More than 7,000 cases have been registered since 2004, ranging from land disputes to household quarrels. Eighty-seven percent of these cases have been resolved amicably.

Although Tiwari proposes arbitration, the process of facilitated mediation is more appropriate for community disputes. In arbitration, judgements are imposed like in a court. This can lead to flawed and unfair decisions if arbitrators do not have adequate legal knowledge or are biased. A mediator, on the other hand, helps the parties to reach their own agreement. No decision is imposed. The process is conciliatory rather than adversarial and results in longer lasting settlements.

While mediation services are filling an important need in the communities where they operate, sustaining them is a challenge. The Local Self-Governance Act (1999) provides for dispute resolution by VDCs and municipalities but the government program has not yet been implemented. As Nepal now moves towards peace, it is critical to institutionalise and expand mediation services, especially as a means for reconciliation in communities recovering from the conflict.

Nick Langton,
Country Representative
The Asia Foundatio