Ms Shrishti Rana Joins DIPD as Coordinator for Nepal

DIPD Director Bjørn Førde welcomes Ms Shrishti Rana as the new Programme Coordinator for Nepal: “With her proven track record of designing and managing political party strengthening programmes, alongside training of political party leaders and parliamentarians, she will play a key role in implementing the DIPD programme in Nepal.”

Ms Shrishti Rana, a Chevening Scholar, graduated from the University of Bradford with a MA in Peace Studies in 2010-11, following a MA in Politics in 2005 from Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi. She has experience of research and policy development on political party development issues and has written for several national and international publications.

Since finalizing her first MA in 2005, she has worked for organisations like NDI, International IDEA, IFES and Danida. This has provided her with valuable experience in facilitating workshops for leaders of political parties on a diverse range of topics like: electoral system design and political party registration law; increasing representation for women, dalit and indigenous community; parliamentary culture for women parliamentarians; the discourse on federalism; messaging and communication for political party leaders; leadership development and capacity building for local level political leaders.

Ms Shrishti Rana has been involved in the preparations for the DIPD programme in Nepal and will now be instrumental in the implementation phase.

DIPD Director Bjørn Førde states: “I have had the pleasure of working with Ms Rana during my missions to Nepal, and I have been impressed with her intimate knowledge of and contacts with the leaderships of the political parties in the country. I am convinced that she will be able to provide our capacity development support for the major parties at the local level with the necessary direction and leadership.”

In the second part of February, Ms Shrishti Rana will visit Denmark for an introduction to DIPD and the Danish political parties, in particular the work of the parties at the local leel of municipality chapters.

Following a decade of war and violence, the signing of the peace agreement in 2008 and elections for a Constituent Assembly with the task of writing a new Constitution for Nepal has slowly offered the citizens of the country in the Himalayas the hope of a peaceful and democratic future. DIPD intends to contribute to this in a small way by offering capacity support for how political parties can operate and cooperate in a democratic manner at the local district level.