Nepal has overgone through different phases of political history and most of them had the aim of either having democracy or restoring it. These historical events were regime change of 1950 in which the autocratic Rana regime was replaced by multiparty democracy in the leadership of Nepali Congress however, it could not last very long as the king seized the power in 1959 with the imposition of autocratic Panchayat regime. Again after thirty years in 1990 another democratic movement in the leadership of the Nepali Congress, multiparty democracy was reinstated. In 2005 King dismissed the democratically elected government and took over the power and again in 2006 second people's movement took place and Nepal was declared a democratic republic which was overthrown by 250 years of the royal dynasty. All these political events clearly indicate that Nepali people do not accept any form of dictatorship which deprived the people of periodic elections, freedom of expression, and association along with basic human rights. Democracy has become the norm of people's life. Democracy will not be strong unless people participate in its process with full enthusiasm and accountability. These aspects are expressed through citizens' duty of voting to their favorite party and candidates, holding their representatives accountable, and compelling the state mechanisms to make the process that affects their lives transparent and responsive.

Since 1990 Nepal has been practicing multiparty democracy with occasional ups and downs, however, it is in place and people have fully owned it. Despite democracy and its processes having become norms of people's lives, it is still felt that most of the marginalized and excluded people have not been able to reap the benefits and in many cases, they are not included in the democratic processes. In order to strengthen the democracy further with the aim of mainstreaming it in the lives of most marginalized and excluded poor people Nepal Voter Rights Forum (NFRV) was established by involving all the representatives from the excluded communities. They include representation from the most marginalized community the Dalits, differently able population, indigenous peoples, women, religious minority, Madhesi, LGBTI, and Brahmin.

NVRF since its establishment in 2017 has been actively engaged in strengthening democracy and its culture among those marginalized people with its own initiatives and with the support of various national and international partners. Its activities were focused on election education, governance, democratic accountability, participatory electoral process, political finance, capacity development, awareness-raising, research, and publications, fostering dialogues and interactions. All the purposes of such activities were to strengthen and institutionalize democracy, democratic culture, and values.

Nepal has been restructured into three tiers of government, federal, provincial, and local and there are 781 governments functioning with their different roles and responsibilities which was enshrined in the constitution 2015. It has been almost five years since the election to all levels of government took place in 2017-2018. The year 2022 is going to be the year of election as the election will take place for all three tiers of government. This means it will be one of the busiest years for NVRF as it has to aim all its activities in promoting its values and culture and strengthening democracy.

Since the year 2022 will be the year of election it can be divided into two parts, pre-election, and post-election phases. In both two phases, NVRF sees its role and responsibility to inform and educate people belonging to marginalized groups so that they can vote properly and elect the right candidate for their respective constituencies. In this regard, NVRF has already started its activities with the support of different international partners/donors and would like to fully mobilize its available resources and capabilities so that it can withstand its values and culture of strengthening democracy.

In this regard, I  would like to draw the attention of all its national and international partners/supporters to join their hands. Likewise, I would like to request all my colleagues and friends to join hands so that we can live in a fully democratic and prosperous Nepal by ensuring social justice to all the marginalized and excluded people.

In solidarity

Bhakta Bishwakarma