This Almanac contains articles from senior politicians across the major political parties, academics, journalists, human rights defenders and lawyers who have been engaged in public and academic debates and in policy making in the area of security sector reform. The book seeks to contribute to the security sector reform process by offering open source information, data and analysis on all related areas like the military, police, intelligence and the overall role of government. It offers perspectives not only from major political parties but also from the media, human rights and constitutional/legal areas and will thus serve as an important reference data bank for future discussions on the democratic transformation of Nepal’s security sector.

The book is a joint project of DCAF and NPC (The National Peace Campaign). In May 2009, Denmark, Norway, Switzerland and the UK proposed to DCAF and NPC as its local partner, to embark on a comprehensive capacity building programme on behalf of the Constituent Assembly and the Parliament of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal. The programme supports the peace process and facilitates a comprehensive parliamentary role in oversight issues, and stakeholder engagement with the security sector of Nepal. The programme seeks to empower parliament and civil society on security sector governance issues in a structured, locally owned process sensitive to Nepali values and customs.

The Almanac studies the structure and orientation of the security sector in Nepal. It aims at contributing towards transparency in the security sector, and greater civilian involvement in the analysis and documentation of security sector institutions and processes.