Social protection and socioeconomic security in Nepal

Nepal, with a population of 27.6 million people, is a ‘least developed country’ in many ways. The country is characterised by significant socioeconomic insecurity, comprising structurallygenerated income poverty, a politically and socially fragile post-conflict situation, threats to the environment, and deeply entrenched forms of social exclusion. At the same time, it is a country characterised by interesting socio-political policy innovations, triggered by the end of a ten-year violent conflict. Building on a discussion of the country’s challenges, the paper explores the policy responses in the domain of social protection devised by the interim government to address the various dimensions of insecurity, and to show their novelty as well as their limitations. The final section offers some ideas on policy areas which would be needed to improve socioeconomic security. Keywords: socioeconomic security; social protection; social policy; poverty; social exclusion; Nepal