MDGs in Nepal: Interview with Robin Sitoula
By Gabrielle Charbonneau, intern with 8 Goals
This year for international development week (February 4th to 9th), the 8 Goals Campaign organized a speaker tour. This tour was designed to allow Canadian students to discover the MDGs, and the role that they may have in the fulfillment of these goals. Mr. Robin Sitoula, an activist from Nepal, visited many universities in Québec and in Ontario. He talked about the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the situation in Nepal in terms of development. Mr. Sitoula also shared his passion for youth and Nepal.
How can Canadian students help Nepal to achieve the MDGs? This was the main question addressed by Mr. Sitoula in his various talks.
Who is Robin Sitoula?
Mr. Sitoula is a 30-years-old Nepalese activist. Seven years ago, he co-founded the organization Youth Initiative. When he was younger, he participated in many youth congresses, where he met a lot of young people from all over the world. “I listened to the solutions that people proposed for their respective countries. In Nepal, everybody was complaining but there was no action. I wanted to do something different.” Youth Initiative was born from this desire. At 21 years old, Mr. Sitoula and other university students began to organize activities for young people, which eventually led to the official creation of Youth Initiative in 1999. Since then, Robin Sitoula has been very active with youth in Nepal. Some years ago, Sitoula’s friends were promoting the MDGS, and that is how he discovered the goals.
Youth Initiative is an organization that works with young people to promote participation in political processes. Its main activities focus on youth education and training, and take the form of discussions, seminars and other trainings. “We want to train future politicians and we want to sensitize them to peace, democracy and environment.” How did Youth Initiative, which began as a student project, come to grow that much? “I grew up with Youth initiative and Youth initiative grew up with me. In school, we learned, we tried, we took action and learned again. That is how Youth Initiative grew up and still continues to grow.” Today, the organization works with 23 organisations and approximately 100 volunteers. For Mr. Sitoula, youth is the solution because they are the future politicians and they represent a significant part of Nepal’s population (43% of the population has less than 15 years old).
Nepal and the MDGs
Nepal is one of the 10 poorest countries in the world. 8 millions people live under the poverty level. In addition, a crisis affected Nepal for more than ten years. In 1996, Mr. Sitoula explained, Maoists fighters initiated an insurrection against the monarchy. They wanted the royalty to pay attention to traditional parties. After that, the political situation remained very fragile. A few years after, prince Dipendera killed his entire family, wishing to assert control on the country. He also ousted two elected prime ministers in three years. In 2006, a general strike was declared, in which the people claimed better democratic processes. The king eventually stepped down. Since then, there has been an interim government in Nepal. The security is getting increasingly better, but poverty and sickness are still very present.
For Mr. Sitoula, the MDGs can help Nepal. “They are simple but important goals. We talk about primary education, maternal health and environment.” The MDGs are the basis to help Nepal. The fundamental problem is employment. There are a lot of young people, but there is no work for them. The MDGs prepare people to work by providing education and good health conditions. Robin Sitoula thinks that the MDGs will not be entirely achieved by 2015 in Nepal, but probably at 90%. “Nepal needs to be rebuilt and that takes a lot of time.”
Canada and the MDGs
The 8th Millennium Development Goal is addressed to developed countries like Canada. How can young Canadians help to achieve this goal? For Mr. Sitoula, youth has a very important role to play. “The borders are very open and Canadians can make a difference. Youth of the world are linked because they have the technology.” According to Robin Sitoula, Canadians students can make pressure on the government to take its responsibilities, or they can go to Nepal to work on education or health.
“This tour gives me the chance to discover the enthusiasm of Canadian students. It is by making this kind of exchange that the MDGs will be achieved!”
Gabrielle Charbonneau is an intern with the 8 Goals Campaign since January 2008. She is a second year student in communications at the University of Montreal.
