Community governance : An emerging archetype shift insurgency towards peacebuilding in Nepal

This paper analyses the capacity of community governance, a community possessed archetype that contributed to transmute the insurgency into peacebuilding process in Nepal. Ten focus group discussions and 45 in-depth interviews were employed to collect the empirical information at 5 VDCs of Dang district Nepal. Result indicates the active engagement of communities at the grassroots’ level explores a new discourse via local self-governing system to shift the insurgency towards peacebuilding process. Overall practice of governance to reinforce the peace process at the community level was efficient. A number of factors have been causing for convergence of community governance. First, communities as peacebuilding actors at the grassroots level create a new network and partnership structure. Second, they play a significant role in addressing inequality, isolation and poverty. Third, they foster awareness creation, democratic exercise, and governance practice. Fourth, they facilitate efficient mobilisation of local resources. Finally, they focus on giving ‘voice to the voiceless’ and clout to the powerless. Following the discussion of results, this study proposes some recommendations regarding the operations of a sound peace process at the grassroots’ level through community governance