In the face of many global challenges, from climate change to public health and democratic backsliding, an effective government strategy demands the participation of citizens. In particular, democratic parliaments that have embraced open governance understand that people must be at the heart of parliament and that governance must be responsive to citizens.

Organizations and activists can inform and shape decisions around policy, budget and draft legislation by engaging with government officials and lawmakers at all levels. By providing decision makers with expert knowledge of their area of practice, organizations and activists can provide critical information that would not otherwise be brought to the government’s attention about how certain policies, procedures and laws operate on the ground and affect the communities they represent.

Citizen participation is instrumental in promoting transparent and accountable government, and in fostering the norms that underpin a functioning democratic system. Democracy develops and deepens when citizens are active and exercise their right to be heard, and when they use organized, informed action to hold government accountable for making real improvements in people’s lives. 

Within Nepal’s nascent federal system, introduced in 2015, it has become increasingly vital to inform policymakers at all levels of government about critical and developing issues. As such, NDI, with support from USAID, developed the Policy Review journal to communicate policy analysis and information on a range of issues to partners and stakeholders involved in policy making, as well as to citizens at large.