MORE frequent and violent strikes in Nepal are undermining the security of United Nations staff and their ability to carry out humanitarian activities in the country, the U.N. operation head said. The impoverished Himalayan nation saw a rise in the number of strikes in recent years where everything from transport, government offices, businesses, schools to hospitals shut down. There were 254 days of strikes or “bandhs” last year, according to Nepalbandh.com, a website which monitors strikes. In the last three months, there were more than 200, it said. “Our people are moving around the country, doing activities such as food distributions or human rights monitoring, and they are constantly being stopped by road blockages, burning tires and mobs of people who are increasingly refusing to let them pass,” Robert Piper, U.N. Nepal humanitarian coordinator, said. “As a result, the U.N.'s work is dramatically curtailed on bandh days and as the bandhs become more violent, we are getting more concerned about staff security,” he told Reuters. Nepal is emerging from a decade-long civil war that killed 13,000 people and devastated the economy. The former Maoist rebels came to power in a surprise election victory but quit the government in May in a row over the sacking of the army chief. The new Prime Minister, Madhav Kumar Nepal, said recently the Maoist peace process is “stalled”. The Maoists have often obstructed parliament sittings and organized strikes in a country where more than 30 percent are below the poverty line. The U.N. has 2,300 staff working in Nepal but recent attacks on U.N. vehicles and staff have made the organization consider scaling down staff activities during strikes. U.N. vehicles have been attacked in recent months. A vehicle was stoned, the backlights of a bus carrying staff to work were smashed and a brick was thrown through the back window of a vehicle carrying human rights monitors. Staff members have also been subjected to violence, said Piper, adding that a worker at the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF) was “roughed up” in Kathmandu as he drove a U.N. motorcycle on a bandh day 11 days ago.
