The Nepali diaspora’s role in national development

Abstract United Nations data shows that the number of global diaspora had reached 281 million in 2020, and it continues to grow. Diasporas have contributed significantly to the development of their native lands through remittance, technology and knowledge transfer, philanthropy, and diplomacy. Many countries have designed policies to engage the diaspora more deeply by providing concessional citizenship and visa regimes, and attractive investment opportunities. Yet, there is room for improvement in policies and programs to enhance these prospects. Since the 2010s, the size and expanse of Nepali diaspora has grown dramatically, the number of permanent expatriates in the more developed parts of the world reaching about 800,000 in 2022. In addition, at any time, there are 2–3 million temporary migrants from Nepal working in foreign countries outside of India. With the enhanced level of education and experience, and their growing economic prowess, the Nepali diaspora is in a strong position to become a significant partner in Nepal’s development efforts. The diaspora’s potential contribution to Nepal’s development remains vastly underutilized for mainly two policy-related reasons. The Nepali government’s supporting policies, regulations, and programs to effectively engage the diaspora are inadequate. The diaspora groups too have not been able to fully assess and chart out their capacities, and create proper institutional, and policy mechanisms to mobilize their resources. This paper reviews some examples of diaspora in development, and the current situation of the Nepali diaspora, and provide recommendations for improving the strategies, policies, and programs both for the diaspora, and the Nepali government, and for similar developing countries.

homeland orientation, and boundary (identity maintenance). Thus, although the original word diaspora meant the dispersed Jews and Armenians, it is now a commonly used term for people who leave their ancestral lands and live somewhere else. In this paper, the word diaspora refers to those who have left their home country and settled outside for an extended period. This paper reviews examples of some diaspora groups and their role in the development of the country of origin, and assesses the state of the Nepali diaspora and discusses how they have become an important element of Nepal's national development programs. It also identifies some areas where the Nepal government, and the diaspora groups can craft policies to enhance their collaboration for supporting development in Nepal. It deals with questions like why the issue of diaspora is important, how it can contribute to the native land, what barrier it faces to do so, what the government of Nepal has done to engage diaspora in national development, and how it could improve the working environment for diaspora for Nepal's development. After these discussions, this paper draws some lessons that are applicable for developing countries having similar socioeconomic and demographic conditions like that of Nepal.
As of 2020, a total of 281 million or 3.6 percent of the global population lived outside of their native lands (UN DESA 2020), making the modern-day diaspora group a significant part of the global population. In total, the global diasporas remitted more than US $706 billion in 2020 to the low-and middle-income countries, which is forecasted to reach US $774 in 2022 (Ratha et al. 2021, 52). Within South Asia, it grew from US $75 billion in 2009 to $140 billion in 2019, and is forecasted to reach US $162 billion in 2022 (Ratha et al. 2021, 52).
In 2020, the Nepali diaspora sent US $8.1 billion as remittances, representing about 24% of Nepal's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (The World Bank 2020a, 2020b). The rapidly growing Nepali diaspora population is gradually becoming an important partner in Nepal's development. However, due to several factors, such as the shortcomings in Nepal government's policies and programs to facilitate diaspora's engagement in developmental activities within Nepal, and the dearth of easily available organizational platforms and mechanisms in the diaspora groups, opportunities to collaborate for Nepal's developmental efforts and its activities are limited. Thus, the full potential of Nepali diaspora's role in Nepal's development remains unrealized. This paper is structured as follows. First, it presents a conceptual framework for how diaspora has evolved and functioned. Second, it answers questions like why diaspora is important, what it can contribute to the homeland, what barriers it faces, and what the Nepali government has done to help diaspora engage in country's development. Third, this paper focuses on the case study from Nepal related to diaspora's engagement. Fourth, it presents policy recommendations for Nepal and countries with similar socioeconomic conditions like that in Nepal.
The author also reviews relevant literature on diaspora and development and uses his own wide and deep personal experiences of being a longtime diaspora member and leader in North America to describe and analyze the formation of diasporic organizations, and role of diaspora in the development of their native lands.

How do diasporas contribute to development?
Diasporas have traditionally contributed financial resources to economic development in their native lands. They have also contributed to philanthropic, technological, and cultural development in the countries of their origin. For example, India, with US $87 billion in receipts, was the top receiver of remittance globally in 2021. As depicted in Figure 1, this remittance amounted to 3 percent of the total GDP of India (Ratha et al. 2021, 52).
Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka were among the top 50 global recipients of remittance incomes in 2021 (Ratha et al. 2021, 52). The remittance inflows were a large part of financial inflows in South Asia, which were much bigger than the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), and Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) received by those countries. The report "Migration and Development Brief 35 by Global Knowledge Partnership on Migration and Development (KNOMAD)" states: In 2021 remittances were almost three times as large as FDI. Since 2008 the gap between remittances and all other financial flows combined has systematically widened in South Asia, making remittances the dominant source of foreign exchange for the region … In 2021, for every $1 of FDI, South Asia received $2.9 of remittances. In the International Development Association (IDA) countries of South Asia, for every $1 of ODA in 2020, the region received between $9.2 and $9.8 in remittances. (Ratha et al. 2021, 52) However, after the Covid-19 pandemic that began in 2019, the picture about remittance flows has not looked healthy at least in the short run. For example, Nepal has already experienced a decrease of five percent in its remittance receipts in 2022 compared to 2021 (Online Khabar 2022). As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, many host country governments had stopped or slowed down their work permit provisions to invite migrant workers. The migrant workers who could return to the countries where they work were discouraged by the often complicated, expensive, and burdensome requirements of travel-related Covid-19 tests, and sometimes a two-week long quarantine periods upon arrival at destination. Policies developed by the United Nations related agencies, such as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, and the Summits of the Global Forum on Migration and Development have appreciated the contributions of diaspora for sustainable development in their native and host countries (United Nations 2017, 1-2). About remittances, a UN brief affirms: More than three times larger than official development assistance (ODA), and more stable than other forms of private capital flows, remittances have lifted millions of families out of poverty, contributing to the improvement of food security, education, health, well-being, and housing for individual families. Over the last decade, the scope and impact of remittances on countries of origin of migrants have been significant … .. (United Nations 2017, 1-2) Several countries such as India, China and South Korea have been working to create programs to attract their diaspora groups in development sectors. As discussed below, Nepal has also instituted several policies, regulations, programs, and projects to entice its growing diaspora members to participate in its developmental efforts.

Study of diaspora in development
Diaspora groups have become an important component of the national development equations in their native countries. The potential role of diaspora in national development has become increasingly relevant and of immediate interest to national policy makers and many international development agencies. A literature review reveals that there is a direct contribution by diaspora groups in reducing poverty and transferring skills (Gevorkyan 2021). The author believes that most native governments and many international donor agencies have not fully realized the potential of mobilizing the diaspora as readymade resources for development of their native countries. The existence of this ready resource had remained like a blind spot for many donor agencies and the developing countries for a long time. However, of late, the national governments and bi-lateral and multilateral donor community have begun to appreciate the diaspora groups as important agents for development.
An increasing number of international organizations and bi-lateral agencies have also instituted and established polices promoting the role of diasporas as catalysts in the development of their native lands. Global institutions such as the United Nations and World Bank, and regional institutions such as the Asian Development Bank, African Development Bank, and Inter-American Development Bank, as well as academia, investment banks, and international businesses are increasingly recognizing the catalytic role of diaspora in the development of their native lands.
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) acknowledges that diasporas can be leveraged in its international development projects. A brochure by the USAID states that "Diasporas represent a vast and diverse community that … hold the potential for transforming developing countries around the world" (USAID 2021). The World Bank Vice President Otaviano Canuto in the Bank publication "Diaspora for Development in Africa" notes that "The diaspora of developing countries can be a potent force for development for their countries of origin, through remittances, but also, importantly, through promotion of trade, investments, research, innovation, and knowledge and technology transfers" (Plaza and Ratha 2011, xi).
Traditionally, diasporas groups have been recognized mostly -and sometime onlyfor sending remittances to the native land. However, diaspora can do much more by effectively facilitating trade and foreign direct investment (FDI), and helping in the establishment of business enterprises, diplomatic ties, and perhaps more importantly, by transferring knowledge, technology, and skills to the societies in their native lands. In consulting practices or business dealings in the native lands, the diaspora groups know the cultural norms and ground reality of their home countries far more than the outsiders. In addition, diaspora groups often have inherent and preexisting personal networks inside the native land that can be linked with the development trends and technological advancements of foreign countries. These are crucial elements in making any development initiatives in the native lands successful. The diaspora members possess a first-hand experience of the social, cultural, and infrastructural circumstances both of the foreign and native lands, a critical knowledge element required to design and implement successful development programs. Most importantly, the diaspora groups relish deep emotional reasons to give back to their homelands. This may be motivated by a combination of some guilt of leaving the country, and an altruistic inspiration to help one's own extended family, community members, and people. The diasporas know the native land closely, speak the local languages, and understand social nuances of the host communities, and connect quickly culturally with the community.
India encourages its diaspora to utilize their economic power in the native country and offers concession on citizenship or voting rights to overseas Indians to encourage their support in advancing technology, and financial and knowledge arenas. India has long respected its diaspora as a major resource in the country's ambition to become a more prosperous nation and world power in the areas of science, technology, culture, and economy. The large Indian diaspora has helped to build India's connections to the global economy and technology through transnational network of professional services, and technology transfer from the scientists and academics who have settled in numerous advanced countries.
The Chinese Diaspora number in 2019 was estimated to be around 50 million (Statista.com 2021). Diasporic Chinese have been contributing to help accumulate foreign currencies in the home banks in China. The well-established Chinese expatriate communities, sometimes called the "old diaspora" were key investors in technology, computing, and information technology sectors in China early on. For example, the diaspora groups from Taiwan were important agents of transferring informationrelated knowledge and technology from the Silicon Valley in the US to China (Lee 2017).
Especially, in the decade since 2010, many foreign educated Chinese students have returned to their homeland and played an active role in technology transfer, trade, and investment domestically, and helped in enhancing China's role in the global economy. Foreign educated Chinese diaspora groups have contributed toward making China the foremost exporter country in the world. In the words of John Lee, "Diaspora investment revitalized the Chinese private sector's flagging "township and village" enterprises, and underpinned a national balance of payments that allowed importation of capital goods to upgrade the wider economy" (Lee 2016).
Like the Chinese and Indian diasporas, the South Korean diaspora also has contributed significantly to the dramatic development of its native land. In the past, many South Koreans sought employment abroad, particularly in China, Japan, United States, Canada, and several countries in Europe, and became visible members of diaspora. Before a large number of non-agricultural jobs were available in South Korea, Seoul's government encouraged the Korean diaspora to assimilate into their overseas host societies and prosper there. Later, the same skilled Korean workforce from abroad was able to transfer technologies to their home country and to help expand Korean businesses in foreign countries and vice-versa. Accordingly, South Korean industrial and financial firms not only have grown at home, but also extended their operations abroad taking advantages of the contributions from the diaspora groups.
With the help of its diaspora, Korea has rapidly become an important and significant part of an increasingly integrated global economy. The Korean diaspora members have supported the country's development helping it to achieve one of the highest economic growth rates in the modern world, and helping to create the country's image as one of the Asian "tigers". The spectacular economic growth has made Korea a rapidly industrializing, and urbanizing country with a global reach. The process of Koreans moving to other countries to gain skills, and their return to Korea has contributed to the dramatic development of Korea (Rizvi 2021).
As Korea's population has recently been shrinking, the country has pursued a policy of engaging its seven-million strong diaspora in its development and to supplement its numerically diminishing domestic workforce. To motivate the diaspora groups to return, Korea offers its diaspora members a virtual extraterritorial citizenship through the Act on the Immigration and Legal Status of Overseas Koreans in 1999. The Act provided the Korean diaspora members the right to freely enter South Korea, establish and operate business, and own real property like a Korean citizen but with some limitations (KLTC. 2016;Song 2014). The policy is yielding economic, political, and cultural benefits that stem from building loyalty to the homeland. The government's Overseas Koreans Foundation (OKF) is helping to maintain its diaspora Korean identity, enhancing, and expanding economic and political cooperation with them, and building networks to link them to one another and to Korean citizens at home (Song 2014).

A ladder of diaspora's role in development
Diaspora can contribute to the development of the native lands in various ways. They can send money, promote charitable giving, help support education of their friends and families back home, exchange technology, skills and knowledge, and support policy and institutional changes back home.
As the diaspora group become better settled in the adopted lands and begin to enjoy financial, technological, knowledge, and social powers, they can gradually provide other types of support to their native lands such as in philanthropy, technology transfer, and policy reforms. As the number of knowledge workers in the diaspora population grows, their contributions may become even more impactful via collaboration in institution building. Figure 2 depicts a conceptual diagram of the hierarchy of diaspora's impact on their native lands that shows progression from remittances on the base to institutional building on the top. The schema modified by the author is based on the ideas in the book "How Can Talent Abroad Induce Development at Home" (Kuznetsov 2013).
Overall, the potential contribution of the diaspora groups to help their native countries can include the following areas: Sending remittance to support families, and buttress national economy. Promoting international business and trade processes. Making individual business investments, and organizing collective business investments. Facilitating and organizing foreign direct investment (FDI). Returning diaspora creating startup companies, businesses, and investing domestically. Supporting higher education programs, and improving the quality of education often by linking the domestic institutions of higher learning to the high-quality institutions in foreign lands. Being catalytic agents for technology and knowledge transfer. For example, establishing and supporting in the enhancement of professional fields such as medical and engineering practices while emulating the best practices found internationally, and establishing medical, engineering, academic, nonprofit, and for-profit institutions. Promoting and supporting tourism by making personal and family visits, and by bringing friends and colleagues for tourism.  Strengthening multilateral diplomatic ties. For example, improving diplomatic ties between native and adopted countries like the Indian and Chinese diasporas are doing in Washington D. C., USA.
Organizing philanthropic work to improve the well-being of the people in the native countries.

Sub-groups and population size
A review of literature on the diaspora and the author's experience in the diaspora's developmental and charitable efforts in Nepal reveals that the diaspora's strength is increasing both in number and its resource potential. Despite the relatively recent origin, the Nepali diaspora is rapidly evolving and growing. Today, Nepali settlers, migrant workers and students can be found all over the world. As the Nepali diaspora's capacity is rapidly developing and gaining momentum, it can be called a "diaspora in the making". It perhaps fits the stage "forming" as illustrated in Figure 2.
Based on their geographic distribution globally, the Nepali diaspora community can be divided into the following four well-defined groups.
1. A large number of Nepalis move to India for seasonal, annual, and long-term menial labor and other jobs. The exact number of this group is often hard to establish because of the open border between Nepal and India. Often, no records are available for such emigration and immigration because no visa is required for citizens of both Nepal and India to cross the bi-national border. In addition, India has a significant number of Nepali speaking Indian citizens. Nepalis work in India in military, civil, agricultural, households, and many informal and formal sectors. According to the Census of India 2011, India has about 2.92 million Nepali speaking Indian citizens (Census of India 2011, 7). In addition, every year, many Nepali students go to India to study mostly with private funding and some through public scholarships such as Colombo Plan or in Cultural Scholarships granted by the government of India. Detailed discussion about this group is out of scope for this paper. 2. The second group is the temporary migrant workers group, estimated to be between 2 and 3 million in 2022, who primarily work in the countries in the Gulf region in the Middle East, and Southeast Asia such as Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei, and East Asia such as Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea. Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies (NAFEA) estimated the total number of foreign migrant workers (outside India) to be around 3 million in 2020 (Mandal 2020). The preliminary results from the 2021 Nepal census shows that 2.17 million Nepalis have left home and are living abroad (CBS Nepal 2022). This group mostly works in the host countries often with 2-6-year job contracts, and almost all of them (except some individuals in Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, and Singapore) return to Nepal after the end of their work contract, while a few immigrate to countries in North America, Oceania, and Europe from there. The remittance they send to Nepal forms an important pillar of the Nepali economy.
In this paper, I only briefly discuss the remittances and other contributions made by this group to aid in Nepal's development.
Between 2011 and 2019, the annual migrant worker outflow from Nepal to countries outside India has varied from more than 236,000 to about 520,000 (Table  1). In 2020, Nepali migrant workers sent remittance equal to US $8.1 billion, which was about 24% of Nepal's GDP in that year (Table 1). As a percentage of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), this amount is among the highest in the world. The Covid-19 pandemic had decreased the flow of the Nepali migrant labor to the host countries. However, as the employment opportunities at home remain limited, the number of people living to work in foreign countries is likely to accelerate again as the pandemic subsides in 2022. 3. The third group consists of the students who go to study overseas beyond India. This is a significant number that includes students in Australia, USA, New Zealand, Japan, Korea, UK, and other European countries. Some 59,676 Nepali students were in Australia in 2021 (Australian Government 2021). After the Chinese and Indian students, Nepali students in Australia were the third largest group among the total international students in the country in 2021 (Australian Government and DESE 2021). Similarly, according to the data from the US Embassy in Nepal, there were 13,229 Nepali students studying in the US in 2019 making them as 12th largest among all international students (US Embassy in Nepal 2019). Many Nepalis students also attend universities in several other countries, such as the UK, Canada, Japan, and South Korea each year, and a vast majority of them end up staying in the host country permanently and become a part of the fourth diaspora group discussed below. 4. The fourth group of the Nepali diaspora is the permanent settlers in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, UK, and continental Europe. In addition, there is a significant permanent settlement of Nepalis in Hong Kong, and a few other developed Asian countries such as Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, and Korea. The total number of these settlers in 2022 is estimated by the author in Tables 2 and  3, which shows the approximate breakdown of the number of Nepali livings in these regions. The fourth group of diaspora members, often considered as the permanent diaspora, are the major focus of this paper. I discuss their role in providing support for Nepal's development financially, professionally, and through knowledge exchange. As these people have made the decision to permanently live and take residency and citizenship in the adopted countries, they consider themselves as the foreign residents or citizens with Nepali origin. For this diaspora group, important issues include their emotional relationship with Nepal, the Nepali visa regime for them, and their ability to buy real property, conduct business, and live in Nepal when they may desire, to work in business or as volunteers upon retirement. Jagdish Bhagwati calls the retired diaspora members retiring to the native lands as "Grey Peace Corps of senior citizens" (Bhagwati 2012). Many in  this group also yearn to remain sentimentally connected with the countries of origin, give back when they can and wish to maintain a symbiotic relationship with the native land.
Informal estimates of the population of Nepalis in Americas are often higher than presented in Table 3. Hari Prasad Shrestha in his article "Nepali in America: Expanding Their Footprint" published in April 2021 quotes that the total number of Nepalis in the USA in 2017 was 3,15,980 (Shrestha 2021). He states, "This 2017s research was based on Census Bureau, Homeland security, State Department, CDC, World Bank, Migration Policy Institute, International Education Exchange, Track immigration, NCCL, and UNHCRs' from 2010 to 2016s data collection." Hir Bahadur Bhandari, in his PhD dissertation estimates that the total number of Nepalis in the United States could be as high as 600,000 in 2021 if Bhutani Nepalis are also included (Bhandari 2021).

The economic muscle of the Nepali diaspora
The economic power of the diaspora is significant and growing. The total annual income of the global Nepali diaspora (excluding from India) is perhaps, in the tune of US$35 billion in 2022 (see the breakdown below estimated by the author).
Total annual income of the North American (US and Canada) diaspora may be around US $12 billion if we assume their (Table 3) incomes to be similar to the average North American income of US$ 50,000/yr. The total annual income of the other permanently settled diaspora in more developed regions (Table 2) (outside North America) with a total population of 550,000, assuming an average annual income of US$ 20,000 is perhaps, around US $11 billion. Total annual income of the two and half million (average of 2-3 million) migrant workers assuming average wages of US $5,000/year is perhaps, around 12 billion.
This total amount of diaspora income is like the GDP of Nepal in 2019, which was around US $34 billion according to the World Bank data (The World Bank 2021).
In addition to the remittances sent to Nepal as discussed earlier, the diaspora groups in North America, Oceania, Europe, and east Asia regularly send money to their families and relatives in Nepal both formally and informally. Many diaspora members use their financial prowess to be high spending tourists in Nepal, support charitable programs in Nepal, and help their relatives gain expensive but high-quality education in Nepal and foreign educations.

How the Nepali diaspora has fared so far?
Although the Nepali diaspora group is of more recent origin compared to the more well-established groups such as the Chinese, Indian, Korean, Armenian, Bangladeshi, Pakistani, Filipino, Mexican, and other older diaspora groups, it is swiftly rising. Some of the notable activities of Nepali diaspora are discussed below.
The diaspora groups often organize fund raising events when needed to support disaster relief, and other charitable programs in Nepal. These groups also routinely convene national, international, and global conferences, workshops, and seminars to advance knowledge related to the development in various areas in Nepal. For example, as far back as in 1993, the Nepali diaspora group in Canada organized an international conference "Strategies for Economic Development in Nepal" at the University of Toronto in Toronto, Canada. Many professional associations in North America, Europe, Oceania, and East Asia organize annual or regular conferences to advance topics related to engineering, medicine, nursing, physical sciences, social sciences, and trades, often with a with a view to support the development of knowledge base related to development in Nepal. For example, several Nepali organizations collaborated to host an international conference on Diaspora's Role in Higher Education in Nepal, Toronto, 2018 . Another program on Diaspora's Role in Nepal's Development was held in Baltimore, 2019 (Adhikari, Dahal, and Khatiwada 2019). Such conferences and workshops often result in the publication of proceedings, books, and papers, which provide records of useful intellectual, social, and technological capitals to develop future plans in Nepal.
The Nepali diaspora groups have carried out several important activities in their adopted lands to advance their professional, academic, cultural, diplomatic, and business interests. They have created and established local, regional, national, international, and global organizations that advance these objectives. Established in 2003, the Nonresident Nepali Association (NRNA) is the largest global organization of nonresident Nepali, and was later registered in Nepal in 2013 as a nonprofit establishment. It was created with the purpose of "uniting and binding the Nepali Diaspora under one umbrella" (NRNA. 2021). The NRNA works though an International Coordination Council (ICC), and 85 National Coordination Councils (NCC) with over 110,000 registered members spread all over the world (NRNA. 2021). The NRNA holds a bi-annual global conferences and knowledge conventions in Nepal. It has hosted various events like fundraising for disaster relief, collective foreign investment programs, and development-related programs in Nepal. The organization has a high profile in Nepal and the Nepali government frequently turns to it for partnership in the areas of investment, knowledge sharing and disaster relief.
The Nepali diaspora groups have created and implemented various knowledge and technology-transfer related activities to facilitate the engagement of diaspora in Nepal's socio-economic and technological development. Among the examples are the establishment of Nepal Open University, which initially began as the Open University Nepal (OUN) initiative in 2009 led by the diaspora leaders in Canada, USA, and Australia, and supported by hundreds of diaspora leaders world-wide. The University was formally established in 2016 with an act of the Nepali parliament enabling people from remote areas and marginalized communities to have access to quality higher education. The proponents of the OUN had envisioned a world-class and high-quality university and wished to voluntarily lead it in the beginning years to create global networks and create high academic standards. However, in the newly established Nepal Open University, the Nepali Government in 2017 appointed the university leaders from its own political party cadres to lead the academic institution, undermining its potential for academic excellence. Until today, the role of the initial proponents, and the diaspora remains non-existent in the operation of the university. The government of Nepal failed to fulfill the original vision of the OUN mission and missed the opportunity to have the diaspora proponents offer voluntary services to the university with the potential of making the university a world-class institution.
The core proponents of the OUN published a list of lessons learnt from the OUN project in a book chapter entitled "Open University of Nepal Initiative: Lessons learned from designing an institution of higher learning". This is a part of the book "Higher Education in Nepal" edited by Krishna Bista, S. Sharma, and R. Raby (Dhakal et al. 2019, 167). The authors in the book chapter show their frustrations as below.
A group of Nepali diaspora members, represented by the Non-Resident Nepali Association (NRNA), started a campaign in 2009 to establish the Open University of Nepal (OUN) in partnership with the government of Nepal. Their motivation was to develop a quality university for the masses by mobilizing local, diaspora, and international collaborators for producing and disseminating knowledge in the public domain. The university was subsequently established in 2017 but it drifted away from many of the original objectives. Most critically, it embraced distance education as its central function while setting aside the aspiration of producing and sharing knowledge under the public domain. As the original proponents of this mission, the authors share their experiences and lessons learned so that other campaigners of similar institution building missions could benefit. (Dhakal 2019, 167) The Nepal Policy Institute (NPI) was established as a global institution by a group of forward-thinking diaspora members in 2019. Registered in the Hague, NPI is another excellent example of the diaspora effort to support Nepal in the policy arena.
It was established as "an international think-tank and a knowledge-platform dedicated to the people-centered and sustainable development of Nepal and Nepali people, including diaspora Nepali" (NPI. 2021). To its credit, even in its short history, the NPI has already provided important policy input to the government of Nepal in many sectors including in the areas related to foreign employment, migrant worker welfare, census process, administration and polices related to the federal political structure, elimination of corruption, voting by Nepalis living abroad, and assisting in the national planning issues and programs. The NPI convenes regular symposiums, meetings, workshops, and webinars, and publishes policy and research briefs in the policy arena. It also organizes young research scholars' symposium and essay competitions to motivate students from their undergraduate levels and awards scholarships to the winner candidates.
Some Nepali diaspora groups are also slowly establishing themselves in the mainstream political process of their adopted countries. Both because of a large number and the open political process in countries like USA, UK, and Canada, members of the Nepali diaspora have begun to get elected in local and state leadership positions. For example, in the UK, a few Nepali origin candidates have won mayoral and city council offices in some cities and towns. Nepali Canadians have also run for federal and local offices in some provinces and cities in Canada. The Nepali diaspora has achieved some initial successes in important state and local leadership positions in the United States. Harry (H. B.) Bhandari was elected as a Delegate to the Maryland House in 2019. Few other Nepali Americans have won seats in city and town councils in Maryland and Texas. Many Nepali Americans are also now in leadership positions in academic institution, business, and government agencies in the USA. Their presence in the mainstream politics, academia and industry will likely make the Nepali diaspora here better established, and more effective in mobilizing support for Nepal in philanthropy, and linkage to the American institutions. However, the presence of Nepali Americans in the political landscape of the country is at a nascent stage. Bhandari (Bhandari 2021) finds that improving economic conditions and obtaining better education will enhance the participation level of Nepali Americans in the political process in the USA. As most Nepali Americans are pursuing higher education and improving their economic status, their integration in the American system is likely to improve over time.
Notwithstanding the examples of successes and initiatives discussed above, the Nepali diaspora groups have often been unable to establish long-lasting and sustainable institutions and platforms that can put their capacities, improve their performances, and organize themselves in effective and efficient groups. This condition/problem has been a hurdle for the Nepali diaspora to help in Nepal's development more effectively like some of the more successful peer groups have done for their native lands.

Nepal government's track-record in engaging diaspora in development
Nepal government's record in successfully mobilizing the diaspora in its development has been mixed at best. It has initiated several programs to engage the diaspora in its efforts for the socio-economic development of the country. The programs cover policies, regulatory mechanisms, and specific initiatives. However, the programs have often not met with the stated objectives.
In the regulatory arena, the government's Non-resident Nepali Act (NRN Act) of 2008 (amended in 2009) covers most benefits and responsibilities that nonresident Nepalis can enjoy in Nepal (Government of Nepal and MoHA 2018). An important component of the Act is the provision of the Non-resident Nepali (NRN), and Persons of Nepali Origin (PNO) Identity (ID) Card, which can bestow several rights and privileges to the individual holding the card. The benefits for the cardholder include the right to live in Nepal with annual extension, visa-free entry, right to buy limited amount of land and property, privilege to start business, and work in the private sector in Nepal. The card holders can invest in businesses in Nepal and repatriate the profits in foreign currency after completing the required process. The identity card is valid for 10 years and confers many privileges similar to those enjoyed by foreign nationals in the US, Canada and Australia who hold permanent residency of the adopted country. However, the ID card program and logistics need some improvements in the areas of benefits, application process, and logistics (Adhikari et al. 2010).
Responding to the long-held demands by the diaspora groups, the 2015 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nepal included the aim to "to utilize knowledge, skill, technology and capital of the nonresident Nepalese in the national development". It provided for a new type of citizenship meant for the foreign citizens of Nepal origin, called Nonresident Nepali Citizenship, a form of non-territorial citizenship. The constitution includes the following provision in this regard.
A person who has acquired citizenship of a foreign country and who resides in a country other than a country member of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation and who previously himself or herself or his/her father or mother, grandfather or grandmother was a citizen of Nepal by descent or by birth and who later acquired the citizenship of a foreign country may be granted non-resident citizenship of Nepal allowing him/her to enjoy the economic, social and cultural rights as provided for by the federal law. (Constitute Project 2015, 16) The NRN Citizenship category was envisioned by the Government of Nepal to provide the citizenship holders to live in Nepal and work in private sectors (but not for the government), and enjoy cultural and social rights, and limited economic rights, but without political rights. However, only after seven years of the provision being enshrined in the constitution, the Nepali parliament in July 2022 has passed a bill to implement the citizenship provision as included in the country's constitution. as of October 2022, the Bill remains uncertified by the president. The diaspora groups have intensely liaised with the government and stakeholders in Nepal to get the regulations enacted. Generally, the diaspora groups find it difficult to convince the Nepali government to implement basic and simple benefits in Nepal for the foreign citizens of Nepali origins such as in the areas of retaining and selling ancestral real properties, avoidance of double taxation, and repatriation of income in foreign currency. While the Nepali leaders pay lip service to these issues, especially when they visit diaspora groups abroad, the topic does not seem to command a high priority or importance for the Nepali political parties and its leaders.
The Nepali government has also occasionally brought about new initiatives to entice the diaspora groups to invest in Nepal, provide technical assistance to domestic business partners, and participate in the development-related activities in Nepal. One such initiative was the Brain Gain Center (BGC) that was established in 2019 at the initiative of tehn Foreign Minister Pradeep Gyawali as a "Unit at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that is created to recognize and foster contribution to Nepal's social and economic progress by the many diaspora Nepali experts and professionals around the world" (MoFA 2021). In Nepal, whenever a new party or coalition government follows a former government that was led by a different party, many initiatives such as the BGC become low priority to, or sometimes are even abandoned by, the new government. It appears that the BGC may also be encountering a similar fate.
Because of the lack of a welcoming and easy-to-adopt platforms for the interested diaspora groups who wish to work and contribute their expertise in Nepal, the diaspora groups often seem to get frustrated to when they try to work in Nepal. From anecdotal evidence, the diaspora members also often encounter bureaucratic hurdles and red tape whenever they wish to create a program to support development programs, create new business, buy and sell property, and conduct day-to-day affairs in Nepal.
6. What are the barriers to engaging the diaspora in Nepal's development?
Individuals in a diaspora community may face a reverse cultural shock when they return to their native lands as they have become used to generally more efficient public and private services and better working infrastructure. In addition, ultra-nationalistic domestic policies may create legal barriers against the returnees. During the 2020-22, the Covid-induced downturn in the employment in some countries in the Persian Gulf, and East and Southeast Asia have forced many migrant workers to return to their homelands. However, some diaspora members from these countries are choosing to move to third countries when possible. Some diaspora community members are more resilient because of their educational background, linguistic prowess, and social and family connections abroad, and can find new places to start their careers.
Ultra-nationalist and populist leaders in native countries can also sometimes create problems for the diaspora members who are interested to return. For example, some political leaders in Nepal have smeared the diaspora Nepalis who have acquired citizenship or permanent residency of a foreign country. In addition, there is also often some form of resentment against the members of diaspora who wish to return to the country of their origin and take institutional leadership in organizations. Citing the example of Nepal, Uttam Gaulee notes that, "While successful diaspora members abroad are frequently viewed by the public as models, they are sometimes and ironically viewed as rivals by their Nepali counterparts" (Gaulee 2017, 9). Such resentments, and occasional outcry from the political leaders against the diaspora have angered many expatriate Nepalis and discouraged them to engage in the development of the native land. Appropriate sensitivity by the local leaders to the needs of the diaspora members, and respect for their sentiments and sincere wishes to be engaged in the developmental efforts in the native lands will help in attracting diaspora members in these efforts.

Remittances
Giving blood, sweat and tears to help families, society, and country in the native land A welcome area. However, some bureaucrats try to extract rent from the migrant workers.
Official banking transaction methods, exploitation by manpower agencies, bureaucrats and politicians in the home countries. Taking leadership in public institutions (professional, governmental, non-profit organizations) General interest to give back, use the global best practices, and establish a renewed personal identity in the home country Diaspora members "having the cake and eating it too", competitive threat to the domestic leaders, academics, professionals, and businesspersons Unresolved misunderstandings, misperceptions, and resentment between the diaspora groups and leaders in the native land  Several other factors have hindered the full utilization of diaspora resources in Nepal's development. While this article has provided specific examples of the issues faced by both the diaspora groups and Nepal government in fully utilizing the potential of diaspora in development, different perceptions prevalent in each group have remained as barriers to fully engage the diaspora groups in development. Such perceptions are often rooted in individual and group psychology of the actors involved that frequently include apprehension, mistrust, fear, and misunderstanding. Figure 3 illustrates a schema of the frequently differing perceptions about diaspora's role that exist among diaspora groups and leaders, professionals, academics, and even public in the native country. The negative perceptions, some of which are often unfounded, can result in the underutilization of diaspora resources in Nepal's development.
Regular communication, meetings, and drafting of appropriate policies and their implementation can help in resolving such misunderstandings and perceptions.

How can the diaspora be better engaged in development in Nepal?
As discussed above, the full potential of the diaspora's contribution to the development in Nepal remains unrealized. There are apparent deficiencies in the programs and policies of both diaspora groups and the native governments to fully support a more fruitful collaboration between the two groups.
Following are some recommendations to help in the mobilization of diaspora groups to support the development efforts more effectively in Nepal and similar developing countries.
1. Diaspora organizations should work to strengthen institutionally by becoming financially and organizationally sustainable through innovative fund-raising, grants from external agencies, and income from investment programs. These should be developed as institutions or foundations that are completely nonpolitical, nonpartizan, and nonsectarian, which are fully committed to enhancing the welfare and capacity of the diaspora groups. 2. Diaspora groups can be formed around professional and academic interests, providing various potential platforms for people with similar interests to freely associate and maximize their collective strengths. 3. Various diaspora groups should create and strengthen the existing database of their members who are available and interested to get involved in the development arena in Nepal. The database should include a full list of its membership expertise and should update such information regularly such as, bi-annually or annually, to fully gauge and map their capacities at regular intervals. 4. Diaspora groups should engage with academia, professional associations, business and industry organizations and civil society in Nepal to explore potential collaboration and create common platforms for cooperation and collaboration. The host organizations in Nepal can provide suitable counterparts for any expert diaspora member who wants to work in Nepal.
5. Diaspora groups should work to create appropriate avenues, including website and physical offices in Nepal and elsewhere, to improve communication between organizations, and to implement direct relationship between sister organizations and government agencies in Nepal. 6. The Nepali government should work to establish research and mobilization services to support the aspirations of the diaspora groups. The diaspora often finds it difficult to operate in Nepal in the absence of easily accessible platforms and other interface mechanisms in the policy arena. The Brain Gain Center established by the Government of Nepal in 2018 to facilitate the involvement of diaspora groups in Nepal is dormant at present. This can be revived, or a similar permanent program can be established to provide a one-window platform for the Nepali diaspora to broach developmental and academic works in Nepal. 7. A dedicated Nepal government ministry like the earlier (2004-16) Indian Government's Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) can help formulate national polices related to the Nepali diaspora and provide an important contact point for the diaspora groups wishing to organize programs and projects in Nepal. 8. The Nepali government should take due note of the value of diaspora to help in its efforts to enhance international trade, business, economic diplomacy, investments, and bi-lateral and multi-lateral diplomatic efforts. The government should work to create appropriate policies, programs, and centers to facilitate the mutual relationship and collaborations with the diaspora. 9. The Nepali government should formulate win-win programs where the diaspora's sentiments, emotions, intimate knowledge of the home turf, and the need for development converge with the domestic needs in infrastructure, community development, academia, and similar fields. The diaspora experts would likely make the best consultants, advisors, and partners in Nepal's public agencies such as the National Planning Commission (NPC), Policy Research Institute (PRI), Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST), universities and selected ministries related to science and technology, agriculture, infrastructure, and trade. It should consider utilizing the services of the expert diaspora members in projects and programs that may be funded by bi-lateral, and multi-lateral aid and loan finances that the country secures. 10. The Nepal government should ask the international development agencies supporting Nepal's developmental efforts to include diaspora groups as important resources in their roster, and devise policies to encourage the involvement of diaspora in their programs. It should work with international development partners to promote diaspora's involvement as consultants, resource persons, advisors, and experts in all relevant collaborative projects and programs when desired. 11. The Nepali government should explore the possibility of allowing the diaspora Nepalis to have their representatives in Nepal's parliament. Similar programs exist in some twenty countries including in Italy, France, Senegal, Algeria, Colombia, and Portugal. Often called the overseas constituency, such program gives stakes and voices to the diaspora in the developmental programs in the native land. Through their representatives, the diaspora can have a say in the Nepali affairs and help Nepal more effectively. 12. Diaspora, Nepal government, and other groups such as professional and academic institutions in Nepal should consider establishing institutions and foundations in-country and abroad for diaspora welfare and mobilization. Examples of such endeavors are, Overseas Korean Foundation (an agency of government of the Republic of Korea), Institute of Mexicans Abroad (the government of Mexico agency), the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) (an agency of the government of the Philippines), and Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council (a government of China agency). 13. A collaborative diaspora infrastructure bond can also be established in Nepal, where the diaspora members can invest to fund the development of key infrastructure programs in roads, electricity, water supply and sanitation. The bond can be fully backed by the Nepali government, and bring attractive returns to the investors while providing easily accessible and low interest funds to develop national infrastructure in Nepal. 14. The Nepali government should enhance the profile and visibility of the Nonresident Nepali (NRN) day that is observed in the Nepali date Ashwin 25 (falling in October) every year. The day should celebrate the diaspora achievements, and the government, on that day, should encourage interested diaspora members to return to Nepal. The Nonresident Indian (NRI) day celebrated in India on January 9 biannually is a good example of best practice of such celebration.

Policy implications for other developing countries
As discussed, the full potential of the diaspora's contribution to the development of many developing countries such as Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and several African countries remains unrealized. This is due to the lack of effective policies and programs in the respective governments and diaspora. The diaspora groups of various countries are in different stages of their own internal development. However, the groups can create institutions to help in mapping out their own resources and capacities and create networks to work in unison when required. The groups need to create appropriate policies and programs to prepare themselves for helping the native lands. On the individual level, it usually takes place once the diaspora member feels reasonably well-established professionally, businesswise, academically, and financially in the adopted land. The diaspora member is then ready to give back to the native land if s/he so desires. Figure 4 shows some examples of best practices by the Indian, Chinese, Korean and Nepali diaspora groups about how they have organized themselves enabling them to help the native lands.
The governments in the native countries also need to create more diaspora-friendly policies to encourage and entice the diaspora groups to engage in the developmental efforts more actively in their home countries. Policies that can really help and encourage diaspora members to get more strongly connected to their native lands can include addressing diaspora groups' interest such as rights to their ancestral real estate properties, ability to travel freely to their native country, ability to live in their home countries,  Author's creation from personal experience, observations, and from web searches.  Author's creation from personal observations, experience, and from web searches.

Country Major Diaspora-related Policies/Programs in Native Countries
conduct business, right to buy properties, and repatriate profits from their business activities from the country of current residency to their native country and vice-versa. In addition, most diaspora groups wish to remain culturally and sentimentally connected to their native lands. The native governments can craft policies and programs to facilitate and support the diaspora aspirations. Figure 5 illustrates examples of policies and programs instituted by some countries to support their diaspora's interest in getting involved in the development of their native countries.
Developing countries and their diaspora can enhance their collaborations if both parties devise and implement policies and programs to further their cooperation. For example, diaspora groups can continue to improve their organizational and leadership capacities by creating, improving, and strengthening diaspora organizations, professional associations, and appropriate platforms where interested members of the diaspora can come together for common causes and goals. As diaspora groups become better established, organizations with higher specialization can be formed to channel specific expertise toward internal and external goals. Governments, and public and private institutions in the native countries can create new, and strengthen existing, policies and programs related to attracting diaspora knowledge, resources, and interest in national development.