Bishnu Sapkota, program advisor for Nepal Transition to Peace (NTTP), will spend the next few weeks as a visiting scholar at the Kroc Institute.
NTTP is a peace support program that works with the Nepalese government and political parties engaged in the peace process in Nepal. The country, which is transitioning from monarchy to democracy, recently has shifted from a situation of violent conflict to a tenuous peace.
In his position at NTTP, Sapkota helps foster a supportive environment for negotiation among political leaders, working to rebuild trust between parties when necessary. On a number of occasions, he said, NTTP has helped rescue Nepal’s national peace process from collapse.
While at the Kroc Institute, Sapkota will compare Nepal’s peace process to peace processes around the globe, examining data from the Kroc Institute’s Peace Accords Matrix, which includes comparative data on all comprehensive peace accords worldwide signed since 1989. He also will engage with Kroc faculty and students, presenting his research findings and sharing insights from his participation in Nepal’s peace negotiations.
Prior to joining NTTP, Sapkota worked as a senior program officer for the Nepal Transition to Peace Initiative, a USAID project. He holds a M.Phil. degree in linguistics from the University of Cambridge and a M.A. degree in English from Tribhuvan University.
Contact: Renée LaReau, 574-631-5098, rlareau1@nd.edu