Dear friends of Back to Life,
As Nepal’s final national parliamentary election results are confirmed, we’d like to report to you from our project office in Kathmandu. Many of you have accompanied Back to Life’s work for many years and know that Nepal’s history is shaped by great resilience. But this week’s events mark a political shift of a kind we have not experienced in this form before.
Triggered by a youth-led protest movement in September 2025, the election on March 5, 2026 led to a clear victory for the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP). It is led by 35-year-old Balendra Shah, who first became known as a musician and then as mayor of Kathmandu. With 124 of the 165 directly elected parliamentary seats, his party has won a clear majority – and, following the six-month interim government of Sushila Karki, a strong mandate for reform, transparency and modern governance.
To understand what democracy means in Nepal, it’s worth looking at one of our project districts: the mountain region of Mugu. While in Kathmandu election results appear on screens in real time, the reality in this remote Himalayan region is very different. Here, democracy does not arrive over roads – but on people’s backs.
When the first results were already known in the cities on the morning of March 6, Mugu remained quiet at first. Around 22,000 people had cast their votes – an impressive turnout of 61 percent. But the process was not yet over.
In the high-altitude settlements of Mugu, where there are no roads and where Back to Life operates birthing centers, provides access to drinking water and clean energy, builds schools and has run income-generation and environmental-protection programs for over 15 years, election workers and local helpers had to carry the ballot boxes like a relay race for more than two days over dangerous mountain paths. Only on the afternoon of March 7 did they reach the district center of Gamgadhi.
This time gap shows how isolated many regions of Nepal still are: a single vote can take more than two days here to cover just a few kilometers as the crow flies. This is precisely why Back to Life works in such regions. Where geography makes progress difficult, we want to ensure that people are heard nonetheless.
A Young Generation Shapes the Future
The 2026 parliamentary election marks a clear generational change in Nepal’s politics. Of the 165 directly elected representatives, 61 – around 37 percent – are already younger than 40.
Just a few years ago, Nepal’s political leadership consisted almost entirely of politicians in their sixties and seventies. In 2022, the share of under-40s in parliament was just eleven percent. In a country with an average age of only 26, the distance between the political leadership and the young population grew steadily – a tension that also fueled last year’s youth-led protests.
The arrival of many young representatives now brings hope for democratic renewal. Issues such as education, health, digital administration, bureaucratic reform, climate protection and employment could move more into focus. What will be decisive, however, is whether the new generation can translate its popularity into concrete reforms and responsible politics. The election has broken the age barrier in Nepali politics – now it is up to the young leaders to fill this new beginning with substance.
Stability as a Good Foundation for Our Work
For our teams in the project regions, political stability is of great importance. As Nepal now welcomes the youngest prime minister in its democratic history, our work on the ground remains deliberately non-political and reliably focused on people’s needs. Our schools, health centers and drinking-water projects in Chitwan, Nuwakot, Sindhuli and Mugu work continuously for the communities.
At the same time, the mood in the country is one of cautious optimism: for the first time in almost three decades, a government with a clear majority could serve a full five-year term – an important foundation for long-term development work. For our team on the ground, this stability means better planning, for example for expanding the education and health system in eastern and western Nepal. Reliable political conditions make it easier to implement sustainable programs in a targeted way and to build lasting prospects together with the communities – fully in keeping with our guiding principle of helping people to help themselves.
Together for Nepal’s Future
Dear sponsors, dear friends,
dear supporters, your support enables us to remain a reliable force for the people of Nepal, even in times of change. Together, we are sustainably strengthening the future of children and families in the most remote regions of the country.
