Guerillas in the midst

Twenty nine year old Ranu from western Nepal started to knit a sweater for her baby when she found out she was pregnant seven months ago. When her labour pains started at the beginning of April, she was rushed to a nearby health centre. The health centre then referred her to a larger centre in Kathmandu, the capital. Travelling to the hospital, the ambulance carrying her was stranded in a traffic jam for more than 36 hours. Sadly, Ranu died in distress and pain. The doctors in the hospital said the cause of her death was obstructed labour.1

On 2 April 2005, the Maoists declared an 11 day nationwide transport strike to block routes to Kathmandu and other major cities. This disrupted health services, food supplies, as well as education in different parts of the country.2

This is only the latest of the conflicts in Nepal. In 1990, a multiparty democracy was re-established ending the 30 years of the king's autocratic rule—the “Panchyat system.” Since then the political environment in Nepal has been unstable; there have been 10 different governments in 12 years.

In 1996, the Communist Party of Nepal—Maoists—declared a people's war to overthrow the existing monarchic state and establish a communist republic. The war initially started from five hilly and remote districts in western Nepal, but then spread to all of the 75 districts, although the severity differs throughout the country.

On 1 February this …