US Instigated Gen-Z Protests in Nepal to Damage India, China, New Docs Reveal
16:54 07.10.2025 (Updated: 18:11 07.10.2025)
© AP Photo / Niranjan Shrestha
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Since the NED, major funder of IRI, is bound to report about its global operations to the US Congress, it is likely that Washington was aware of its anti-India activities in Nepal, which fuelled the ouster of ex-PM KP Sharma Oli in the Gen Z protests last month.
American NGO International Republican Institute (IRI), affiliated with the GOP and majorly funded by Congress-backed National Endowment for Democracy (NED), played a key role in organising and funding Nepal's youth and civil society political activists to put "pressure" on the country's political establishment, recently surfaced documents reviewed by Sputnik India have revealed.
Earlier reports of IRI's role in instigating social unrest in Nepal appeared in several India media outlets.
"Centralised, unaccountable political structures also lead to increased opportunities for corruption and manipulation and interference by foreign powers. Such interference is of particular concern in a country like Nepal, which is sandwiched between two larger powers – India and China – that frequently manipulate its internal politics for their own strategic aims. This has deepened citizen dissatisfaction and disenchantment thus weakening the democratic process," details an IRI project report dated 19 April, 2022.
The IRI documents state at several places that Nepal's political processes had been "manipulated by countries like China and India".
IRI Nepal Sweep Up Proposal 2nd Submission
© Sputnik
In another project brief agreed upon between IRI and Nepalese groups, the US taxpayer-funded group said that it would "train the youth activists and political leaders to advocate concerns on political turmoil, government corruption and national policymaking".
SOW Content Development for ELA
© Sputnik
These contracts signed between IRI and Nepalese groups give details about the project briefs, funding records, scope of work and other related documents in 2021 and 2022.
It remains unclear if there are any existing so-called youth-focussed projects funded by the US NGOs in Nepal, almost a month after the Gen-Z protests led to the toppling of the KP Sharma Oli-led government through street protests.
Significantly, these documents raise questions if the US government or the Congress were aware of these NGO activities targeting the influence of India and China in Nepal. On its website, the NED clearly states that being a Congress-funded organisation, it "must report to the President and Congress annually on its operations".
The newly-surfaced documents provide a detailed timeline highlighting the involvement of the US government-funded NGOs in Nepal.
As part of a $350,000 project, IRI entered into a partnership with Kathmandu-based Solutions Consultant Private Limited (Project number 2020-0010AAA) to help Nepalese youth develop "sustainable networks" and advocate for "democratic change". The duration of this contract was from 1 July, 2021 to 31 March, 2022.
NED-IRI-2020-0010AAA-Nepal Report - FY22
© Sputnik
As part of the contract, the duration of which was till 12 April, 2022, the Nepalese firm was asked to conduct Focus Group Discussions (FGD) and Key Information Interviews (KII), including with politicians, to understand the regulatory frameworks, political culture and the structures of political parties and other institutions among other qualitative metrics.
The questionnaires for these interviews were provided by the Washington-based thinktank, with the final responses and data transmitted back to it.
The document shows that IRI implemented Yuva Netritwa: Paradarshi Niti (Youth Leadership: Transparent Policy) in Nepal to meet its stated goals, which was to bolster youth participating in Nepalese political processes. The findings in turn informed the structure of another Nepal-centric initiative, the Emerging Leaders Academy (ELA).
"The ELA program will provide youth leaders with the skills and knowledge to ensure that future advocacy efforts are more effective and sustainable," the document reads.
On 16 February 2022, IRI's then Asia Division Associated Director Matthew Carter signed a contract with Solutions Consultant Private Limited with the goal of identifying and evaluating the "barriers" faced by Nepalese youth while engaging in the political process. The value of this contract was pegged at $9,135 at the time.
Contract Signed- RQ005334-ASIA2021NP03o- NED FGD and KII (1)
© Sputnik
Budget break-up also shows funding earmarked for the travel of IRI executives from Washington to Kathmandu as well as of Nepalese participants to the US as well as setting-up of field offices. This budget was to the tune of $40,000.
IRI Nepal Sweep Up Budget 1st Submission
© Sputnik / NED
Under the IRI-funded youth leadership programme, IRI also outlined its plans to organise workshops in Nepal for "youth activists, both politically affiliated and unaffiliated, to strengthen their capacity to make positive change in the society, raise voices effectively for good governance and develop their leadership qualities", documents show.
Nepal Youth Leadership Project timeline, IRI
© Sputnik
These workshops focussed on change-making powers, raising your voice and leadership dialogues among other major themes, documents have revealed.
