KATHMANDU: Nepal Centre for Security Governance (NCSG) organized an expert meeting on “The Role of Security Sector during the COVID-19 Pandemic” via webinar on Friday.

It was as a part its regular National Working Group Meeting of distinguished individuals of the security sector in Nepal.

Respecting the control measures put in place by the Government of Nepal to contain the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, NCSG has resorted to online meetings, dialogues and discussions to map the contemporary security dimensions, and reaching out to the related stakeholders to take necessary actions.

The meeting is the continuation of the discussion series that NCSG initiated regarding national priority issues on on Human Security and Security Sector Governance in Nepal.

The meeting participants comprising of security professionals/experts from different security institutions of Nepal (viz. Nepali Army, Nepal Police and Armed Police Force), lawmakers, academicians /scholars, and rights activists, are in unison that a comprehensive and coordinated approach including the security sector is imperative to deal with the ongoing pandemic.

Otherwise, the experts fear that the situation could be worsened by each passing day jeopardizing the overall human security condition in the country.

The meeting concluded that the government through nationwide lockdown has bought valuable time to get prepared on preventive and control measures, but has largely failed to material due to lack of pro-activeness and necessary planning.

The government also failed to learn from the experience of other countries, and continued showing its sloppiness despite repeated alarm from the World Health Organization (WHO) putting Nepal in a vulnerable situation, they said.

In fact, the government and its infection control mechanism (including CCMC) lacked the farsightedness to comprehend the wide-ranging implications of the pandemic, the result is unfolding into serious consequences with rapid growth in corona cases at present, according to the experts.

They said that the government could have used the security sector more effectively, especially to bring back Nepali migrant workers from borders in a more organized manner and handling the quarantine centers as per the guidelines of WHO, all of which are found to be the main reasons for the sudden growth in the number of cases.

The experts suspect that our national capacity is already overwhelmed by the requirement for controlling the infection. Therefore, rather than getting involved in blame-game, Nepal needs a coordinated approach, involving all possible sectors and stakeholders, to deal with this difficult situation.