Nepal, July 18 -- The hopes of Nepalis for rapid economic development, inspired by the Republican constitution (2006), have turned into despair. A widespread sense of despondency, often expressed as "nothing happens in Nepal," pervades the country. Nepal's overall official unemployment rate rose from approximately 5 percent in the mid-1990s to about 11 percent-one of the highest in South Asia-in 2024. Unemployment among the working-age population is the highest and worsening; it increased from approximately 7 percent in 1995 to about 23 percent in 2023. Hundreds of young men and women leave the country every day for employment. The phrase "Our villages are becoming empty" is a common outcry. Large areas of farmland lie fallow because ther...