200 Former Child Soldiers released

200 plus former child soldiers held since 2006 when the conflict officially ended have been released.  They are the first wave to be released from camps monitored by UNMIN and UNICEF.  They were given civilian clothes (no longer wearing their blue Maoist uniforms) and NRs. 10K and sent on their way.  Read about it here.

High-level Political Mechanism (HPM) in Nepal

New buzzwords for getting people to get along and write this constitution - HPM.  (Though the reality being when the document is written, and decisions about how to split up the country are made, 601 members of the constituent assembly will be out of jobs.  And I thought these were volunteer positions!)  Seems HPM is something UNMIN thought up in May.

Here's an commentary on the HPM and the opinions about it: Important political milestone for Nepal or strategic political conspiracy?  At least the stalemate is over - but then again, HPM might just be another acronym for "Fillabuster."

Republica
Nepal News
Himalayan Times

UN Allocates $6M to food crisis in Nepal

Short UN posting about allocations to the World Food Program in Nepal here.

One does wonder about the effectiveness of its programs in Nepal and how the money will be allocated to address needs.