NEPAL: New Reports Reveal US Fingerprints Behind Gen-Z Uprising

Newly obtained internal documents reveal a covert U.S.-funded youth mobilisation programme in Nepal, designed to train and mobilise young Nepalis in political advocacy against the influence of India and China. The programme was implemented by the International Republican Institute (IRI), funded by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), with a budget of approximately $350,000 covering July 2021 to June 2022. 

The NED-IRI document from April 14, 2022, outlines the NGO’s strategy and some funding for a crucial aspect of a regime-change initiative that would ultimately waste millions of US taxpayer dollars to enable politically motivated youth to overthrow the government of Nepal by force. In 2022, the US-led political interference organization allocated funds to transport IRI personnel from Washington DC to Kathmandu, costing US$40,000, and hired a consultant for US$9,135 to investigate youth engagement in political power. The budget report for 2022 indicated an expenditure of US$350,000 aimed specifically at mobilizing Nepali youth politically.

DOCUMENT: NEPAL: Yuva Netritwa: Paradarshi Niti (Youth Leadership: Transparent Policy) Narrative Reports– NED-IRI- March 31, 20222020-0010AAA-Nepal Report – FY22
NED-IRI-2020-0010AAA-Nepal-Report-FY22

Furthermore, records from other NED accounts suggest that the total US financial commitment to Nepal is closer to US$2 million annually. While some NED funding is disclosed publicly, it represents merely the soft power and the ‘tip of the iceberg’. Significantly larger amounts are likely being invested in the Nepal initiative by various branches of the US government, ultimately including multiple US intelligence agencies, the US State Department’s USAGM division, and other units focused on international affairs. While hardly anyone disputes the necessity for genuine transformation in Nepal, it was not the responsibility nor the prerogative of the United States to initiate regime change by weaponising Nepalese youth to fulfil its selfish geopolitical objectives, and simultaneously undermining regional players in the process.

Programme Structure and Objectives

• Name: Yuva Netritwa: Paradarshi Niti (Youth Leadership: Transparent Policy)
• Goal: Strengthen youth political participation to pressure Nepali decision-makers towards transparency, accountability, and youth-centred governance, while explicitly advocating against the geopolitical influence of China and India.
• Implementation: Blended political training, protest strategy, and geopolitical messaging to create youth activist networks advocating for U.S.-aligned democratic reforms.

Research and Training Components

• Research Contract: A $9,135 contract with Kathmandu-based Solutions Consultant Pvt. Ltd. conducted nationwide qualitative research via seven focus groups and eight key informant interviews with youth aged 18–35 from political parties, civic organizations, minorities, and unaffiliated groups.
• Research Findings: The May 2022 report identified barriers to youth political engagement, including nepotism, gerontocracy, family political legacies, and urban–rural divides.
• Training Modules: Developed based on research findings, consisting of three modules:
  1. Changemaking Powers – Understanding Nepal’s political context and youth roles.
  2. Leadership Dialogues – Leadership qualities, political engagement, and protest strategies.
  3. Raising Your Voice – Digital advocacy, use of low-bandwidth tools, protest organization, resource mobilisation, and communication skills.
• Budget for Content Development: NPR 400,000, with staged payments upon draft and final delivery.

Regional and Tactical Context

• The Nepal programme was an adaptation of IRI’s Emerging Leaders Academy (ELA) initiatives from Sri Lanka and Indonesia, which have successfully trained civic leaders to engage elected officials, advocate for democratic reforms, and assume leadership roles.
• Digital advocacy techniques, including WhatsApp usage for low-internet penetration communities, were borrowed from IRI’s Venezuela team, demonstrating the programme’s strategic design based on tested playbooks in politically sensitive environments.

Geopolitical and Operational Insights

• The internal documents frame Nepal’s political environment as fragmented, centralized, and vulnerable to manipulation by India and China. The youth networks trained by the U.S. were positioned as strategic actors to counter these influences.
• The programme was tightly controlled from Washington D.C., with extensive involvement of U.S.-based personnel, including program managers, technical specialists, and support staff. Travel costs for Washington-Kathmandu trips exceeded local subcontractor payments, highlighting the centrality of U.S. oversight.
• Contracts adhered to strict U.S. federal cost principles and compliance rules, including prohibitions on the use of Chinese telecommunications equipment, underscoring the project’s geopolitical dimension.

Relation to Political Protests and Digital Manipulation

• A forensic report by cyber intelligence firm Cyabra linked recent Nepalese protests, which contributed to the government’s overthrow, to significant online manipulation. Around 34% of protest-related social media content was generated by highly sophisticated fake profiles using AI-generated images and Nepali hashtags.
• These digital personas amplified violent narratives and engaged with real users to influence public opinion, reaching an estimated 326 million views and over 164,000 interactions, thus disproportionately shaping political discourse.
• This finding sharpens the understanding of the U.S. programme’s role, embedding youth activism within a broader context of digitally mediated political influence.

Budget and Financial Oversight

• Total budget: $350,000
  • $266,553 direct costs
  • $18,000 subgrants
  • $65,447 indirect costs
• Major expenses included Washington-based personnel salaries, international travel, domestic workshops, office operations, and equipment.
• The local subcontract for core research was only $9,135, less than the cost of two Washington-Kathmandu trips, illustrating the disproportionate allocation of funds.
• The project was subject to strict invoicing deadlines and compliance with U.S. federal grant regulations.

The documents conclusively demonstrate that the political programme executed in Nepal was a Washington-led initiative blending local youth mobilisation with explicit geopolitical aims to counter India and China. It combined research, training, advocacy, and protest strategies within a tightly managed U.S. compliance framework. The initiative’s operational and financial structure, as well as its integration with digital influence efforts, reveals a sophisticated foreign strategy and an orchestrated interference operation, whose sole aim was to shape Nepal’s political landscape through youth engagement from 2021 to 2022. Sputnik India has the story and the receipts….

IMAGE: Nepal Gen-Z US-engineered uprising and Anti-corruption protests (Source: Niranjan Shrestha AP Photo/picture alliance)

Dhairya Maheshwari reports for Sputnik India…

US Instigated Gen-Z Protests in Nepal to Damage India, China, New Docs Reveal

Since the NED, a major funder of IRI, is bound to report on its global operations to the US Congress, Washington was likely 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 Indian 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”.

IMAGE: IRI Nepal Sweep Up Proposal 2nd Submission (Source: 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”.

IMAGE: Scope of Work (SOW) Content Development for Emerging Leaders Academy (ELA)

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.

DOCUMENT: NEPAL: Yuva Netritwa: Paradarshi Niti (Youth Leadership: Transparent Policy) Narrative Reports– NED-IRI- March 31, 20222020-0010AAA-Nepal Report – FY22
NED-IRI-2020-0010AAA-Nepal-Report-FY22

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 think tank, 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 were to bolster youth participation 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.

IMAGE: Contract Signed- RQ005334-ASIA2021NP03o- NED FGD and KII (1)

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.

IMAGE: IRI Nepal Sweep Up Budget 1st Submission

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.

IMAGE: Nepal Youth Leadership Project timeline, IRI

These workshops focused on change-making powers, raising your voice and leadership dialogues among other major themes, documents have revealed.

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Source: https://21stcenturywire.com/2025/10/10/nepal-new-reports-reveal-us-fingerprints-behind-gen-z-uprising/