Open Knowledge Foundation Nepal

Open Knowledge Foundation Nepal Liberating Knowledge for Opportunities: A non-profit civic tech organization working to create a fair, sustainable, and open future.

The movement toward the Open Nepal, โ€œLiberating Knowledge for Opportunityโ€.

At the ๐„๐ฆ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฐ๐ž๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐‹๐จ๐œ๐š๐ฅ ๐„๐ง๐ญ๐ž๐ซ๐ฉ๐ซ๐ข๐ฌ๐ž๐ฌ ๐“๐ก๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก ๐ƒ๐ข๐ ๐ข๐ญ๐š๐ฅ ๐‘๐จ๐š๐๐ฆ๐š๐ฉ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ ๐ซ๐š๐ฆ, they signed up to teach digital skills. They left w...
06/05/2026

At the ๐„๐ฆ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฐ๐ž๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐‹๐จ๐œ๐š๐ฅ ๐„๐ง๐ญ๐ž๐ซ๐ฉ๐ซ๐ข๐ฌ๐ž๐ฌ ๐“๐ก๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก ๐ƒ๐ข๐ ๐ข๐ญ๐š๐ฅ ๐‘๐จ๐š๐๐ฆ๐š๐ฉ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ ๐ซ๐š๐ฆ, they signed up to teach digital skills. They left with something they didn't expect: a deep understanding of what it takes to run a real business in a growing city, and where the gaps are.

Volunteers spent eighteen days embedded inside local enterprises in Dhangadhi, not just setting up pages and listings, but building content, teaching digital safety, and walking entrepreneurs through every step until they actually understood.

At the end, they brought their findings to the local government and youth groups to plan what comes next. That handoff matters. It's what turns a programme into something that lasts.

They came from different backgrounds, beauty parlours, spice shops, fish farming, and general stores. Some had never tho...
06/05/2026

They came from different backgrounds, beauty parlours, spice shops, fish farming, and general stores. Some had never thought about putting their business online. Some were already posting but didn't know there was a better way.โฃ
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๐„๐ฆ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฐ๐ž๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐‹๐จ๐œ๐š๐ฅ ๐„๐ง๐ญ๐ž๐ซ๐ฉ๐ซ๐ข๐ฌ๐ž๐ฌ ๐“๐ก๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก ๐ƒ๐ข๐ ๐ข๐ญ๐š๐ฅ ๐‘๐จ๐š๐๐ฆ๐š๐ฉ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ ๐ซ๐š๐ฆ gave them two days of training and weeks of hands-on support from local youth volunteers. By the end, every mentored business had a page, a Google Maps listing, and a clearer picture of what it means to operate safely in digital spaces, from setting up digital payments and promoting products online, to understanding cybersecurity, recognising scams, and knowing their rights as digital sellers under Nepal's evolving e-commerce laws.โฃ
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For the women in the group, that last part mattered most, knowing how to protect themselves and their customers while building a public presence online.โฃ
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The basics are in place. The confidence is there. What comes next is theirs to build. ๐ŸŒฑโฃ
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AI systems weren't built with Nepal in mind โ€” and Nepali voices are paying the price.๐‹๐ž๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ซ๐š๐ข๐ง๐ข๐ง๐  ๐๐š๐ญ๐š. ๐Œ๐ข๐ฌ๐ซ๐ž๐š๐ ๐ฌ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐ซ๐ž....
06/05/2026

AI systems weren't built with Nepal in mind โ€” and Nepali voices are paying the price.

๐‹๐ž๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ซ๐š๐ข๐ง๐ข๐ง๐  ๐๐š๐ญ๐š. ๐Œ๐ข๐ฌ๐ซ๐ž๐š๐ ๐ฌ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐ซ๐ž. ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐ข๐œ๐ข๐ž๐ฌ ๐๐ž๐ฌ๐ข๐ ๐ง๐ž๐ ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐–๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ๐ž๐ซ๐ง ๐ฆ๐š๐ซ๐ค๐ž๐ญ๐ฌ. The result? Nepali content gets flagged, filtered, and silenced.



cc Pulitzer Center

Nepal's ๐„-๐‚๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ž๐ซ๐œ๐ž ๐€๐œ๐ญ ๐Ÿ๐ŸŽ๐Ÿ–๐Ÿ requires every business selling online to register, display their details, and meet consumer...
06/05/2026

Nepal's ๐„-๐‚๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ž๐ซ๐œ๐ž ๐€๐œ๐ญ ๐Ÿ๐ŸŽ๐Ÿ–๐Ÿ requires every business selling online to register, display their details, and meet consumer protection standards. That's a good thing.โฃ
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But for a small business owner, the process to actually comply involves multiple government offices, legal documentation, and a national portal that assumes a level of support most micro-entrepreneurs simply don't have access to.โฃ
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The law is theoretically open to everyone. The system behind it isn't.โฃ
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Here are three changes that would close that gap. ๐Ÿ‘‰โฃ
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๐„๐ฆ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฐ๐ž๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐‹๐จ๐œ๐š๐ฅ ๐„๐ง๐ญ๐ซ๐ž๐ฉ๐ซ๐ž๐ง๐ž๐ฎ๐ซ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก ๐ƒ๐ข๐ ๐ข๐ญ๐š๐ฅ ๐‘๐จ๐š๐๐ฆ๐š๐ฉ in Dhangadhi set out to bring micro-entrepreneurs in Dhangadhi on...
05/05/2026

๐„๐ฆ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฐ๐ž๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐‹๐จ๐œ๐š๐ฅ ๐„๐ง๐ญ๐ซ๐ž๐ฉ๐ซ๐ž๐ง๐ž๐ฎ๐ซ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก ๐ƒ๐ข๐ ๐ข๐ญ๐š๐ฅ ๐‘๐จ๐š๐๐ฆ๐š๐ฉ in Dhangadhi set out to bring micro-entrepreneurs in Dhangadhi online. It did. But getting connected revealed a problem we didn't set out to solve.

๐๐ž๐ฉ๐š๐ฅ'๐ฌ ๐„-๐‚๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ž๐ซ๐œ๐ž ๐€๐œ๐ญ ๐Ÿ๐ŸŽ๐Ÿ–๐Ÿ creates obligations that most small businesses don't know exist, and a compliance pathway they can't navigate alone.

Swipe to see what we observed. ๐Ÿ‘‰

Nepal's digital commerce law was 20 years old. A new one just arrived. ๐Ÿ“œThe E-Commerce Act 2081 (2025) now covers every ...
04/05/2026

Nepal's digital commerce law was 20 years old. A new one just arrived. ๐Ÿ“œ

The E-Commerce Act 2081 (2025) now covers every digital seller โ€” including those selling on Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. ๐…๐š๐œ๐ž๐›๐จ๐จ๐ค เคฌเคพเคŸ เคฌเฅ‡เคšเฅเคจเฅ? เค…เคฌ เคฆเคฐเฅเคคเคพ เค…เคจเคฟเคตเคพเคฐเฅเคฏ เค›เฅค ๐Ÿ›’

๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ฆ๐ข๐œ๐ซ๐จ-๐ž๐ง๐ญ๐ซ๐ž๐ฉ๐ซ๐ž๐ง๐ž๐ฎ๐ซ๐ฌ ๐ง๐ž๐ž๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ค๐ง๐จ๐ฐ:
โ†’ Registration is mandatory โ€” no exceptions for social media sellers โœ…
โ†’ Micro-enterprises don't need a full e-commerce platform โ€” but registration is still required ๐Ÿ“‹
โ†’ Non-compliance? Up to Rs 1,00,000 fine โš ๏ธ

In our Dhangadhi sessions, people kept asking: "๐ˆ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฅ๐ž๐ ๐š๐ฅ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐š๐ค๐ž ๐จ๐ซ๐๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ง ๐…๐š๐œ๐ž๐›๐จ๐จ๐ค?"

Now there's a law. But most sellers still don't know it exists. ๐Ÿ”

๐‚๐ก๐ž๐š๐ญ๐ž๐ ๐จ๐ง๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ž? ๐‡๐š๐ซ๐š๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ž๐ ๐จ๐ง ๐ฌ๐จ๐œ๐ข๐š๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐ž๐๐ข๐š? ๐’๐œ๐š๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ž๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก ๐š ๐Ÿ๐š๐ค๐ž ๐ฉ๐š๐ฒ๐ฆ๐ž๐ง๐ญ? ๐Ÿ“ฑYou have legal recourse in Nepal โ€” most peopl...
29/04/2026

๐‚๐ก๐ž๐š๐ญ๐ž๐ ๐จ๐ง๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ž? ๐‡๐š๐ซ๐š๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ž๐ ๐จ๐ง ๐ฌ๐จ๐œ๐ข๐š๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐ž๐๐ข๐š? ๐’๐œ๐š๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ž๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก ๐š ๐Ÿ๐š๐ค๐ž ๐ฉ๐š๐ฒ๐ฆ๐ž๐ง๐ญ? ๐Ÿ“ฑ

You have legal recourse in Nepal โ€” most people just don't know how to use it.

This guide walks you through exactly what to do: ๐’˜๐’‰๐’‚๐’• ๐’„๐’๐’–๐’๐’•๐’” ๐’‚๐’” ๐’„๐’š๐’ƒ๐’†๐’“๐’„๐’“๐’Š๐’Ž๐’† ๐’–๐’๐’…๐’†๐’“ ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐‘ฌ๐’๐’†๐’„๐’•๐’“๐’๐’๐’Š๐’„ ๐‘ป๐’“๐’‚๐’๐’”๐’‚๐’„๐’•๐’Š๐’๐’ ๐‘จ๐’„๐’• 2063, what evidence to collect, and three ways to file your complaint, including from outside Kathmandu.

If you use digital tools to earn a living, this is essential reading.

เค เค—เคฟเคเค•เฅ‹ เค›? เคนเฅˆเคฐเคพเคจเฅ€ เคญเคเค•เฅ‹ เค›? เค•เคพเคจเฅ‚เคจ เคคเคชเคพเคˆเค‚เค•เฅ‹ เคชเค•เฅเคทเคฎเคพ เค› โ€” เคœเคพเคจเฅเคจเฅเคธเฅ เค•เคธเคฐเฅ€ เคชเฅเคฐเคฏเฅ‹เค— เค—เคฐเฅเคจเฅ‡เฅค

๐’๐š๐ฏ๐ž ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ. ๐’๐ก๐š๐ซ๐ž ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฆ๐ž๐จ๐ง๐ž ๐ฐ๐ก๐จ ๐ง๐ž๐ž๐๐ฌ ๐ข๐ญ.



cc CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation, Accountability Lab

๐ƒ๐ข๐ ๐ข๐ญ๐š๐ฅ ๐ข๐ง๐œ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐ข๐ ๐ข๐ญ๐š๐ฅ ๐๐ž๐ฆ๐จ๐œ๐ซ๐š๐œ๐ฒ. ๐ŸŒWe just wrapped up three months in Dhangadhi โ€” and here is what happened.20 ๐ž๐ง๐ญ...
27/04/2026

๐ƒ๐ข๐ ๐ข๐ญ๐š๐ฅ ๐ข๐ง๐œ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐ข๐ ๐ข๐ญ๐š๐ฅ ๐๐ž๐ฆ๐จ๐œ๐ซ๐š๐œ๐ฒ. ๐ŸŒ

We just wrapped up three months in Dhangadhi โ€” and here is what happened.

20 ๐ž๐ง๐ญ๐ซ๐ž๐ฉ๐ซ๐ž๐ง๐ž๐ฎ๐ซ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ซ๐š๐ข๐ง๐ž๐. 9 ๐›๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ข๐ง๐ž๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ž๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐ž๐ง๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ž๐ ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ 18 ๐๐š๐ฒ๐ฌ. 3 ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ก ๐ฏ๐จ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐ž๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ก๐จ ๐๐ข๐๐ง'๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ž๐š๐œ๐ก ๐ฌ๐ค๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฌ โ€” they sat inside local businesses, understood how a growing city really works, and then brought those findings to local government.

Ward Representative Jugram Chaudhary showed up to the closing showcase. That matters.

Facebook เคฌเคพเคŸ เคฌเฅ‡เคšเฅเคจเฅ‡, Google เคฎเคพ เคฆเฅ‡เค–เคฟเคจเฅ‡ โ€” เคฏเฅ‹ เคฎเคพเคคเฅเคฐ เคตเฅเคฏเคพเคชเคพเคฐ เคนเฅ‹เค‡เคจ, เคฏเฅ‹ เคธเคนเคญเคพเค—เคฟเคคเคพ เคนเฅ‹เฅค

Nepal has $90M in incoming digital investment. The E-Commerce Act 2081 now places obligations on every informal seller. The Digital Nepal Framework 2.0 has ambitions for every municipality. None of it works if the people it's designed for are still waiting to be included.

๐ƒ๐ก๐š๐ง๐ ๐š๐๐ก๐ข ๐ฌ๐ก๐จ๐ฐ๐ž๐ ๐ข๐ญ'๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐›๐ฅ๐ž.

They had smartphones. They used the internet every day. But no one had ever told them: ๐’š๐’๐’–๐’“ ๐’ƒ๐’–๐’”๐’Š๐’๐’†๐’”๐’” ๐’ƒ๐’†๐’๐’๐’๐’ˆ๐’” ๐’๐’๐’๐’Š๐’๐’† ๐’•๐’๐’....
26/04/2026

They had smartphones. They used the internet every day. But no one had ever told them: ๐’š๐’๐’–๐’“ ๐’ƒ๐’–๐’”๐’Š๐’๐’†๐’”๐’” ๐’ƒ๐’†๐’๐’๐’๐’ˆ๐’” ๐’๐’๐’๐’Š๐’๐’† ๐’•๐’๐’.

This is what we discovered when Open Knowledge Nepal went to Dhangadhi โ€” and it completely reframed how we think about digital inclusion. The barrier was not connectivity. ๐ˆ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐š๐ฌ ๐œ๐จ๐ง๐Ÿ๐ข๐๐ž๐ง๐œ๐ž, ๐ญ๐ซ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ, ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐š๐›๐ฌ๐ž๐ง๐œ๐ž ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐š ๐ ๐ฎ๐ข๐๐ž.

What does it take to move someone from scrolling to doing?

๐‘๐ž๐š๐ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฅ๐š๐ญ๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ ๐›๐ฅ๐จ๐  ๐ญ๐จ ๐Ÿ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ: https://oknp.org/blogs/when-access-isnt-enough-digital-inclusion-lessons-from-dhangadhi



cc CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation, Accountability Lab Nepal

๐’๐œ๐ซ๐จ๐ฅ๐ฅ. ๐‹๐ข๐ค๐ž. ๐‘๐ž๐ฉ๐ž๐š๐ญ. ๐๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ก๐จ ๐๐ž๐œ๐ข๐๐ž๐ ๐ฐ๐ก๐š๐ญ'๐ฌ ๐ข๐ง ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐Ÿ๐ž๐ž๐? ๐Ÿ“ฑPlatforms make thousands of invisible decisions about what y...
22/04/2026

๐’๐œ๐ซ๐จ๐ฅ๐ฅ. ๐‹๐ข๐ค๐ž. ๐‘๐ž๐ฉ๐ž๐š๐ญ. ๐๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ก๐จ ๐๐ž๐œ๐ข๐๐ž๐ ๐ฐ๐ก๐š๐ญ'๐ฌ ๐ข๐ง ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐Ÿ๐ž๐ž๐? ๐Ÿ“ฑ

Platforms make thousands of invisible decisions about what you see and what gets hidden. In Nepal, where social media is the primary space for news and civic debate, that matters enormously.

Our latest explainer series, ๐‘พ๐’‰๐’†๐’ ๐‘จ๐’๐’ˆ๐’๐’“๐’Š๐’•๐’‰๐’Ž๐’” ๐‘ซ๐’†๐’„๐’Š๐’…๐’†: ๐‘ญ๐’Š๐’๐’•๐’†๐’“๐’†๐’… ๐‘ฝ๐’๐’Š๐’„๐’†๐’” ๐’‡๐’“๐’๐’Ž ๐‘ต๐’†๐’‘๐’‚๐’, breaks down how automated content moderation shapes what Nepali users see, say, and participate in online. When algorithms shape public information in Nepal, it's not just a tech issue โ€” ๐ข๐ญ'๐ฌ ๐š ๐๐ž๐ฆ๐จ๐œ๐ซ๐š๐œ๐ฒ ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ž.

Supported by Pulitzer Center

๐’๐ก๐จ๐ฐ๐œ๐š๐ฌ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐๐ข๐ ๐ข๐ญ๐š๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ง๐ž๐ฒ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ง ๐ƒ๐ก๐š๐ง๐ ๐š๐๐ก๐ข ๐Ÿš€โฃโฃOn April 3, we brought together entrepreneurs, youth volunteers, and local g...
07/04/2026

๐’๐ก๐จ๐ฐ๐œ๐š๐ฌ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐๐ข๐ ๐ข๐ญ๐š๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ง๐ž๐ฒ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ง ๐ƒ๐ก๐š๐ง๐ ๐š๐๐ก๐ข ๐Ÿš€โฃ
โฃ
On April 3, we brought together entrepreneurs, youth volunteers, and local government to reflect on the completion of ๐„๐ฆ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฐ๐ž๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐‹๐จ๐œ๐š๐ฅ ๐„๐ง๐ญ๐ž๐ซ๐ฉ๐ซ๐ข๐ฌ๐ž ๐“๐ก๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก ๐ƒ๐ข๐ ๐ข๐ญ๐š๐ฅ ๐‘๐จ๐š๐๐ฆ๐š๐ฉ๐ฌ, following the training and mentorship phase.โฃ
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From creating their first online presence to engaging real customers, entrepreneurs shared how their Digital Roadmaps are turning into action.โฃ

ccโฃ Accountability Lab Nepal, Accountability Lab, Nikesh Balami

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