In recent years, migrants have made a significant contribution to the socio-economic landscape of Nepal. Due to the major contribution of remittances to the country’s economy including skills and expertise of migrants, migration has risen to the top of the policy agenda. The Government of Nepal is increasingly realizing the importance of leveraging the link between migration and development. However, migration in the academic curriculum of Nepali universities is yet to be addressed comprehensively.

The Nepal Migration Profile, published in 2019, highlights many gaps in data and research on migration in Nepal which will limit to ensure that laws and policies are established and targeted successfully. This is particularly important to ensure the effective consideration of cross-cutting issues, such as human rights-based approach, gender and disability. The Migration Profile also acknowledges the necessity of gathering high-quality migration statistics, conducting in-depth migration research, and disseminating more information about migration in order to support and advise the government in developing evidence-based policies and programs.

With the inclusion of migration in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the adoption of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM), migration has made it to the top of the development discourse agenda in the country. However, migration is yet to be fully mainstreamed in the policies of all three tiers (federal, provincial, and local level) of the government, and the national development strategy. Migration governance in Nepal is multi-sectoral with the engagement of different ministries. Currently, respective ministries implement initiatives as part of migration governance, however, these lack an overarching comprehensive and harmonized approach.