The Institute of Foreign Affairs (IFA) was originally designed to cater to professional training needs of the Nepalese Foreign Service officials and personnel. It was reconstituted in 1998 as a semi-autonomous body, and with a new mandate, aims to serve as a catalyst for generating national consensus on foreign policy issues through interactions, discussion and deliberations. Preserving documents of historic importance as well as dissemination of information on foreign policy related issues is another major responsibility of the Institute.
The Institute is involved in a variety of activities, including:
- developing policy recommendations for the Nepalese government
- organising seminars, workshops and talk programmes
- conducting focussed research on foreign policy issues
- producing publications on foreign policy issues and proceedings of events
- organising briefing programmes for Royal Nepalese Ambassador designates, Economic Counsellors, Consul Generals, and other diplomatic representatives.
The Institute has established strong organisational links with like-minded Institutes in the region. Partnerships with International Organisations and Foreign Governments are also actively being developed.
The website contains further details on the objectives and activities of the Institute, Talk Programmes, publications and documents, news and related links. Articles on Nepal’s foreign policy, regional security concerns, and socio-economic development initiatives can be downloaded from the website. Information on how to obtain additional publications is also available on this website.