Alliance for Social Dialogue was set up with an aim to promote dialogue within Nepal on a variety of issues, including but not limited to the promotion of democratic values and institutions in Nepal. ASD has been engaging with Nepali stakeholders in an effort to exercise intellectual leadership in important areas that promote an open society, such as education, human rights, and independent media.

ASD seeks to develop strategic partnerships and networks to facilitate discussion and dialogue of policy issues in contemporary Nepali society. It works towards enhancing the role of democratic civil society actors in consolidating the democratic process in an effort to foster an open society in this period of political transition.

ASD receives financial assistance from the Open Society Foundations (OSF) to run its activities and programmes and it has been assisting OSF in the development of their funding priorities in Nepal. ASD has been conducting outreach activities through consultations, workshops, site visits, etc, in an effort to encourage local organizations to propose innovative ideas and submit proposals for funding in ASD’s priority areas with the potential to advance concepts, policies and programmes and generate long-term solutions to local problems and challenges.

Alliance for Social Dialogue is an unincorporated group of individuals consisting of Nepali social scientists, human rights activists, media persons and educationists with an intention of promoting democratic values that can lead towards a free and open society in Nepal. ASD conducts its activities with the backing of a Secretariat currently housed at the Social Science Baha (SSB), Kathmandu. The Secretariat has been providing administrative and organizational support to ASD, including but not limited to organizing meetings and workshops, and collecting and processing project proposals.

ASD is governed by a set of by-laws which provides for an Executive Committee of five individuals. It has been a priority of the ASD to ensure that both the ASD and its Executive Committee are representative of Nepal’s social and ethnic diversity. ASD runs programmes through its thematic Sub-committees comprising of members of ASD and the Secretariat in areas identified by its Executive Committee.