South Asian countries including Nepal are blessed by abundant natural resources and young population. They share common cultural traits as well as social and political problems. As for instance, Nepal embraced democracy in 1990, following a mass movement. However, thanks to weak government policies and state mechanism the state failed to fulfill the aspiration of impoverished people, leading to Maoist insurgency (1990-2006). It was after the end of insurgency that a group of seasoned scholars felt the stark need of a think-tank institution that could provide lasting solution to socio-economic problems like political instability, unemployment, poverty and social unrest being faced by South Asian countries like Nepal.
The scholars concluded that political instability and failure of the state to accelerate development, especially in developing countries, was due to the unsound policies adopted by concerned policy leaders. They found out that most of the government policies were not based on the findings of empirical research.
Besides, countries in South Asia lacked adequate in-country expertise for policy analysis. Therefore, the scholars established SAIPAL in 2009. SAIPAL strives to support government, non-government, communities and individuals, particularly in South Asia Region including Nepal by providing clear, concise policies, based on research works. SAIPAL also provides technical support for government or non-government institutions for policy analysis.
SAIPAL boasts of skilled researches from multi-cultural background. Its promoters are driven by the belief that any issue in the globalized context should be tackled through knowledge drawn from social and natural sciences. These factors makes SAIPAL stand out among other research organizations. Researchers at SAIPAL work hard to produce unbiased works, honed by rigorous analysis of data and fact checking. They can employ microsimulation models to experiment ideas and predict impact of demographic and policy changes on target communities.