1. Making Societal Trend towards Immigration Humane
An estimated 45% of the total exile Tibetan population have already immigrated to the West. Of them, around 80% have immigrated privately and unassisted by any Central Tibetan Administration-approved immigration/rehabilitation programs. Many of them have experienced hardships and challenges in their respective immigration processes including rising financial burden, prolonged family separation, and individually navigating the lengthy, tedious and complex immigration process. The societal trend and demographic shift in the past two decades indicate the continued inevitability of this migration phenomenon within the exile community in the coming decade or so. In light of this current social reality, it is imperative that the CTA initiate and implement a major Resettlement Program of 10,000 Tibetans from India and Nepal to western countries to mitigate any challenges the prospective Tibetan immigrants may face in the future.
2. Beneficial for Tibetan Community Development
This Resettlement Program will not only facilitate Tibetans to adopt a new livelihood and a standard of living that is more self-reliant and self-sustaining, but also provides younger Tibetans with educational access and opportunities in good schools and world-renowned colleges and equip them adequately and professionally in this modern competitive world. Given the past success of many overseas Tibetan communities in balancing and integrating the new way of life along with the preservation of our unique Tibetan language, culture, and Tibetan values, the growth in similar Tibetan communities in the western countries can strengthen our culture.
3. Impact on the Tibetan Cause
As a citizen of developed nations, Tibetan immigrants will be able to exercise their rights and participate in the political process of their respective regions and countries to successfully advocate and lobby on various social, economic, and political matters, including on the resolution of Tibet issue through dialogue with the PRC Government. It will empower Tibetans to effectively lobby their local and state representatives to raise their voices and in turn, pressure their respective national governments to make China accountable for their human rights abuses in Tibet and ensure greater freedom for our Tibetan brothers and sisters in Tibet. Tibetan youths will have the opportunity to serve in offices of local elected representatives and in their school and work environments and act as unofficial ambassadors for Tibet to strengthen the ongoing Tibetan freedom struggle movement.
4. Improving the Status of Tibetans in India and Nepal
This Resettlement Program can help alleviate persistent challenges faced by Tibetans in India and Nepal. Although our community has witnessed social and financial developments in the past few decades in India, there are still Tibetans who continue to live in conditions of poverty and vulnerability and are in need for aid and assistance. In the wake of growing proximity between China and Nepal and the consequent shifting national policies on Tibetans in Nepal, many Tibetans in Nepal live in a state of uncertainty and vulnerability. Many undocumented Tibetans in Nepal face deprivation of access to opportunities for education, employment in public sector and state-supported social assistance. These external challenges which are largely beyond the control of the CTA, and the resultant increased reliance on the CTA can be greatly mitigated through such a Resettlement Program.
If elected Sikyong, he will launch an online platform that will serve as a vital tool to support families and communities in their efforts to preserve and teach Tibetan culture and language. He called this initiative “Project Songtsen” named after a great king that is widely credited for creating the united Tibetan culture, language and identity.
Within the first 100 days of his mandate, he will task the concerned CTA Department in collaboration with TCRC and external consultants to start a feasibility study for Project Songtsen to design an easy to use online and two way platform.
While prioritizing spending on Project Songtsen with CTA, he is confident that Project Songtsen can attract much funding from our government and donor friends from around the world. He plans to do a full audit of the resources that we already have to tackle culture and language preservation, both talent and content and make sure that we fully leverage and digitize content to be used on this platform.
Once Project Songtsen is able to establish value, accessibility and ease of use for Tibetans worldwide, we can layer on a near endless number of services and features on our platform to best serve Tibetans. But first Project Songtsen must do one thing really well and that will be culture and language preservation.
i) Review and revamp membership composition and individual role allocation
ii) Expand Sino-Tibetan Task Force Secretariat
iii) Constitute Advisory Board consisting of international experts and members representative of diverse political ideologies
iv)Train the negotiation team with relevant skills on diplomacy, negotiation, and conflict resolution
i) Form coalition with like-minded countries
ii) Seek international parliamentary support and resolutions on Sino-Tibetan dialogue
iii) Organize a "Future of Tibet" Conference to demonstrate both the critical Tibet issue and the urgent need to resolve the Tibet issue
iv) Organize a major people's movement titled "Save Tibet" at Washington DC to bring awareness on the dire Tibet situation and to raise support for Sino-Tibetan dialogue
v) Organize a major Buddhist conference to enhance cooperation among different Buddhists communities in the world as well as to seek support from them on the Tibet issue
Proactively explore every diplomatic channels and back channel diplomacy including Track-II and Track 1.5 dialogues to reach out to the Chinese counterparts for Sino-Tibetan dialogue
Conduct a study of the viability of the Tibetan winter garment business over the next 5-10 years. In the meantime, identify and facilitate alternatives for winter sweater sellers to diversify their livelihood strategies, including through reskilling training.
Proactively develop opportunities for small enterprise development with local entrepreneurs in each settlement. Support them to conduct studies of potential business growth areas, identify interested local entrepreneurs, provide technical support for market research, business planning, product development, registration and tax compliance, and marketing, provide ongoing mentorship
Form partnerships with certified institutes and corporate training programs with existing employer linkages to provide skills training and employment opportunities for unemployed Tibetans.
Adopt agribusiness development as the CTA’s main strategy for agriculture settlements, to achieve the following goals: a) increase profits for declining numbers of farmers, b) reduce the need for donor-dependent, unsustainable agriculture projects c) create self-sustaining agribusinesses in settlements, that also generate revenue for the CTA, d) reduce risk of land being lost to encroachment, e) inspire and encourage entrepreneurial youth who are interested in agribusiness.
Each agribusiness development venture should have a public-private partnership model of collaboration between a crop-specific farmer producer company (FPC) at the settlement level, an autonomous agriculture holding company established by CTA at the central level, and an established Indian company to form a joint venture with the holding company, with ready buyers and capacity to handle storage, processing, marketing, branding and distribution on behalf of the PPP joint venture.
To institutionalize mandatory compliance with CTA policy guidelines to protect women and girls from gender-based harassment, abuse, exploitation, and violence at all institutions and organizations, Kasur Lobsang Nyandak plans to establish SGBV (Sexual and Gender-based Violence Against Women) committees and safe spaces will be established at every settlement and school and gender focal persons to be identified and trained in every settlement and school who will provide counseling, reach out to women and girls, manage safe spaces, and arrange psychological, emotional, medical, financial, legal aid and trauma management support for SGBV victims when needed. The former Kalon for the Department of Health also agreed to a suggestion to appoint a Woman Commissioner. Efforts will be made to build community awareness and creating safe spaces for girls everywhere.
Gender justice will be promoted to challenge gender inequality and to achieve gender equality by supporting women’s access to resources, raising women’s voices and participation, and ending violence against women and girls. He will ensure women and men are treated equally in the workplace and strengthen women’s role and voices in leadership decision-making. Kasur Lobsang Nyandak will have affirmative action policy by setting minimum 30% women for CTA staff hiring; committed to a minimum of two women Kalons and set a goal of 40% women at decision making executive level in CTA administration, including Secretary, Additional, Joint and Deputy Secretary within 5 years.
He plans to reposition the Women Empowerment Desk as an interdepartmental unit and call it CTA Women and Gender Commission that provides advisory, training and monitoring support for all departments.
Kasur Lobsang Nyandak plans to ensure every mother and child has full access to livelihoods, health and education support so that all their basic needs are taken care of without exception. All mothers and children by settlement and income status will be identified, based on the Department of Home’s database from 2019 demographic survey. Depending on their individual situations, CTA will provide necessary supports, including counseling for mothers who are household heads and single mothers; financial and/or food security support for mother-led households with low income and for families with larger numbers of children; preferential access to loans, small business development services, job skills training for mothers who are also breadwinners; better access and quality of childcare for working mothers, by upgrading crèches/nurseries in every settlement; parenting workshops and counseling; better quality of pre-primary and primary grade education. Early child education should be a priority of education policy.
To help keep girls in school and to finish higher education, Kasur Lobsang Nyandak plans to establish exclusive girls scholarship programs to support girls from vulnerable family backgrounds to pursue higher studies. He assures supporting women led non-governmental organizations that provide humanitarian services, in addition to providing leadership training for women.
Special emphasis on prevention of diseases. The most prevalent diseases in our community are lifestyle related “non-communicable” diseases - diabetes and hypertension. Health education to “change behavior” is the best way to prevent and reduce these, through better diet and exercise, for example.
The most prevalent communicable diseases are TB and Hepatitis B. These can be minimized with help of: 1) Health education; 2) Preventive vaccines; 3) Effective treatment. He called for “Free Hep. B and Free TB” campaigns. He called for every pregnant women be screened for Hep B and every mother, newborn and girls must be vaccinated to eradicate Hep B in the future.
To provide free annual physical check-up for Tibetans in South Asia in CTA run hospitals.
Health and care for Tibetan elders: improve the infrastructure and conditions of elder homes; provide nurses and train elder home caregivers in geriatric care.
Ensure every mother and child has full access to health support so that their basic needs are taken care of without exception, including increased maternal and child health services for pregnant women, infants and their mothers; pediatric care services for children, from local specialists; gynecological services for mothers; regular household visits from DOH health workers focusing on maternal and child health.
Expansion of Tibetan Medicare System
Both the Tibetan and Allopathic medicines will provide a holistic approach to improve the health of Tibetans.
To provide support to non-CTA hospitals and Clinics
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