 |
|
|
|
 |
| USAID Information:
External Links:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Nepal
SNAPSHOT
Date of unification: 1768
Capital: Kathmandu
Population: 28.1 million (2007)
Income per person: $340 (yr)
Source: World Development Indicators 2007
USAID/NEPAL SITE
nepal.usaid.gov
CONTACTS
Mission Director
Beth Paige
USAID/Kathmandu
DOS/USAID
6190 Kathmandu Place
Washington DC 20521-6190
Tel: 977-1-427-0144
Zdenek Suda
Desk Officer
Office of South and Central Asia Affairs
Tel: (202) 712-1115
Email: zsuda@usaid.gov
 USAID’s Youth Initiatives for Peace and Reconciliation program provides opportunities for youth from various communities to engage in a dialogue with one another and make decisions about the challenges that affect them in the post-conflict environment. Through activities such as radio shows, infrastructure projects, and dialogue forums, USAID reaches out to over 16,000 at-risk youth to provide them with skills to mitigate potential conflict at the community level. Overview
In November 2006, the Government of Nepal and Maoist insurgents signed a landmark peace agreement that ended the 12-year conflict. Constituent Assembly elections were held in April 2008, and the Constituent Assembly will write the new constitution. With these advances, the peace process and democratic reforms remain on track. However, implementation of the peace agreement and restoration of representative government in rural areas remain significant challenges. Sustainable peace and lasting democracy also hinge on economic and social recovery in the countryside. Economic opportunities and local government services need to be expanded in order to restore public faith in government. U.S. assistance is playing a crucial role in supporting the transition to peace, building strong and representative government, establishing the rule of law, ending human rights abuses, strengthening equitable social service delivery, and addressing poverty.
Programs
Peace and Security
USAID programs support Nepal’s national and local peace building initiatives. USAID works with the Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction to build capacity to manage peace processes and provide information on best practices worldwide. Peace and Security activities at the local level address the needs of excluded groups, including women and youth.
In order to respond to the current political transition, USAID’s Office of Transition Initiatives began a two-year, $15 million program in 2006. The program, which recently was granted a one-year extension, employs a fast and flexible small grant mechanism designed to bolster the current peace process; strengthen governance mechanisms; and support positive community engagement in the country's political, social, and economic future.
Governing Justly and Democratically
USAID programs strengthen the electoral and political processes central to representative democracy, as well as civil society efforts to monitor these processes. Working to promote access to justice, USAID supports initiatives that strengthen the integrity of government planning and implementation and improve legal frameworks. Through pioneering efforts with community resource user groups (such as forest and water users), USAID has helped promote democratic governance principles and raise awareness about the peace process, civic responsibilities, and elections at the grassroots level. USAID works to stop human rights violations through support to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and fights the trafficking of women and girls through programs that provide training and employment opportunities to those most at risk of trafficking.
Investing In People: Health
USAID has supported voluntary family planning services in Nepal for more than 30 years, contributing to an almost 40 percent reduction in total fertility since 1991. Under-five mortality has dropped by 52 percent since 1996, and maternal mortality has declined significantly in the last 10 years. USAID’s HIV programs have been successful in helping to contain and reduce the concentrated epidemic in hard-to-reach populations, but more efforts are needed to identify those at risk and to reach them with testing and treatment services. USAID trains health workers at all levels, focuses on state-of-the-art community services, and provides appropriate equipment and commodities. USAID supports essential programs that deliver high-quality HIV, family planning, and maternal and child services to disadvantaged populations. USAID maximizes the participation of local communities in health programs to further good governance and mitigate exclusion.
Economic Growth
With approximately 85 percent of Nepalese depending on subsistence agriculture and forest products for their livelihoods, USAID works to increase farmers’ incomes, enhance agricultural productivity, and improve management of natural resources. In 2007, USAID provided water access and market development assistance in 10 districts, helping more than 10,000 households adopt the improved technology of micro-irrigation and sell vegetables that increased their incomes by 50 percent per year. USAID is also supporting a multi-faceted “education for income generation” program, combining literacy and life skills, vocational education, agricultural training, and targeted scholarships for disadvantaged and conflict-affected youth in mid-western Nepal.
Back to Top ^
|
