Sarah Sanyahumbi, head of the international development agency of the UK government in Nepal, said DFID under the plan would provide £60 million in the first year, another £61 million in the second year and over £100 million each in the remaining two years.[break]
The DFID has promised assistance mainly in four areas -- governance and security; inclusive wealth creation; human development; and climate change and disaster risk reduction.
“Nepal still remains a priority country for DFID,” Sanyahumbi said, adding that the main focus of the new operational plan would be on tackling extreme poverty and supporting the peace process.
However, she expressed concerns over the stalled progress in the peace process. “The country is still far from a lasting political agreement on key issues. We believe, Nepal needs to draft the new constitution and hold elections at the earliest to ensure that peace is restored permanently and the state starts delivering the fruits of development to the people,” she stated.
Sanyahumbi said DFID would continue to support the peace process through the Nepal Peace Trust Fund. But if the peace process failed to deliver expected progress, she said DFID could divert its allocated budget in other priority areas, including strengthening of governance, improvement in security and access to justice.
Under the wealth creation program, she said the development agency targets to create 23,000 jobs, 50 percent of them for women, through private sector development programs. The DFID has also committed to support construction of 532 km road and maintenance of another 3,700 km road.
Under the human development programs, DFID said it would continue to support Nepal deliver better health and education services, among others, so that it could continue to record striking progress toward meeting the Millennium Development Goals.
Sanyahumbi laid emphasis on inclusive growth and development, but raised concerns over politicization of NGOs and indigenous groups in Nepal. She said the problem was fast growing as one of the biggest challenges in implementing the projects.
“We are always positive about working with local organizations, but the problem is most of the organization are affiliated to political parties,” she said. DFID has stopped funding to Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (NEFIN), particularly after it started calling strikes and bandas.
DFID has also pointed out high fiduciary risk, distracted government and geographical inaccessibility as other major challenges facing development in Nepal. “The government is excessively engaged in politics. This has pushed development activities behind,” said Sanyahumbi.
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