Nepal received about Rs 200 billion in USAID support over the past 23 years

KATHMANDU, July 19: The US Agency for International Development (USAID) has provided Rs 196 billion in aid to Nepal for various development initiatives since 2000.

USAID has contributed over one and a half billion US dollars to Nepal in various sectors, including health, education, infrastructure, agriculture, economic growth, women and children empowerment, humanitarian aid, good governance, environment and civil society and media.

According to USAID's statistics, health, education, and economic growth programs directly benefited over 1 million women and indirectly reached an additional 5 million women through mass media campaigns and other activities in 2023.

During a media interaction organized by USAID in Kathmandu on Thursday, Acting Mission Director Beth Hogan highlighted the support and contributions made by USAID during its seven-decade-long partnership with Nepal and the Nepali people. She also mentioned that USAID provides grant support based on the needs and priorities of the Government of Nepal.

USAID is the US government agency leading international development efforts. The partnership between USAID and Nepal spans over 63 years. Currently, it works in five main priority sectors including health, education, democracy, rights and governance, economic growth and environment and resilience.

With the support of the USAID, Nepal has achieved significant progress in various sectors including eradication of malaria from the southern Terai region, growth of agriculture in previously uninhabitable areas, increase in literacy rates, doubling of life expectancy and reducing child mortality rate in Nepal. The support of USAID has been instrumental in the promotion of peace and democracy and disaster relief and rehabilitation including the logistic and technical assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic.

USAID officials in Nepal reported that the agency supported more than 1.1 million children under the age of five through nutrition programs in 2023. Additionally, over 2,000 community leaders and stakeholders were engaged in efforts to reduce child marriage and forced marriage and promote girls' education.

During this period, with USAID's assistance, farmers and entrepreneurs successfully sold agricultural products worth 63 million US dollars. USAID also helped 12.4 million people receive voter and civic education and is assisting the Nepal government in finalizing a hydropower project that will generate 1,200 megawatts of electricity worth 2.4 billion US dollars.

Zehra Naqvi, spokesperson for the US Embassy in Nepal, discussed bilateral relations and cooperation during the program. Additionally, various USAID Nepal specialists, including Gender and Inclusive Development Advisor Manju Tuladhar, Development Program Specialists Sujan Piya and Vishwas Rana, Energy Specialist Shankar Khagi, Education Specialist Rajkumar Dulal, Senior Health Advisor Dr. Jagannath Sharma, Acquisition and Assistance Specialists Chetna Ghimire and Tejendra Paudel, Financial Analyst Tek Pandey and Chief Accountant Preksha Shrestha, among others, provided insights into USAID's support and various ongoing projects in Nepal during the meeting.