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DFID Nepal
British Embassy, PO Box 106, Lainchaur, Kathmandu, Nepal
Tel:+977 1 5542 980 | Fax:+977 1 500 179
Email:
enquiry-nepal@dfid.gov.uk
Map courtesy of the FCO
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Nepal
Related pages: Nepal and the International Health Partnership
News and events
 Postponement
of Nepal Elections
 Image courtesy of
Richard Lewis/Crown Copyright
On
September 05 2007 Nepal became one of seven "first wave" countries to join the
International Health Partnership
(IHP).
The IHP aims to improve the way that international agencies, donors and
poor countries work together to develop and implement health plans, creating and
improving health services for poor people and ultimately saving more lives.
Country Facts
Nepal remains one of the poorest countries in Asia with 31% of the
population still living under the poverty line. The ongoing political
instability has made it harder for reform initiatives to be effective.
- Population: 25.2 million
- Poverty (No. of people living below $1 a day): 7.75 million (31%)
- Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita: $260
- Life expectancy: 60.2 years
- Literacy rates: 56% (of population age 15+), 70.5% (of net primary
enrolment)
- Malnutrition: 48% (of children under five)
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Political and economic situation
The country is going through a critical period in its history. The conflict
has claimed more than 15,000 lives since 1996. The political developments of
April 2006 have given a new hope of a return to multi-party democracy, but
launching and sustaining an inclusive peace process and addressing the
underlying causes of conflict remain the main challenges for Nepal today. The
backdrop to the conflict is deep-seated poverty, poor governance and
discrimination.
Poverty levels declined by 11% between 1996 and 2004, but the progress for
different groups is uneven. This rate, for some excluded ethnic groups, is
almost double than the national average. The poorest and hardest hit conflict
regions have a poverty incidence almost 20% higher than that of the region
surrounding the capital.
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DFID in Nepal
DFID’s Nepal County Assistance Plan (CAP) 2004 – 2008 is based on the
four-pillar approach of the Nepalese Government’s poverty reduction strategy. DFID seeks
to reduce poverty and social exclusion establishing the basis for lasting peace.
DFID carried out a fundamental review of its support in Nepal, following the
coup led by the King in early 2005. One of the findings of this review was that
there was no justification for increasing aid as planned in the CAP.
Our assistance to Nepal is £30 million in 2006/07. UK is the second largest
bilateral donor to Nepal. We use both sector budget support and support through
NGOs and the UN.
DFID produced its first annual report of its work in Nepal in 2005 (466
kb)
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Nepal and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
Although there has been some progress on the MDGs, a great deal remains to be
done. The deep rooted nature of social exclusion in Nepal makes it harder to
achieve the MDGs. Well championed strategies to supplement national political
commitment will be needed to tackle this.
Nepal is on track to meet four of the MDGs – Poverty and Hunger, Gender
Equality, Child Mortality and Diseases (Tuberculosis).
Focused efforts from the government and donors have increased the number of
girls in primary education.
Programmes such as immunisation and vitamin A have been successful in
reducing child mortality rate by 7.9% per annum.
With 90% service coverage and 85% treatment success rate, the TB related
deaths have been reduced to 5,000 annually from 16,000 in ten years.
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Links
Last updated: 05 September 2007
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