USAID prioritises inclusion in Nepal

Kathmandu, July 18

The USAID said that it has accorded priority to inclusion and mainstreaming the voices of the marginalised communities.

"The Mission aims at addressing the problems of the people at the local people. Therefore, 40 per cent of the total budget of the next five years will directly go to the local institutions," Acting Mission Director of the USAID in Nepal, Beth Hogan, said at an interaction with the journalists in Kathmandu on Thursday.

According to her, the USAID has always been working with the local institutions and people. "To make the programme more relevant to the local communities, we have been hiring people from local communities who speak local language. We make sure that our programmes are culturally relevant and provide value to the stakeholders," said Hogan.

She stated that the ultimate aim of the bilateral organisation is to strengthening the local governments and institutions and enhancing their capacity.

Since 200, the USAID has mobilised more than US$ 1.5 billion (Rs. 196 billion) to support the development in health, education, infrastructure, agriculture, economic growth, women and girls' empowerment, disaster assistance, governance, environment, civil society and media and business development.

Last year, it supported more than 1.1 million children under 5-year of age with nutrition intervention and is helping the government of Nepal finalise 11 different hydroelectricity projects with the capacity of 1200 MW and valued at US$ 2.4 billion.

Hogan said that the USAID has been working in five major areas in Nepal – health, education, democracy, rights and governance, economic growth, and environment and resilience.

Sujan Piya of the Economic Growth Office at the USAID said that in agriculture, support has been mobilised for capacity building, use and management of water resources. He said that Nepal is in the priority country for the US government.

The USAID has started its involvement in Nepal's energy sector with the Bhotekoshi Hydroelectricity Project – the first private sector project – and has long been supporting in technology transfer and investment attraction in transmission and distribution of electricity.

Recently, it has supported in building charging stations for electric vehicles (EVs).

This year marks the seven decades of the establishment of the diplomatic relations between Nepal and the USA, and 63 years of USAID in Nepal. 

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 19 July 2024.