AHF calls for protection of lower-middle income countries

 Kathmandu, Oct. 28

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) Nepal has called for the protection of the lower middle imcome countries in Asia and the world.

Emphasising Asia's critical role in advocating for equity in the World Health Organization's (WHO) Pandemic Agreement, the organisation has urged the decisionmakers to help reshape a framework that ensures all countries will be protected from future global public health crises, particularly lower-income countries in Asia and globally.

The AHF Nepal has been running advocacy as part of the global Save Our Society (SOS) campaign, said Dibya Raj Joshi, Country Programme Manager of the AHF Nepal.

The SOS campaign seeks to address the glaring inequities that have historically plagued global health responses, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"As the Pandemic Agreement negotiations near their final stages, AHF emphasizes that these talks cannot conclude successfully unless equity is made an integral and binding part of the agreement," the AHF Nepal said in a statement. The current proposal, favoring high-income countries and pharmaceutical companies, fails to adequately address the needs of low- and middle-income countries.

"The COVID-19 pandemic exposed deep vulnerabilities in global healthcare, partícularly across Asía, highlighting the need for more equitable and decentralized health systems. As discussions around the WHO Pandemic Agreement near their end, Asia must champion a framework that promotes technology transfer and decentralizes the production of vaccines and other lifesaving commodities," he said.

According to him, this strategic shift would safeguard underserved regions in the Global South and secure Asia's health and economic stability.

By advocating for equity and building regional pharmaceutical capabilities, Asian nations can ensure collective resilience in future pandemics. Now is the time for Asia to lead this global effort, ensuring a safer and healthier future for all, added Joshi.

According to the AHF Nepal, issues necessary to create global health equity in the WHO Agreement are facilitating regional production capacity, unrestricted technology transfer, long-term binding financial commitments from high-income countries to support pandemic preparedness, and effective participation of civil society.

There should be oncrete mechanisms to facilitate the local production of vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutics in the Global South, said Radheshyam Shrestha, Programme Manager at the AHF Nepal.

This requires a binding roadmap for the transfer of knowledge, technology, and long-term sustainable financing, as mainted in tje agreement.

The pandemic fund should be of a long-term nature and it must support the lower middle-income countries in addressing emergencies, lessening damage and create preparedness plan, said Joshi.

He said that the fund should be allocated on the basis of the size of population.

AHF the largest global AIDS organization, currently provides medical care and/or services to more than 2 million clients in 48 countries worldwide. 

 Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 29 October 2024. 

Civil society important for development: FM Dr. Rana

 Kathmandu, Sept. 3

Foreign Minister Dr. Arzu Rana Deuba said that the role of civil society will be important in the wider development of Nepal.

Addressing Nepal Civil Society Conference for the Summit of the Future held in Lalitpur on Tuesday, she said that civil society has an important role in the transformation of society through socio-economic development.

According to her, Nepal has given importance to the 'Summit of the Future' which is going to be held with the upcoming General Assembly of the United Nations and preparations are being made for the participation of the Prime Minister of Nepal in that summit.

Informing that Nepal is preparing to move up from the Least Developed Country (LDC) status by the year 2026, and for this Nepal has made a Smooth Transition Strategy (STS), FM Dr. Rana said that the role of civil society was also important to make this LDC graduation plan of Nepal irreversible and sustainable.

For Nepal to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the year 2030, she said that a report last month showed that 41 per cent of Nepal's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are on track to be met, everyone's joint efforts should continue for this.

Likewise, Minister Dr. Rana stated that the issue of reducing the risk of climate change is now an important issue for Nepal. "Since the problem of climate change has started to cause natural disasters in Nepal and the recent incident of glacial lake bursting in Solukhumbu is also related to this, Nepal should learn from these accidents in the future and take measures to reduce its risk," she said.

Speaking on the occasion, the President of the Association of INGOs in Nepal (AIN), Dr. SP Kalaune said that Nepal has a lot to achieve in the next six years in terms of SDGs and LDC graduation.

"Things are not going to transform overnight, we need to make better plans for economic and social development," he said.

UN Resident Coordinator and UNESCO Representative to Nepal, Michael Croft, emphasised the greater role of civil society in socio-economic development.

Likewise, Jose’ Luis Vinuesa-Santamaria,  Head of Cooperation of the European Union in Nepal, said that the partnership has grown over the years between the EU and Nepal. "We take pride in Nepal's fight for democracy and civil society role in it," he said.

The conference was jointly organised by the NGO Federation of Nepal, AIN and the United Nations. 

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 4 September 2024.        

Civil campaign against COVID-19 begins in Lalitpur

 Kathmandu, Nov. 7

A civil campaign against COVID-19 is launched in Lalitpur on Saturday.

National Business Initiative (NBI) has launched the campaign in collaboration with Nepal Public Health Association, Nepal Medical Association and People’s Health Movement to motivate people to adhere to the health and safety protocol to prevent the coronavirus contagion.

Inaugurating the programme at Labim Mall in Pulchowk, Deputy Mayor of Lalitpur Metropolis Gita Satyal appreciated the role of private sector and civil society in raising awareness about safety in the pandemic.

She said that the government was sensitive in fulfilling its duty and would move ahead in cooperation with the private sector and civil society.

Chairman of NBI Kush Kumar Joshi said that the programme was launched as there was a need of active participation of the civil society in raising awareness about the virus in order to check its contagion.

“Since it is a long-term challenge for any society, we should move ahead with better safety protocol,” he said.

District Public Health Office Lalitpur’s Chief Dr. Khageshwor Gelal emphasised on full adherence to the health protocols and effective implementation of safety measures to safely run business and social activities.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 8 November 2020. 

CSOs urge the govt to implemnt strategy to graduate from LDC

Lalitpur, Aug. 21: Civil society organisations (CSOs) Monday urged the government to implement the national strategy and constitutional values to graduate Nepal to the status of 'developing nation' from its current status of ‘Least Developed Country’ (LDC).

In a national consultation programme on Nepal’s graduation from the LDC category, organised by the LDC Watch and Rural Reconstruction Nepal (RRN), representatives of the CSOs  urged the government to implement the Istanbul Programme of Action (IPoA) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

“All the stakeholders need to work to reduce corruption, and establish political stability and good governance if we are to graduate to the status of the developing country by 2022,” they said in a joint communiqué.

The government has planned to graduate the country from the LDC club by 2022 and make it a middle income nation by 2030.

International Coordinator of the LDC Watch Gauri Pradhan said that to graduate to the developing nations'  status, Nepal should achieve remarkable progress in the economic and social development sectors.

Joint-Secretary at the National Planning Commission Lal Shankar Ghimire said that of the three thresholds set to graduate to the status of developing nation Nepal was unlikely to meet the Gross National Income (GNI) per capita target of 1,242 USD.

Nepal is one of the 47 LDCs with per capita GNI 862 USD.

However, it’s likely to meet Human Assets Index (HAI) and Economic Vulnerability Index (EVI).

Vice-president of the Federation of Nepali Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) Chandra Prasad Dhakal stressed the need for employing private investment and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to meet the financing gap required for the successful implementation of the IPoA and SDGs.

Similarly, president of NGO Federation of Nepal Gopal Lamsal said that there was a need for good governance and increased policy space for CSOs at provincial and local levels of government in the implementation of the SDGs and IPoA.

The consultation came up with a declaration which called on the line ministries to mainstream the SDGs and IPoA into the planning mechanisms at the new local and provincial level under the federal setup.