Nepal

Today we are focusing on Nepal.

Facts about Nepal:

Capital: Kathmandu

1. Currency: Nepalese rupee
2. Population: 27.47 million (2012) World Bank
3. Prime minister: Sushil Koirala
4. Government: Federal republic, Federation, Republic

Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal,landlocked sovereign nation located in South Asia. With an area of 147,181 square kilometres (56,827 sq mi) and a population of approximately 27 million. Nepal is the world's 93rd largest country by land mass and the 41st most populous country. It is loHimalayas and bordered to the north by thePeople's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India. Specifically, the Indian states of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, and Sikkim border Nepal, while across the Himalayas lies the Tibetan Autonomous Region. Nepal is separated from Bangladesh by the narrow Indian Siliguri Corridor. Kathmandu is the nation's capital and largest metropolis.

The mountainous north of Nepal has eight of the world's ten tallest mountains, including the highest point on Earth, Mount Everest, called Sagarmatha (सगरमाथा) in Nepali. It contains more than 240 peaks over 20,000 ft (6,096 m) above sea level.^[11] The southern Terai region is fertile and humid. Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Gautam Buddha, is located in this region. Lumbini is one of the holiest places of one of the world's great religions, and its remains contain important evidence about the nature of Buddhist pilgrimage centres from as early as the 3rd century BC.

Hinduism is practiced by about 81.3% of Nepalis, making it the country with the highest percentage of Hindus. Buddhism is linked historically with Nepal and is practiced by 16%, Kirat 5.1%, Islam by 4.4%, Christianity1.4%, and animism 0.4%. A large section of the population, especially in hill region, even though they follow Hindu customs, may identify themselves as both Hindu as well as Buddhists which can be attributed to the syncretic nature of Hinduism and Buddhism in Nepal.

A monarchy throughout most of its history, Nepal was ruled by the Shah dynasty of kings from 1768,^[1] when Prithvi Narayan Shah unified its many small kingdoms, until 2008; a decade-long Civil War involving theCommunist Party of Nepal (Maoist) (now known as the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)) and several weeks of mass protests by all major political parties led to the 12-point agreement of 22 November 2005. The ensuing elections for the constituent assembly on 28 May 2008 overwhelmingly favored the abolition of the monarchy and the establishment of a federal multiparty representative democratic republic.

In recent developments, the political parties of Nepal agreed on forming an interim government under the leadership of Chief Justice Khil Raj Regmi in order to hold Constituent Assembly elections by 19 November 2013to end the political deadlock. The second election for the constituent assembly was held successfully and Sushil Koirala was appointed the new prime minister. In 2014, Nepal has ranked the 145th place on the Human Development Index (HDI) and despite several challenges, Nepal has been making steady progress and the Government of Nepal have made commitment to help the nation to graduate towards one of the more developed nations by 2022.

For more information about Nepal please visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nepal

ADRA Nepal:

ADRA Nepal is located in the capital city of Kathmandu

The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) is a global network of independent humanitarian organisations established in 1984 by the Seventh-day Adventist Church for the specific purpose of providing individual and community development and disaster relief. ADRA established an office and began programme activities in Nepal in 1987. ADRA serves people without regard to their ethnic, political or religious association. It simply helps people in need, especially those most vulnerable such as women, children, and the elderly.

Community is the theme of ADRA's work in Nepal. It is a simple concept - the idea that individuals can live and work together to meet common goals - that we believe enables all progress and improvement in an increasingly complex world.

For ADRA Nepal, community begins with the 120 or so employees who work on a diverse range of projects in 18 districts around the country, but quickly broadens to include many thousands of Nepali people from government, non-government and community-based groups with whom they partner daily to implement development and relief activities.

And community does not stop there, it also includes the many ADRA employees working in more than 100 countries around the world as well as all those donors and volunteers, both corporate and individual who support the work of ADRA in Nepal.

What does ADRA Nepal do?

ADRA Nepal have several projects, just a few examples...

Strengthening Reproductive Health service Project through improving health Facilities and Capacity Building for Medical Service Workers

This project focuses on improving the maternal mortality rate in Dailekh, Kalikot and Jajarkot Districts. To achieve this, the project aims at improving the target area’s health facilities basic infrastructure through the construction of 18 Birthing Centers, as well as strengthening the capacity of its health institutions. In addition to this, Female Community Health Volunteers (FCHVs) will receive training to assist maternal deliveries as well as birth preparedness programs. 
Working closely with the local Government of Nepal health agencies, ADRA Nepal wishes to decrease the current maternal mortality rate in targeted groups, but also wishes to efficiently communicate with local Village Development Committees (VDCs) to ensure a smooth implementation and increased sustainability. It is our wish that through the implementation of this project that the lives of many will be changed, as disadvantaged women will now be given the chance to receive life-saving support for their new born babies, which many have never experienced. 

The goal of this project is to improve the maternal and neonatal health in the mid-western region of Nepal. 

ADRA Nepal initiates a new Project “Action for Social Inclusion of Children Affected by Armed Conflict in Nepal (ASIC)” in Mid-Western Nepal

The situation for children in the Mid-Western Region was very worse, since this area was one of the poorest regions of Nepal even before the brutal decade-long conflict. Thousands of children were forcibly conscripted or became victims of rape, assault, and other forms of violence. In addition to suffering psychological trauma, continuing political instability and violence have made life for children in this region particularly difficult. Their access to education, health care, and other basic services is severely limited. These children are more vulnerable to labor, sexual exploitation, living on the streets, or human trafficking. 

Child labor is a serious problem in Nepal, with approximately 40.8% of Nepali children ages 10 to 14 years working. Many children (especially girls) are forced to become bonded laborers, drop out of school, or migrate to urban or India for work. 5,000 to 12,000 girls are trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation annually, and as many as 200,000 trafficked Nepalese girls are estimated to reside in Indian brothels.

The overall goal of the project is to contribute to the protection and promotion of the rights of former child soldiers and conflict- affected children of Mid-Western Region in Nepal.

This project aims to assist vulnerable populations especially children and adolescent affected by the armed conflict by improving their socio-economic conditions through tangible direct benefits, including improved access to education and vocational training, employment, and psychosocial counselling. 

Visit ADRA Nepal at http://www.adranepal.org/