Overview
Nepal is a Least Developed Country with US $ 1372 GDP Per Capita. Nepal has in average just 5 percent economic growth in last decade. Despite low economic growth, Nepal however has made good progress in reducing poverty from 25.2 percent in 2011 to 16.7 percent in 2019.
But these numbers belie a harsh reality: huge disparities and inequalities persist between regions and social groups. Low productive capacity, import based economy, declining manufacturing sector, poor investment climate, lack of access to affordable credit are among the key factors contributing to low economic growth and high unemployment billions of dollars.
Our goals
Nepal has tremendous potential for development and subsequent job creation through sustainable use of natural resource-based enterprises in the rural areas, where 80 percent of the population lives. However, lack of awareness, education and skills to utilize existing resources continues to perpetuate underemployment and underdevelopment. To help address challenges and tap opportunities, UNDP’s work in Nepal on poverty and sustainable development has been designed around three broad pillars: employment creation and skill development, livelihood enhancement and policy support in inclusieve and pro-poor development.
How does UNDP ensure its programmes and projects promote gender & social Inclusion?
Under the sustainable and economic transformation portfolio, UNDP supports the people and the Government of Nepal to advance gender equality and social inclusion through the following measures in line with the Country Programme Document 2023-2027:
Gender & Social Inclusion
- Enhancing capacity of national stakeholders in generating updated and disaggregated data and their application in tracking and monitoring the SDGs.
- Tracking gender expenditure in national budgets.
- Collaboration with national stakeholders to create equal opportunities for women in private businesses.
- Providing need-based training to farmers, with a special focus on women farmers, on improving productivity, reducing post-harvest losses, and increasing access to trade opportunities.
- Creating opportunities to increase women’s participation in the tourism sector.
- Creating a policy environment for enhancing skills development of women and marginalized groups, including for migrants to improve labour market access.
- Enhancing the social protection system through temporary basic income and digitalization, targeting socially and economically vulnerable women.
- Promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment (GESI) through various research and advocacy activities.
Our Achievments
(2018-2022)
- In the last five years, UNDP has supported to establish and train over 80,000 micro-entrepreneurs, and its efforts in supporting better policymaking and capacity-building at the national level have been seen to have a positive impact on poverty reduction and the promotion of sustainable development. Among whom, 82 percent were women and 72 percent were young women.
- In partnership with the Nepal Tourism Board, UNDP provided jobs to over 20,000 people who lost jobs in the tourism industry due to COVID-19, supported the development/upgrading of smaill-scale tourism infrastructure, and developed a recovery strategy for affected tourism operators and tourism industry-level service standards and guidelines. In 2022 only, More than 500 women tourism workers were trained on travel and tour, trekking and river base tourism to expand their livelihood options.
- A national database on migrant returnees with 11,000 new profiles of migrant workers in Madhesh, Karnali, and Sudurpaschim, with the total database reaching 300,000. Also supported the publication of GESI disaggregated data in the Integrated Technical and Vocational Education and Training Annual Report, along with skill mapping, factsheets, and infographics to inform GESI-friendly policies, plans, and strategies at all levels.
- Over 470 livelihood interventions supported, benefiting over 200,000 people (53% women, 10% Dalit, 59% janajati, 31% others, 1,698 persons with disability and 2,523 single women headed households).
- Over 12,000 farmers (58% women, 51% from minority groups) enhanced capacities with production knowledge, access to postharvest technology practices and connection to markets.
- Introduced temporary basic income support in partnership with Rastriya Banijay Bank, and UN Women that helped 3500 vulnerable and poor women to weather COVID-19’s economic impacts, and linked them with the government’s health insurance, boosting their longer-term resilience.
Locations
