December 6, 2007 - The World Bank today extended its largest ever support package to . The aim is to improve living conditions through better education, roads, and irrigation, and empowerment among the rural poor.Susan Goldmark, World Bank Country Director for Nepal said development progress is vital for sustaining peace in the country. “At this critical juncture in Nepal’s history it is very important to demonstrate the impact on the ground. It is time for a peace benefit to emerge.”Goldmark said inequality and social exclusion are among Nepal’s foremost development challenges. The poverty rate in rural areas is much higher than in urban centers, and inequality and rural-urban disparities are increasing. Everywhere in the country, ethnic groups, low caste ‘dalit’ communities, and women lag behind in terms of incomes, assets, and most human development indicators.“Through improved schools, roads, water provision, and income-generating activities, we hope these projects will help the country step up the delivery of basic services, particularly in areas that have lost over a decade to the conflict,” Goldmark said.
Rural Communities in the Driver’s Seat December 7,
2007 - For years, Min Bahadur Magar, a 48-year old farmer in the remote Ramechhap district in eastern Nepal, had to borrow money from a local money lender – paying a 50 percent interest rate - to make ends meet.Today his life has fundamentally changed. With training and money given by the World Bank-funded Poverty Alleviation Fund (PAF), Magar started a vegetable business. He now earns nearly US$100 a month from selling vegetables alone.“I am able to feed my family all year round, and send all of my eight children to school.” said Magar. “Now I am borrowing from my community organization paying a small fee. In stead of collecting money, the man I used to borrow from comes over to buy vegetables.”Balram Sunuwar, a farmer in the neighboring village, also received training and assistance from PAF and said this has turned his life around. “There were no resources available to assist a person like me before this program. I received training which enabled me to set up my own nursery.Susan Goldmark, World Bank Country Director for Nepal said it is important for poor people, especially in rural areas, to feel that their lives are getting better in tangible ways. “It is vital to ensure they have a stake in the peace continuing. There are very high expectations after ten years lost to the civil war,” Goldmark said.
Poor people in charge of their own development
The PAF is a community-driven development project that operates on the belief it’s the poor who are best suited to manage their own needs and resources. They are organized into community groups and collectively identify, prioritize, plan, fund, and implement their development needs, free to choose from an open menu to correspond to local priorities.The PAF was designed to address the root causes of Nepal’s civil conflict - poverty, inequality, and lack of services - and the program began implementation at the height of the conflict about four years ago. It is a targeted program for the marginalized and the excluded, either because of gender, caste, ethnicity and location.Ramechhap is one of the least developed districts in Nepal - the poorest country in South Asia. One-third of Nepal’s population lives in absolute poverty with little access to basic services such as education, health, and drinking water.“69 percent of the households have food sufficiency for only three months of the year so income-generating activities are their first priority,” said Raj Babu Shrestha, PAF’s Executive Director.Through income-generating activities and community infrastructure projects, the PAF has reached over 900,000 rural Nepalese in 25 districts since it began operations. Incomes for beneficiary families have increased by some 15 percent. More than 15,600 households now have road access for the first time, and water supply, bridges, and sanitation have been provided for more than 32,000 households.With the US$100 million IDA grant approved by the World Bank on December 6 for the second phase of the project, the PAF will expand its reach to cover all of Nepal’s 75 districts, benefiting around one million households.
Empowering the Disempowered
Everywhere in the country, ethnic groups, low caste communities, and women lag behind in terms of incomes, assets, and most human development indicators. The PAF uses targets and incentives to encourage community organizations to include women, dalits and janajatis.“The results have been very encouraging,” said Geeta Sethi, the World Bank’s team leader for the project. “In Ramechhap district, for instance, over half the members of these community organizations are women, and nearly 90 percent are dalits or janajatis.”Saraswati Shrestha who works as a social mobilizer for the PAF says that women are playing a much more active role in the community.“Before, women would not go to meetings but this has all changed now. They regularly attend meetings and their voices are heard. There is a realization that men and women should work together for the community.”
Education for all Nepalese
Even during the civil war, Nepal’s education rates rose. Girls enrolled in primary school in equal number to boys, and with expanded educational reforms the country is likely to reach the target of 96 percent net enrolment rate. The US$60 million in additional financing for the IDA funned Education for All Project is designed to further improve access to basic and primary education for children, especially from disadvantaged groups. The project builds on the Community School Support Project, which has helped to significantly improve access of children from disadvantaged communities.
Irrigation for Farming
With 80 percent of the population relying on agriculture for their livelihoods, enhanced irrigation in Nepal is critical to increase incomes and reduce poverty. The US$50 million IDA grant for the Irrigation and Water Resources Management Project aims to improve irrigated agriculture productivity and management of selected irrigation schemes. It seeks to increase availability and reliability of supply of irrigation water, which is expected to lead to higher agriculture productivity and increased cropping intensity.
Access to all-season Roads
Nepal’s road density is well below those of its neighbors in South Asia. Of the75 districts of Nepal, 12 are not yet connected by road and another 14 are linked with seasonal tracks or dirt roads. The US$42.60 million IDA grant for the Road Sector Development Project supports upgrading roads in five hill districts which currently lack all-season road access, which will help improve access to economic centers and social services. It entails upgrading of about 297 km of existing dry-season roads/tracks to all-season standard with sealed gravel pavements selected from a pool of more than 1000 km of prioritized roads.
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