News and Events
150 Bicycles to be Distributed among Reproductive Health Female Volunteers
Kathmandu, 27 February 2009
From left: HE Mr. Tatsuo Mizuno,
Ambassador, Japanese Embassy;
Ashwani Rana, Reproductive Health
Female Volunteer; Mr. K. P. Bista,
Director General, Family Planning
Association; Mr. Atsushi Yoshino,
Chief of JOICFP Communication
Experts Unit
UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, in Nepal handed over 150 preassembled bicycles and stationery to Family Planning Association of Nepal (FPAN), donated by Japanese Organization for International Cooperation in Family Planning (JOICFP) in collaboration with the Municipal coordinating Committee for Overseas Bicycle Assistance (MCCOBA) and several Japanese municipalities.
The bicycles, accessories and stationery like notebooks, pencils and pens have been collected as a donation by JOICFP from the Municipal Coordinating Committee for Overseas Bicycle Assistance (MCCOBA) and other Japanese organizations.
During the function held today at the UNFPA's office in Lalitpur and attended by HE Mr. Tatsuo Mizuno, Ambassador of Japan; Mr. Atsushi Yoshino, Chief of JOICFP Communication Experts Unit; Dr. S. S. Mishra, Chief, Population Division, Ministry of Health and Population; and Mr. K. P. Bista, Director General, Family Planning Association; Mr. Ian McFarlane, UNFPA representative stated that 'this contribution will help the Reproductive Health Female Volunteers to effectively deliver the basic health services to the people of the communities'. It is another symbol of solidarity and support to building a new Nepal.
Mr. K. P. Bista, Director General, FPAN appreciated the assistance of JOICFP and UNFPA and said that the bicycles and stationery will be distributed for use by FPAN's female volunteers in 20 FPAN's programme districts including four where FPAN and UNFPA is supporting Community Based Programme (i.e. Saptari, Mahottari, Kapilvastu and Dang).
The community volunteerism in health sector has a long tradition in Nepal and is in line with the government policies. The biggest Female Community Health Volunteer (FCHV) Programme has been run by the Government of Nepal (GoN) since 1988. Around 49,000 FCHVs have played a great role in providing community-based health services, including maternal and child health care, family planning, immunization, treatment of Acute Respiratory Infection cases and referring to health facilities in districts. Complementary to the programme and in coordination with GoN, FPAN is maintaining a network of 400 Reproductive Health Female Volunteers (RHFVs) in 20 districts. These RHFVs are trained on comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights counseling and they are often called female community counselors. Appreciating the particular value of female volunteers in the area of adolescent sexual reproductive health (ASRH), HIV and preventing complications in pregnancies UNFPA Nepal has been supporting both of the programmes to different extent.
UNFPA and JOICFP are both working in the area of reproductive health and family planning, supporting and promoting field volunteer workers in community based programmes. JOICEFP's generous support to the volunteers in Nepal not only enhances the capacity of health services and counseling in rural communities of Nepal, but adds a new dimension to UNFPA and JOICEFP collaboration.
For more information contact: Ms. Anna Adhikari, Communication Consultant, UNFPA, Email:
adhikari@unfpa.org, Tel: 5523880 Ext. 60418
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