Population and Development
Nepal has been developing at steady pace, yet it remains among the poorest countries in the world. The conflict saw an estimated annual 2 per cent decrease in gross domestic product (GDP), and the average per capita GDP for 2004-2005 was only US $297. Although the incidence of poverty in Nepal decreased from 42 per cent in 1995-1996 to 31 per cent in 2003-2004, inequality as measured by the
Gini coefficient increased from 34 per cent to 41 percent. An institutionalized system of disaggregated data is essential to assess the relationship between gender, age, caste and development indicators for informed policy decisions and targeted strategies. At the moment, there is a lack of such data in relation to poverty and health, especially at the sub-national level. This has resulted in limited understanding of the ground reality in the country. Weak institutional and technical capacity to manage and analyze data compounds the problem.
Through its Population and Development Programme, UNFPA provides technical and financial assistance to the Government of Nepal to address major population and sustainable development concerns such as urbanization, HIV and AIDS, population distribution, aging, migration and the impact of population growth on the environment. UNFPA also supports census understanding for training, monitoring, and implementation of evidence-based policy research on population, reproductive health and poverty. The development, availability and accessibility of socio-demographic data on population, gender and reproductive health that is disaggregated by age, sex, ethnicity, caste, economic status and location for evidence-based planning and monitoring is a crucial part of UNFPA's support.
The Fund seeks to contribute to the goals of the Government of Nepal Poverty Reduction Strategy and to the fulfillment of its international commitments such as the
Millennium Development Goals (MDG), the
International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) and
the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.
The Population Perspective Plan 2002-2027 (PPP), drafted with the support of UNFPA, guides the process of mainstreaming plans and contributes to the improved understanding of high-level policy planners of the importance of population and gender issues.
UNFPA's Population and Development Programme aims at supporting the central and local governments in evidence-based planning and monitoring and also advocate for government entities to mainstream population, reproductive health and gender concerns into their policies and programmes. UNFPA assists and lobbies line ministries and local governments to have structures, policies programmes and capacity for evidence-based decentralized development planning, including gender sensitive and socially inclusive components. While working with the government the ultimate objective is to reassure that central and local government institutions mainstream population, reproductive health, gender and social-inclusion concerns in policies and plans, as well as in programme implementation, budgets and monitoring.
The Population and Development Programme also seeks to improve gender equality and equity. The Fund is assisting national bodies in building capacity to formulate and implement sustainable population and development policies as well as increased national support for gender equity, equality and women's empowerment. This is also achieved through creating awareness of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 and developing partnerships to ensure women's participation at all levels of decision-making in Nepal's unfolding peace process and its transition to a fully fledged, inclusive democracy.
Read more about the UNFPA work in the area of Population and Development:
