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SDGs Booklets in Nepali and English
The Sustainable Development Goals aim to end poverty by 2030. World leaders have set a plan of action for people, planet and prosperity. Eradicating poverty in all its forms and dimensions, including extreme poverty, is the greatest global challenge and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development. The 17 SDGs build on the Millennium Development Goals and complete what they did not achieve. They seek to realize the human rights of all and to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls. They are integrated and indivisible and balance the three dimensions of sustainable development: the economic, social and environmental.
UN System in Nepal has published two easy-to-read SDG booklets in both Nepali and English and they are now available for download.
Ending Impunity for Child Marriage in Nepal
Child marriage affects both boys and the girls, however, it disproportionately affects girls’ ability to enjoy their rights and freedoms, especially due to the serious risks of sexual and reproductive harms associated with this practice. Child marriage triggers a continuum of reproductive and sexual harms and violations by exposing girls to forced initiation into sex and unprotected sex, as well as early, unplanned, and frequent pregnancies. Women and girls subject to child marriage are likely to face slavery-like practices such as servile marriage, sexual slavery, child servitude, child trafficking, and forced labor.19 According to the Nepal Demographic Health Survey (NDHS), 47% of women who first had sex before age 15 and 29% of women who first had sex between ages 15-19 have stated that their initial experience was forced and against their will, and a majority of these cases occurred within marriage.
The purpose of "Ending Impunity for Child Marriage in Nepal: A Review of Normative and Implementation Gaps" is to identify and inform policymakers, law enforcement officials, and human rights defenders, of the key legal gaps and inconsistencies that have undermined efforts to address child marriage in Nepal, particularly in light of the constitutional guarantees, national laws, and international human rights standards. This assessment highlights multiple challenges faced in the implementation of the existing affirmative laws and makes linkages to other causes of systemic discrimination in law and practice that contribute to impunity. It puts forward a set of concrete recommendations for addressing the gaps and challenges in order to promote access to justice for the victims of child marriage.
The policy brief was jointly produced by UNFPA, Justice and Rights Institute and Centre for Reproductive Rights.
Localizing Investments for the Demographic Dividend in Nepal
The demographic dividend is the accelerated development that can arise when a population has a relatively large proportion of working-age people coupled with effective human capital investment. In this poster, we measure human capital needs in Nepal at national and sub-national level using a “demographic dividend index” (DDI). We also map dependency ratios and human capital indicators in empowerment, education and employment for all districts in Nepal and identify priority areas for investments to enhance prospects for a demographic dividend.
Review of Curricula in the Context of Comprehensive Sexuality Education in Nepal
Nepal is a signatory of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) and has been an active supporter of it. Nepal has endorsed the ICPD beyond 2014 review document, where the need for Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) is highlighted. Nepal is one of the countries in South Asia, where CSE has been introduced formally in the school curriculum training in a meaningful way. In 2014, the Ministry of Education and UNFPA commissioned a study to review the status of CSE in Nepal against the six standards set out in the ITGSE UNESCO 2009.
Adolescent Girls in Disaster & Conflict
Safe spaces, mobile medical teams and youth engagement are effective ways to reach displaced, uprooted, crisis-affected girls at a critical time in their young lives. This publication is a collection of UNFPA-supported humanitarian interventions for reaching adolescents when crisis heightens vulnerability to gender-based violence, unwanted pregnancy, HIV infection, early and forced marriage and other risks. Together with other countries, it has a Nepal section (32-40 pages), showing how adolescent sexual and reproductive health was promoted after the devastating earthquake struck the country on April 25, 2016 through adolescent-friendly information corners.
District Disaster Preparedness and Response Plan, Kapilvastu
This District Disaster Preparedness and Response Plan for 2016 (कपिलवस्तु जिल्लाको विपद् पूर्वतयारी तथा प्रतिकार्य योजना २०७३) is an updated vulnerability assessment of Kapilvastu district that incorporates components of Minimum Initial Service Package (MISP) for reproductive health in emergencies. This plan (in Nepali) has been prepared by District Disaster Relief Committee (DDRC), Dang, with technical support of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund.
A Summary of Nepal Earthquake 2015: A Socio-Demographic Impact Study
The 2015 earthquake in Nepal and the subsequent aftershocks resulted in losses not only in terms of lives and physical infrastructures but also of historical, social, cultural and economic aspects of the country and its population. Thirty-one out of the 75 districts were affected by this devastation with 14 of them located in the Central and Western mountains and hills including Kathmandu Valley and categorized by the Government of Nepal as the most affected1. An estimated 5.4 million people live in these 14 districts.
In order to carry out a Damage and Loss Assessment, the government conducted a Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) in May-June 2015 under the broader concept of building back better. While the PDNA assessed the damages of houses and buildings as well as the post-earthquake needs using a globally accepted methodology, it did not really focus on the socio-demographic impacts of the earthquake, that is, how households and communities had been affected, the level of local resilient social capacity to respond and how recovery and reconstruction efforts could be made more responsive.
Against this backdrop, it was decided to carry out this study in order to assess the socio-demographic impacts of the 2015 earthquake, with a focus on cultural diversity pertaining to household settings including caste/ethnicity, population dynamics (fertility, mortality, migration), as well as population size, composition and distribution. The study was meant to contribute to more cost-effective government policies on population dynamics resulting from the post-disaster context.
This survey was conducted among affected households in the 14 districts using multiple approaches and both quantitative and qualitative techniques to measure the socio-demographic impacts of the earthquake. CDPS/Tribhuvan University led the overall research and study design, fieldwork training, survey tool refinements, sample design, and data collection and management with the support from Ministry of Population and Environment, UNFPA, and IOM. The fieldwork was carried out during 20 November – 15 December 2015 with a total of 3,000 households surveyed, which was a statistically representative number.
Mapping of Child Marriage Initiatives in South Asia
This report lays out by country significant pieces of work that contribute to ending child marriage. It starts with an overview of major regional initiatives, and then it covers each of the eight SAARC countries, including Nepal, in turn. If a programme has been evaluated, the findings related to child marriage are mentioned in the notes.
An attempt was made to group programmes according to whether the lead agency is governmental, UN, civil society or NGO, but these are roughly drawn distinctions due to the high level of cooperation and partnership across different types of organizations. A number of policies, key studies, and national plans are included as well for a better understanding of the legal foundation of child marriage and adolescent empowerment work. These are not comprehensive.
District Disaster Preparedness and Response Plan, Dang
This District Disaster Preparedness and Response Plan for 2015/16 (दाङ जिल्लाको विपद् पूर्वतयारी तथा प्रतिकार्य योजना २०७२-७३) is an updated vulnerability assessment in Dang district that incorporates components of Minimum Initial Service Package (MISP) for reproductive health in emergencies. This plan (in Nepali) has been prepared by District Disaster Relief Committee (DDRC), Dang, with technical support of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund. In Dang district, UNFPA is currently the Disaster Lead Support Agency for disaster preparedness and response.
Minimum Initial Service Package for Reproductive Health in Post-Earthquake Nepal
When the earthquake struck Nepal in the spring of 2015, 1.4 million women of child-bearing age were affected. An estimated 93,000 were pregnant. The Minimum Initial Service Package (MISP) is designed for them--a set of activities, it outlines essential sexual and reproductive health and gender-based violence prevention and support and plans for comprehensive services scale-up.
In September of 2015, we found that all MISP services and priority activities were largely available in both Kathmandu (ruban) and Sindhupalchowk (rural). Some services were only partially available, though and others were of questionable comprehensiveness and quality.
Recommendations:
- Establish a fund to finance emergency preparedness activities
- Strengthen RH coordination
- Address supply chain challenges
- Strengthen the GBV care and referral systems
- Facilitate activities to prevent maternal and newborn death and disability
- Strengthen HIV prevention and treatment
- Improve community awareness
- Ensure culturally appropriate menstrual hygiene products
- Engage at-risk groups, including adolescents, and provide appropriate services
- Invest in quality comprehensive RH services
Both these publications were published by Women's Refugee Commission six months after the devastating earthquake with the support of development partners, including UNFPA Nepal, to docment the implementation of MISP for reproductive health in Nepal.