Nepal
Newsline
Flooding in Nepal leaves women and children vulnerable
SUNSARI, Nepal, 2 September 2008 – In better times, the classroom in the Sunsari district of southern Nepal would be filled with young students. Today, it is occupied by 10 families – a total of about 80 people – seeking refuge after the Saptakoshi River flooded and washed away everything they had.
UNICEF report says stronger legislation needed to protect South Asian children from trafficking
KATHMANDU, Nepal, 27 August 2008 – Children in South Asia are being trafficked for sex, labour, begging, early marriage, forced military recruitment and many other harmful purposes. There is a general understanding that this grave violation of children’s rights is occurring in the region and throughout the world, but precise and reliable numbers are lacking.
Responding to the needs of flood-affected villagers in Nepal
SUNSARI, Nepal, 26 August 2008 – Last week, the Saptakoshi River breached its banks and waters swept through half a dozen villages. Now, there are thousands of people, mainly women and children, packed in over two dozen schools and other temporary shelters in Inaruwa, the district headquarters of Sunsari.
Improving Islamic schools, increasing possibilities for Nepalese girls
KAPILVASTU, Nepal, 5 August 2008 – Mr. Rakesh Srivastav, the district education officer of Kapilvastu, in the Terai region of Nepal, is on a mission. Over the next years, he wants to integrate the 200 Islamic schools in his district, known as madrasas, into the formal school system.
Help and support for Nepalese families living with HIV
ACCHAM DISTRICT, Nepal, 2 May 2008 – Four women sitting cross-legged on the floor are singing the melancholic strains of a song. The women, all of whom are from families affected by HIV in this remote area of western Nepal, improvise the words and help each other complete the couplets.
Countdown to 2015: Empowering Nepalese health workers to save the youngest lives
ACHHAM, Nepal, 15 April 2008 – Mathura Shahi, 30, presses the timer button and counts the breath intake of Sajjana, a month-old baby snuggling in her grandfather's arms.
Children play a key role in Nepal’s commitment to unity
KATHMANDU, Nepal, 25 March 2008 – Even as violence makes itself felt once again in Nepal, the rights of children are being assured at the highest levels.
Providing safe drinking water to flood-affected populations in Saptari, Nepal
SAPTARI DISTRICT, Nepal, 11 January 2008 – Last year’s flooding across Nepal, which damaged and contaminated drinking water, has prompted UNICEF and the European Commission for Humanitarian Aid (ECHO) to combat the threat right at the source.
Orlando Bloom visits UNICEF programmes for children in Nepal
KASKI AND CHITWAN DISTRICTS, Nepal, 10 January 2008 – Another Hollywood movie star might have felt strange in a remote and impoverished area of Nepal, but actor Orlando Bloom seemed perfectly at ease.
Nepal radio programme breaks sexual taboos and provides advice on HIV/AIDS
KATHMANDU, Nepal, 7 January 2008 – In a country known for its traditional customs and taboos, an immensely popular, youth-based radio programme’s messages on safe sex and AIDS prevention are providing life-saving advice to young people.
‘Miracle women’ help combat under-five mortality in Nepal
KAVRE, Nepal, 6 December 2007 – Nanda Kumari trudges through hillsides blanketed with the colours of ripening maize, trying to steer clear of buffalo as she passes along a narrow trail.
Despite political tensions, Nepal vitamin A campaign garners wide support
KATHMANDU, Nepal, 7 November 2007 – In a unique show of support for children’s rights, Nepalese political parties that have been locked in bitter infighting put aside their differences for two days last week to support the national distribution of vitamin A capsules and de-worming tablets.
Educating Nepalese youths about the dangers of explosives
KATHMANDU, Nepal, 11 October 2007 – In August, Lieutenant Colonel Dhruba Bahadur Khadka took a break from his office at the Mine Action Centre to teach a class at the Basuki Lower Secondary School. He was educating villagers about the dangers of handling improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
Providing vital supplies to vulnerable Nepalese families displaced by floods
NEPALGUNJ, Nepal, 19 September 2007 – The flood waters from the Dundhuwa river receded over three weeks ago, yet the destruction left in its wake still remains. Most of the homes and food stores of the people of Rajarampur Village have been completely washed away.
Communities struggle to cope with monsoon flooding in Nepal
JALESHWAR, Nepal, 9 August 2007 – A week ago, when it rained as if would never stop, 80 per cent of Mahottari District in the central Terai plains of Nepal was underwater. Floods had inundated 56 of the district’s 76 villages, displacing half the population of 600,000.
Nepali communities fight to change ingrained social biases against women
KAVRE DISTRICT, Nepal, 31 July 2007 – When 29-year-old Radha was married, she was shunned by her husband and in-laws, forbidden to enter their home and forced to live in a cow-shed. While working as a daily wage labourer to support her year-old daughter, she discovered that her husband had remarried in Kathmandu.
School children lead sanitation drive in Nepal
GHACHOWK, KASKI DISTRICT, Nepal, 25 May 2007 - Around the countryside of the Kaski district in Nepal, school children led their communities in a sanitation drive as the Eighth National Sanitation Action Week got underway earlier this month.
A letter from Sunita: Keeping our promises on girls’ education
BIRATNAGAR, Nepal – My name is Sunita and I am 15 years old. I live with my mother and sister in Biratnagar in eastern Nepal. When I was still a young child my father abandoned us, leaving us even poorer than we had been before. To make ends meet, my mother took a job in a jute mill, and I started working at matchstick factory.
Mine awareness campaign aims to save lives and limbs in Nepal
KAVRE, Nepal, 13 April 2007 – An innocent game of football turned deadly when three young boys accidentally set off an explosive device buried in the ground.
‘Untouchable’ women in Nepal get the opportunity they never had
UDAYPUR DISTRICT, Nepal, 26 December 2006 – She is the 45-year-old ‘musahar’ woman from Nepal’s Udaypur District with four children and an ailing husband. Until four years ago, this pithy description constituted her only identity.
Better maternal health care saves the lives of women and children in Nepal
NEW YORK, USA, 27 September 2006 – More than 1 in every 200 pregnant women in Nepal dies giving birth. A lack of access to medical care, poor health education and the low status of women are the main causes. But by working with local communities, UNICEF and its partners are helping to reduce maternal deaths across the region.
Diluting the pain of arsenic poisoning in Nepal
NAWALPARASI, Nepal, 20 September 2006 – Twelve years ago, Harilal Gupta was thrilled to finally have a tube well dug at his doorstep. Little did he know that the well water was contaminated with arsenic.
Women health volunteers save children’s lives in Nepal
NEW YORK, USA, 15 September 2006 – Ganga Thapa has been a volunteer health worker for 16 years. She’s part of a growing network of women, supported by UNICEF, who bring essential care and medicines to children and mothers in remote Nepalese communities.
UNICEF provides emergency supplies for flood-stricken families in Nepal
KATHMANDU, Nepal, 29 August 2006 – UNICEF has started distributing supplies to families affected by devastating floods in the Mid-Western and Far-Western Regions of Nepal.
Non-formal schooling boosts access to basic education in Nepal
KAPILVASTU, Nepal, 17 July 2006 – Children who were out of school in 15 districts of Nepal now have the opportunity to learn how to read and write, thanks to the UNICEF-supported Out-of-School Programme (OSP).
New campaign helping to achieve universal salt iodization in rural Nepal
KAPILVASTU, Nepal, 26 June 2006 – On a hot afternoon, a red land cruiser drives into the dusty village of Kuwagaon, rural Nepal. Curious children start running after the vehicle, and by the time it parks in a mango grove, many men, women and children are gathered around.
Song and drama promote good hygiene and build a cleaner Nepal
KAPILVASTU, Nepal, 16 June 2006 – Meena Pandey and Dilmaya Mukhia, members of a children’s club in Nepal, sing a song they have composed to inspire villagers to keep their community clean.
‘Welcome to School’: Rallying for universal access to education in Nepal
KAPILVASTU, Nepal, 7 June 2006 – After political unrest that disrupted life in Nepal earlier this year, rallies of quite a different kind have been held in the country’s villages and towns in the last month. They have been led by children chanting slogans such as: “Send children to school ... Don’t discriminate between girls and boys ... Protect child rights ... Spread the wisdom of knowledge.”
UNICEF responds to needs of children and families caught in Nepal crisis
KATHMANDU, Nepal, 25 April 2006 – A general strike in Nepal, now in its 20th day, coupled with demonstrations and curfews, is starting to have a significant impact on some of the country’s poorest urban communities. Water shortages and injuries to children in these areas are among UNICEF’s major concerns.
Putting children first: Nepal’s national vitamin A campaign proceeds despite unrest
KATHMANDU, Nepal, 19 April 2006 – Despite the escalating political turmoil that has hit Nepal in recent weeks, a national distribution of vitamin A capsules and de-worming tablets started today. About 3.3 million Nepalese children, ranging in age from six months to five years, are expected to receive vitamin A capsules as part of the two-day nationwide campaign to protect children’s health by boosting their immune systems.
Singing for sanitation: Teen in rural Nepal teaches her village about water safety
MEXICO CITY, Mexico, 27 March 2006 – At the Children’s World Water Forum here last week, children from around the globe reported to one another on their water projects. Some of them were shy at first, but over the course of the week they became more and more outspoken. One impressive young person was Shanta Chaudhary, 14, who comes from remote Dhikpur village in the Dang District of Nepal.
Saving lives in Nepal through vitamin A distribution
KATHMANDU, Nepal, 29 November 2005 – Moti Bhandari looks into the mirror and adds the finishing touches to her make-up: a big red mark with the logo of a vitamin A campaign on her forehead. She then slings her green cloth bag with the same logo across her shoulders, calls out to her 9-year-old daughter Sarita to mind the store, and heads for the vitamin A distribution centre with her 2-year-old son in tow.
Instability can’t stop measles campaign
KATHMANDU, Nepal, 15 November 2004 – This fall saw the launch of one of Nepal’s largest-ever public health efforts – a campaign to immunize nearly 10 million children against measles.
Thousands displaced in Nepal by floods
KATHMANDU, Nepal, 27 July 2004 – Nearly 37,000 families are estimated to have been displaced by monsoon flooding in Nepal, according to a Nepal Red Cross report issued today.
