ADB, Japan Fund launch 3 projects

Wed, Aug 31, 2011 12:00 AM on Others, Others,
KATHMANDU, Aug 31:
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Japanese government have teamed up with the Nepali government and launched three projects aiming to reduce child malnutrition, develop new livelihood opportunities for the poor and promote greater access to clean energy for poor rural women.

The projects -- Reducing Child Malnutrition through Social Protection Project, Support for Targeted and Sustainable Development Program for Highly Marginalized Groups Project and Improving Gender-Inclusive Access to Clean and Renewable Energy in Bhutan, Nepal and Sri Lanka Project -- will be funded by grants totaling $7.7 million from the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction (JFPR), administered by ADB.

"ADB is very pleased to work on these projects which are targeted at benefiting the most vulnerable and often excluded groups in Nepali society - women, children and the extreme poor," a statement ADB quoted Barry J. Hitchcock, ADB´s Country Director for Nepal, as saying during the launch of the projects.

According to ADB, Reducing Child Malnutrition through Social Protection Project will support Nepal improve planning and delivery of its social protection programs. Its key goal is to promote more efficiency in the delivery of the recently introduced child grant, which intends to reduce child malnutrition.

Likewise, Support for Targeted and Sustainable Development Program for Highly Marginalized Groups Project will help develop new livelihood opportunities and improve income in some of the poorest and most disadvantaged communities.

Improving Gender-Inclusive Access to Clean and Renewable Energy in Bhutan, Nepal and Sri Lanka Project, on the other hand, will promote greater access to clean energy for poor rural women in South Asia.

The Government of Japan, through the JFPR, supports high-impact projects to reduce poverty in developing countries in Asia and the Pacific. From 2001 to August 2011, Nepal has received 10 JFPR projects for the agriculture, governance, and social sectors worth more than $17.05 million.

Source: Republica