Govt, UN okay $685m package for next 5 years

KATHMANDU, Sept 12: 

The National Planning Commission (NPC) and the United Nations Country Team in Nepal on Tuesday made public the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) for 2013 -2017, which outlines various measures to uplift backward communities through UN agencies´ activities. 

The UNDAF incorporates a common development strategy for the UN Country Team in Nepal for the next five years. Under it, Nepal would receive a total assistance package of US$ 685 million through 24 individual UN agencies, according to a press statement issued by the UNDP. 

The fund would be fundamentally spent on interventions that assist vulnerable groups to enjoy better access to development progress, implement activities that protect Nepal´s development gains to date, and support that facilitate Nepal´s international cooperation.

The strategy has been under preparation for over one year, involving hundreds of local and international subject-experts and officials.

“UN agencies´ assistance to Nepal, especially in the area of social upliftment of backward communities remains important,” the statement quoted NPC Vice Chairperson Deependra Bahadur Kshetry as saying at a signing ceremony on September 6. 

UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Robert Piper noted that the UNDAF addresses the right issues with a clear sense of purpose, ambition and urgency, setting the stage for a period of renewed collaboration between the United Nations Development Group and the Government of Nepal.

Source: Republica