Nepal

Overview

Nepal is one of the poorest countries in Asia; a quarter of the population still live in absolute poverty. Among the challenges Nepal faces are a widening gap between the rich and poor and a lack of basic infrastructure – including electricity, water and transport provision. There is also widespread unemployment, low agricultural productivity, a high level of migration and endemic corruption.

A decade-long civil war, which ended in 2006, has pushed the nation even further back into poverty. Meanwhile, Nepal is particularly vulnerable to climate change and natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods and landslides.

In 2015, two massive earthquakes struck the region, killing nearly 8,000 people and making Nepal even more vulnerable to future disasters.

Our work in Nepal

Tearfund has been working in Nepal since 1970 and is currently partnering with eight  organisations across the country.

Following the earthquakes in 2015, Tearfund launched an emergency aid operation and was one of the first agencies to rebuild permanent, earthquake-resilient homes. The National Reconstruction Authority of Nepal is using Tearfund’s shelter approach as a model for all the earthquake-affected areas in the country.

Longer-term development work is increasingly focused on the mid and far West of the country, where poverty is highest, prioritising marginalised people such as women and  groups considered ‘lower caste’ by their society.

Tearfund partners are also working with churches on anti-trafficking and community development initiatives and are continuing to build disaster resilience in communities.