USAID Women in Development (WID): Country Snapshots

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About 40% of marriages involve girls less than 14 years of age, with 7% under 10. Nearly 60% are married before 18.

Nepal has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world, about 740 per 100,000 live births. Every two hours, a woman dies from a pregnancy related complication.

Domestic violence against women is estimated at 73% in some parts of the country. Torture or murder of witches, often widows, is not uncommon.

Of the total child labor force in Nepal, 61% are girls.

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Country Snapshot: Nepal and Trafficking

Nepal is recognized as a source country for trafficking of children and women, with internal trafficking on the rise. USAID/Nepal’s anti-trafficking activities strive to strengthen and diversify prevention activities, as well as rehabilitation and reintegration services, and to integrate efforts by NGOs and the Government of Nepal to address the problem of trafficking while respecting women's right to migrate. Additional activities provide employment oriented skills training to girls at risk of being trafficked and trafficking survivors.

Trafficking Prevention and Gainful Employment

USAID/Nepal supports the work of grass-roots organizations and Government of Nepal anti-trafficking task forces operating in nine source and transit districts. Activities include teaching women and girls in rural Nepal, as well as teachers and students, employment agencies, local government staff, and transport workers, about the methods used by traffickers. USAID/Nepal also trains staff in transit homes to help survivors with psychological trauma and supports literacy training for out-of-school girls that includes information on trafficking. It works to protect and rehabilitate trafficking survivors by supporting projects that develop employment skills, provide legal counseling, and advocate against trafficking. USAID’s anti-trafficking efforts have reached over 100,000 individuals through community-generated initiatives that make communities aware of the issue and of their own role and responsibility to combat trafficking. Consequently, girls have been intercepted in both communities and at border check points, and reporting on cases of trafficking and women’s issues by community groups has increased.

Working through The Asia Foundation, USAID’s Gainful Employment activity supports trafficking survivors and girls at risk of trafficking (out-of-school, conflict-affected, and internally displaced girls) with job-oriented and life skills training. Such training helps the girls avoid being coerced by traffickers. Strategic interventions include non-formal education, skills and vocational training, and job placement and support. Since January 2004, over 40 percent of the targeted groups have been placed in jobs or have become self-employed.

Nepal's Program Objectives

Health
Economic Growth
Democracy & Governance
Trafficking

SELECTED ACTIVITIES:

Safe Motherhood Newsletter
Female Community Health Volunteers (FCHV) Program
Community of Love and Affection (SNEHA Samaj)
Girls’ Access to Education (GATE) Program
Smallholder Irrigation Market Initiative
Strengthened Actions for Governance in Utilization of Natural Resources Program (SAGUN)
Sustainable Incomes for Women in Gulmi and Argakhanchi
Women in Hydropower Development
Increasing Women’s Political Participation
Strengthening the Role of Civil Society and Women in Democracy and Governance (SAMARPAN)
Rule of Law and Respect of Human Rights Program
Trafficking Prevention and Gainful Employment

Visit USAID/Nepal link to the Mission
Global Snapshot: Nepal Homepage

Global Snapshots is a web-based series highlighting successful gender-related activities undertaken by USAID Missions around the world. The snapshots illustrate Mission objectives and activities that take gender considerations into their implementation.

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		Last Updated on: June 09, 2008