Nepal Village  Foundation (UK)

Supporting sustainable livelihoods development programmes in the rural villages of Nepal

 

 

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Nepal Village Foundation (UK) all rights reserved 2007, www.nvf.org.uk, HMRC Charity No. XT13105

 

Malaria: The beginning of the end?

[10th of Nov 2011 by Steve Connor]

You wait for years for a breakthrough in the battle against malaria, and then two come along in two weeks. But the advance announced yesterday by scientists at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in Cambridge is potentially far more significant than last month's news of an experimental vaccine made by GlaxoSmithKline (and part-funded by Bill Gates), which showed partial success in early clinical trials. Scientists involved in those trials emphasised that the vaccine would only be able to contribute to the control of malaria. Read the full article at http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/malaria-the-beginning-of-the-end-6259691.html

 

NEPAL: A ban imposed on the Dalits community in Bhagawatpur village by the upper caste villagers

URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION
ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAM
16 September 2004
UA-119-2004: NEPAL: A ban imposed on the Dallits community in Bhagawatpur village by the upper caste villagers
NEPAL: Discrimination against Dalits; Untouchables; Rule of law. Click here to read more about this article >>

 

Dying for children

 

 

Each year 2,500 Nepalese women lose their lives during pregnancy and labour

A woman gets a contraceptive implant at an outreach camp.

Above: an urban clinic. Photography by: Brian Sokol/Panos

Sita frowns as she recalls giving birth to her first child on a mat, in a hut, up a mountain. She was living with her husband's family in a village north of Nepal's capital city of Kathmandu. She was 16, scared and bleeding heavily, with only her mother-in-law and a collection of old wives' tales to get her through. "And then," Sita says, "she forced me to eat cow dung." Read more about this article>>

 

 

 

Children rescued from Indian circuses getting new lease of life

5th of August 08,Nepal News.

Activists of the award-winning Esther Benjamin Memorial Foundation has rescued 5 children and 3 adolescents from a circus in India and brought them to Hetauda Tuesday. Those rescued are aged between 12 to 18 years and were sold to the circus in return for cash.The Foundation's activists also nabbed Kirte Bahadur Tamang, 68, red handed while he was selling the children and adolescents to Rainbow Circus in Gujarat state of India and handed him over to District Police Office in Hetauda. Tamang is accused of having sold more than 20 children from his home district Hetauda to many circuses in India.A team of seven led by Foundation's Director Sailaja CM had rescued Parwati B.K, 12; Sumitra B.K, 13; Paru Lama, 13; Namuna Joshi, 15; Ram Maya Thokar, 14; Sani Lama, 16; Pawitra Gumba, 17 and Ramesh Lama, 18.Thinking that the children would end up in the same place again if they are left to themselves, the Foundation has also been taking care of the children it has brought to Nepal after rescuing them from Indian circuses, including making arrangements for their education, giving them training in different skilled jobs and providing jobs after that. Till now 168 children rescued from Indian circuses have benefited from the programme run by the Foundation.

 

Nepal becoming food insecure: WFP

29th July 2008, Nepal News; Nepal is gradually becoming food insecure as 6.4 million of the country's inhabitants are reeling under soaring food prices and inadequate supplies, according to a new World Food Program (WFP) report. The Market and Price Impact Assessment Report, prepared by WFP, clearly pointed out that approximately 2.5 million people in rural parts of the country are in immediate need of food assistance and an additional 3.9 million people in rural Nepal are at risk of becoming insecure due to soaring prices of food for last few months. The report presented at the Round Table Conference on the Food situation and Humanitarianism organized in the capital Monday further said, "These people are highly vulnerable to food price increase and already have a very low level of food intake. The report noted that prices of cooking oil and coarse rice have soared by 26 percent and 19 percent respectively in the last six months and that of kerosene by 13 percent. It said that transportation costs have galloped by an average of 27 percent over the review period.

 

Floods, landslides cause havoc in various parts of country

24th July 2008, Nepal News; Floods and landslides triggered by incessant rainfall have caused havoc in many villages across the country, putting lives of thousands of people at grave risk. Continuous rainfall for the past few weeks have inundated dozens of villages in Saptari districts, destroying properties and displacing thousands of people from their homes. According to the Kathmandu Post, the water level in the villages has reached about one meter high, ruining foodstuff, clothing and other household belongings. The report said that most flood affected villagers are currently sheltering on the rooftop of a local school. Similarly, government offices including the District Administration Office, Zonal Police Office and Nepal Telecom in the district headquarters Rajbiraj have also been inundated by the floods. Flood in Khado river has also submerged villages including Sakarpura, Mahadeva and Launiya, displacing all residents and destroying harvest and large tracts of arable land. Meanwhile, frequent landslides caused by continuous rainfall have displaced all residents of Khaptad VDC in Achham district. Reports said that over 650 people from the remote VDC are staying at a nearby jungle inside makeshift camps often in appalling conditions. The displaced villagers are said to be reeling under food shortage and face danger of contracting viral influenza and gastroenteritis.

 

Ram Baran Yadav becomes Nepal's first president

1st of July 2008, Nepal news; Nepali Congress (NC) candidate Dr Ram Baran Yadav has become the first president of republic Nepal, securing a comfortable majority in the presidential run-off held today.

Constituent Assembly (CA) chairman personnamew:ston givennamew:ston K.B snw:ston Gurung announced in the CA meeting this evening that Yadav had been elected president by winning a simple majority. Yadav bagged 308 votes while his rival Ram Raja Prasad Singh, who was backed by the Maoists, ended up with 282 votes. Yadav was supported by stocktickerw:stonCPN (UML), Madhesi Janadhikar Forum, stocktickerw:ston CPN (ML), Rastriya Prajatantra Party, Nepal Workers and Peasants Party, stocktickerw:ston CPN (United), personnamew:ston givennamew:ston Rastriya snw:ston Janamorcha, Rastriya Janashakti Party and a few other fringe parties.The 61-year-old president elect hails from Dhanusha district. He was the general secretary of the Congress party.Altogether 590 votes were cast in today's run-off poll.The run-off voting was conducted as none of the candidates reached the magic number, 298, in Saturday's election. Madhesi Janadhikar Forum candidate personnamew:ston givennamew:ston Parmananda snw:stonJ ha was elected vice president in the previous voting.Meanwhile, Nepali Congress cadres carried out huge rallies in placew:stonKathmandu and elsewhere around the country to celebrate Yadav's victory in the presidential poll.Briefly talking to media persons in CA premises, president elect Yadav said he would work for strengthening democracy in the country.

 

New species of bird identified in Koshi Tappu

5th June 2008, Nepal news
Ornithologists have said they spotted a new species of bird in Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve, making the number of bird species spotted in Nepal 863.Sykes's Nightjar, to which locals call Apurbas Chaite Chara, was spotted at Koshi Tappu few months ago.

The bird was first spotted on the banks of the Koshi river, 3 km south of the Koshi Barrage on January 1 this year. Experts said it took five months to have it verified.
The newly-spotted bird belongs to the Caprimulgidae family.
Nightjars are small to medium-sized birds having long and pointed wings and gaping mouth with long bristles, meant to catch flying insects. Nightjars are nocturnal, with soft, owl-like patterned plumage.

 

Nepal becomes a federal democratic republic
28th May 2008, Nepal news

The historic first meeting of the Constituent Assembly (CA) has endorsed a proposal to amend the interim constitution implementing the declaration of Nepal as a federal democratic republic.
The officiating chairman of the CA, Kul Bahadur Gurung said that of the 564 CA members who took part in the voting on the proposal, 560 voted in its favour while four members voted against it.
The motion for implementing the republic declaration was introduced by the government.
Home Minister Krishna Sitaula introduced the proposal as per the Article 159 of the Interim Constitution, which was put for voting. Read more about this article>>>

 

SOCIAL INCLUSION OF MADHESHI COMMUNITY IN NATION BUILDING
Shree Govind Shah, Ph.D.
Ecologist and Policy Analyst
8 February 2006
This paper was presented at the Civil Society Forum Workshop for Research Programme on Social Inclusion and Nation Building in Nepal Organised by SNV on 13 February 2006, Kathmandu, Nepal. Read more about this article>>

Nearly 10,000 families displaced by floods and landslides; toll reaches 93
5th Aug 2007, Nepal news:

The Home Ministry has said the death toll in recent flashfloods and landslides across the country has reached 93 while a total of 9723 families have been displaced.
The ministry Sunday said 33 districts had been hit by floods, affecting 58,000 families. Banke, Bardiya, Rautahat, Dhanusha, Mahottari, Bara, Siraha, Saptari, Sunsari and Morang were worst hit districts.
Though life in the affected areas is gradually returning to normal with the monsoon rains subsiding, relief missions are yet to reach out to some of the hardest hit areas, leaving the victims in serious want of food and shelter.
Meanwhile, Home Minister Krishna Prasad Sitaula today visited Banke and Bardiya districts and inspected the relief operations going on there.
The Home Minister who arrived in Nepalgunj with a team of some eight-party leaders told reporters that the government was intensifying diplomatic efforts to minimise the problem of floods triggered by bordering Indian dams including Laxmanpur dam. He, however, did not clarify as to how much progress has been made from the “diplomatic efforts”.
Pokharel visited the two mid-western districts today in the wake of fears of possible outbreak of diseases in flood-hit areas.
In Nepalgunj, he told a news conference that the government had made all necessary arrangements to check outbreak of diseases from taking place. Hundreds of medics are working on the grounds with necessary medical supplies, he claimed

 

 

Newsletters published by Nepal Village Foundation

 

 

[Developing capacity among the rural people-2011]

 

 

Project update 2009