Nepal is a landlocked country in South Asia with a population of around 30 million people. However, Nepal is one of Asia’s poorest countries, with 17.4% of its population living in poverty as of 2021. There are various factors contributing to Nepal’s high poverty levels and slow-growing economy such as high unemployment rates, a lack of accessible education, food shortages, civil war and government corruption. According to the Asian Development Bank (ADB), there are approximately 60,000 charities/ non-governmental organizations (NGOs) operating in Nepal. Here are five charities operating in Nepal that are making a difference in the lives of the country’s poorest.

The Small World

The Small World supports local development projects across Nepal, focusing on improving childhood education, enhancing women’s rights and empowerment and supporting health care facilities. For instance, The Small World has established female education centers in rural Nepal, where young girls who are born into poverty are often at risk of trafficking, child marriage, violence, poor health, and subsequent poverty.  In a country where more than 35% of women are illiterate, providing women with a formal education means they are more likely to acquire future employment and earn a living.

Other projects include a health care facility providing free services to 32,000 people living in rural Nepal and the Friends of Arhaus Children’s Home which acts as a safe home to orphaned children in the Everest region, who would otherwise be subject to a life in poverty.  Since its establishment, The Small World has built homes, classrooms and sanitation facilities, providing more than 300 families with clean water and educating more than 150 children.

Nepal Water For Health Foundation

In Nepal, “3.5 million people do not have access to basic water services” with a further 10.8 million people lacking access to adequate sanitation facilities. With more than 70% of all water facilities being contaminated with bacteria, water-related illness is a leading cause of death in Nepal.

The Nepal Water for Health Foundation (NEWAH) aims to provide WASH facilities to Nepal’s poorest communities, “irrespective of gender, caste, class, and belief.”

Since its establishment in 1992, NEWAH has provided WASH services to over 2.1 million people in Nepal through various projects such as community-led sanitation, improved menstrual hygiene and even helping communities adapt to natural disasters. As well as implementing clean water facilities in communities, NEWAH also educates Nepali citizens on proper hygiene and sanitation and researches developing new, innovative WASH technology to ensure sustainable water supplies in the future.

The Nepal Red Cross Society

As the largest humanitarian organization in Nepal, the Nepal Red Cross Society (NRCS) began its journey in 1963 and is an independent charity providing immediate relief to those who require it. The NRCS provides a wide range of short-term and long-term services such as emergency health care and immediate natural disaster relief, as well as supporting community development projects and fighting gender discrimination, poverty and inadequate health care services.

In 2023, Nepal suffered major natural disasters in the form of earthquakes which caused a significant amount of damage. The NRCS helped ensure communities have sufficient emergency preparedness to minimize human suffering in the event of future disasters. For example, following the 2023 earthquake, the NRCS implemented the Earthquake Response Operation which efficiently deployed emergency services to most affected areas.

Rural Women’s Network Nepal

Established in 2007, Rural Women’s Network Nepal (RUWON) is a non-profit organization focussing on improving the lives of women in Nepal’s rural and poorest regions. According to RUWON Nepal, Nepalese society is “deeply patriarchal” and women are significantly more likely to be poor as well as face other human rights issues, suffer discrimination and have poor education.

RUWON Nepal aims to reduce the size of such gender disparities and improve the status and rights of rural women across the country. RUWON Nepal has implemented means of providing rural women with education, such as funding and supporting the education of more than 300 girls in the Sindhuli district in Kathmandu. The organization is also providing financing for women to set up their self-sufficient businesses, allowing women to both make a living and be empowered through independence. Other projects include providing free English lessons, the provision of sanitary products and sewing lessons to rural women, allowing women to have the opportunity to develop skills, gain an education and earn a living.

Prayas Nepal

Established in 2003, Prayas Nepal aims to improve the lives of those living in poverty in Nepal, particularly focusing on the welfare of children, with the charity’s initial project being a home for disadvantaged or orphaned children. Since then, Prayas Nepal has extended the focus of its work to support underprivileged children, women and the elderly.

Since 2003, Prayas Nepal has provided education scholarships to more than 2,000 people as well as implemented a vast number of community development projects across the country. Such projects include a Women’s Empowerment Project, COVID-19 relief projects, free health care centers, childhood education and elderly education programs. Due to the threat of natural disasters, Prayas Nepal has also developed almost 1,400 disaster management projects that provide emergency relief and rehabilitation to regions most impacted.

Making a Change

Although Nepal still stands as a “Least Developed Country” the work of local, national and international charities operating in Nepal, such as the five discussed here, has meant that poverty is steadily declining, with many people being lifted out of poverty between 2014 and 2019.

Nepal now aims to graduate from this status by 2026, according to the World Bank. However, economic, social and environmental issues are ever-prevalent in Nepal making the possibility for poverty alleviation challenging.

– Lucy Jacks
Photo: Flickr