Luxembourg NGO Projects Highlighted During Nepal Visit

Luxembourg's Minister for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs, Franz Fayot, paid a working visit to Nepal from Tuesday 2 to Saturday 6 May 2023.

According to the Directorate for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs of Luxembourg's Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, the purpose of this trip was to visit the projects of a number of Luxembourg NGOs, namely ONGD-FNEL Scouts and Guides, Coopération Humanitaire Luxembourg, Handicap International Luxembourg, ECPAT, Aide à l'Enfance de l'Inde et du Nepal (AEIN) and Life Project for Youth (LP4Y).

In Dakshinkali, near Kathmandu, Minister Fayot visited the Agriculture Learning and Resource Centre of the Shikharapur Community Learning Centre (SCLC), a local partner of ONGD-FNEL Scouts and Guides. The activities of the organisation aim in particular to create an environment allowing young people to improve their skills, learn to work independently and explore the possibilities offered by the agricultural market. Minister Fayot got an overview of the SCLC school-farm, the Bottle House, which offers practical training in innovative and sustainable agricultural techniques.

In Pokhara, Coopération Humanitaire Luxembourg is supporting a development project implemented by its local partner SOS Bahini, which aims to improve access to protection, education, vocational training and healthcare for vulnerable children and women. Beneficiaries presented the functioning of the programmes to Minister Fayot, who also saw the various infrastructures of SOS Bahini, including an eco-village and a training centre.

Minister Fayot then visited Handicap International Luxembourg and its activities in the district of Gorkha. As disability is not taken into account in education, health or economic development in Nepal, according to the Directorate for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs, Handicap International Luxembourg's operations pursue the objectives of improving access to education for children with disabilities and enabling people with injuries or disabilities to benefit from rehabilitation sessions and reintegration services. During discussions with the beneficiaries of the NGO's economic inclusion programme, the minister learned more about the difficulties and challenges faced by people with disabilities in Nepal.

In the capital, Kathmandu, Minister Fayot visited three projects supported by ECPAT: a project to prevent the trafficking of young girls into the adult entertainment sector, a project that aims to protect children from early and forced marriage and a project operating at the regional level to fight human trafficking in Nepal, India and Bangladesh.

With the aim of improving justice and social transformation, as well as the socio-economic development of disadvantaged and marginalised people in Nepal, AEIN supports, among others, projects in the fields of education, community development, livelihoods and sustainable agriculture. In this context, Minister Fayot paid a visit to two projects supported by AEIN, namely a rural women's fruit and vegetable cooperative and a school that was rebuilt after the 2015 earthquake.

In addition, Minister Fayot visited the Green Village of LP4Y, which welcomes young women from rural provinces of Nepal and accompanies them in their social and professional integration. In order to enable women to create their own income-generating activities, the programme offers training in areas such as creativity, marketing, English language, communication, as well as project management, proactivity and leadership.

Finally, in Kathmandu, Minister Fayot had a bilateral meeting with Narayan Prakash Saud, Nepal's Minister of Foreign Affairs, during which both ministers highlighted the good relations between Luxembourg and Nepal as well as the importance of the contribution of Luxembourg NGOs in favour of the Nepalese population.

On the sidelines of the project visits, Minister Fayot also had a working dinner with Nona Deprez, Ambassador of the European Union to Nepal.