The Government of Finland and UNICEF have expanded their partnership for children in Nepal through programmes in Education and in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH). At a ceremony held in Kathmandu, ambassador of Finland in Nepal Pertti Anttinen and UNICEF representative in Nepal Elke Wisch signed a partnership agreement for the next three years, committing 8 million Euros to enhance quality services for children in Nepal.
While Nepal has registered significant progress in access to education and water and sanitation services in recent decades, and today the majority of children are enrolled in school, due to challenges with the quality and inclusiveness of education, many are not learning even basic skills. With 71 per cent of households collecting drinking water from contaminated sources, the quality of WASH services is similarly challenged.
In response, the partnership will support a range of early childhood, basic formal education and adolescent non-formal education interventions with a strong focus on improving quality, safety and inclusiveness, particularly for children from different mother tongue backgrounds and for children with disabilities. “WASH interventions will aim provide universal access and water safety for some of the most unreached populations in Nepal,” a press note issued by the UNICEF reads.
“The core goal of Finland’s development policy is to eradicate extreme poverty and to reduce poverty and inequality,” Anttinen said, adding that Finland’s actions strive to promote that the rights of children and the most vulnerable, notably the disabled, are taken account of in all our activities, women and girls are better educated and have better skills, and to ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all. “Finland wants to support both the enabling environment and community-level work.”
It is crucial to reach the unreached and leave no one behind when it comes to education and water sanitation," he added. “UNICEF is one of Finland’s long-term partners in Nepal, especially in the WASH and education sectors.”
By entering this partnership, we want to ensure that our work is promoting synergy, harmonisation and complementarity between the sectors and different interventions,” according to him.
“Nepal has made remarkable progress in access to education and water and sanitation coverage over the past few decades since the country committed to improving the situation of child rights as an early signatory to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC),” Wisch, on the occasion, said.
“As we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the CRC, improving the quality and inclusiveness of services remains the key challenge in our joint efforts to ensure that no child is left behind and ensure that every child in Nepal achieves her individual potential,” she said, adding that the expanded partnership with the Finland will go a long way in bringing safe water and sanitation to the most marginalised communities and in creating an enabling environment to equip today’s children with the knowledge and skills they will need to contribute to the development of their country as Nepal advances towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targets and the 2030 agenda.
While Nepal has registered significant progress in access to education and water and sanitation services in recent decades, and today the majority of children are enrolled in school, due to challenges with the quality and inclusiveness of education, many are not learning even basic skills. With 71 per cent of households collecting drinking water from contaminated sources, the quality of WASH services is similarly challenged.
In response, the partnership will support a range of early childhood, basic formal education and adolescent non-formal education interventions with a strong focus on improving quality, safety and inclusiveness, particularly for children from different mother tongue backgrounds and for children with disabilities. “WASH interventions will aim provide universal access and water safety for some of the most unreached populations in Nepal,” a press note issued by the UNICEF reads.
“The core goal of Finland’s development policy is to eradicate extreme poverty and to reduce poverty and inequality,” Anttinen said, adding that Finland’s actions strive to promote that the rights of children and the most vulnerable, notably the disabled, are taken account of in all our activities, women and girls are better educated and have better skills, and to ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all. “Finland wants to support both the enabling environment and community-level work.”
It is crucial to reach the unreached and leave no one behind when it comes to education and water sanitation," he added. “UNICEF is one of Finland’s long-term partners in Nepal, especially in the WASH and education sectors.”
By entering this partnership, we want to ensure that our work is promoting synergy, harmonisation and complementarity between the sectors and different interventions,” according to him.
“Nepal has made remarkable progress in access to education and water and sanitation coverage over the past few decades since the country committed to improving the situation of child rights as an early signatory to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC),” Wisch, on the occasion, said.
“As we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the CRC, improving the quality and inclusiveness of services remains the key challenge in our joint efforts to ensure that no child is left behind and ensure that every child in Nepal achieves her individual potential,” she said, adding that the expanded partnership with the Finland will go a long way in bringing safe water and sanitation to the most marginalised communities and in creating an enabling environment to equip today’s children with the knowledge and skills they will need to contribute to the development of their country as Nepal advances towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targets and the 2030 agenda.
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