Newly appointed ambassador and head of the Delegation of the European Union (EU) to Nepal Nona Deprez today presented her credentials to President Bidya Devi Bhandari, at a function held at the President’s Office.
“I am extremely honoured and happy to take up my duties as the EU ambassador to Nepal and look forward to discover the country, to meet the Nepalese and to work closely with all Nepali institutions, civil society, private sector, media, international partners and all relevant political, social and economic stakeholders,” ambassador Deprez has been quoted in a press note issued by the Delegation of the EU to Nepal.
Nepal and the EU have developed more than four decades of diplomatic and friendly relations, the ambassador said, stressing the need to work jointly on global issues in the wake of new challenges such as pandemics, climate change and threat to multilateralism has become an urgency.
The EU has been a reliable development partner and one of the biggest donors to Nepal for around half a century.
The Delegation of the EU to Nepal – in the press note – said that EU has been cooperating on three priorities agreed with the government of Nepal: rural development, education and finally democracy and decentralization. “Furthermore, the EU supports Nepal in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in graduating from LDC status and in improving Nepal’s resilience to the adverse effects of climate change,” the Delegation of the EU to Nepal claimed, adding that the total assistance for the current programming cycle – 2014 to 2020 – amounts for Euro360 million, which is around Rs 50 billion. “When the Covid crisis hit Nepal, the EU provided immediate response in mobilising a package of Euro75 million, which is Rs 10 billion.”
The support was closely coordinated with the EU member states working as one in a streamlined ‘Team Europe Initiative’. The EU also helped raise Euro16 billion globally to finance research on vaccines, tests and treatments for the whole world.
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