Education and Gender Equality

Education and Gender Equality are prioritized sectors for Norway’s development cooperation with Nepal. Read more about our work on Education and Gender Equality.

Photo: German Embassy/GIZ

Education is the best cure for poverty. Studies from all over the world find that education increases income, makes people healthier, saves children’s lives, promotes jobs, boosts the economy, and fosters peace.

Education is a main priority within Norwegian Development Policy. Through the Sustainable Development Goals and Agenda 2030, Norway is committed to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and to promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. The objective of the Norwegian support to education in Nepal is to contribute to inclusive public education for all through the support to Nepali government’s own sector programs, and to contribute to improved education opportunities for girls, children with disabilities and children from marginalized groups. The Embassy has supported the reconstruction of 58 schools that were destroyed during the earthquake in 2015.

The objective of Norway’s efforts in the area of gender equality is to increase the opportunities available to women and girls, promote their right to self-determination, and further their empowerment. This is crucial if girls, boys, women and men are to have equal rights and equal opportunities.

Women’s rights and gender equality are central elements in the Embassy’s work on governance. Following the election laws, there is a minimum of elected women representatives at federal, provincial and local levels of government. The Embassy supports training of the elected representatives and the administrative officials through the Provincial and Local Government Support Programme and Parliamentary Support Programme.

Although several policies and legislation for the prevention of Gender Based Violence and the provision of response services have been put in place in Nepal, and there are encouraging signs of progress, there is a lot that remains to be done. This includes improving the response to Gender Based Violence, but also to challenge social norms that perpetuate discriminatory practices and violence against women and girls. The Norwegian Embassy supports UNFPA’s efforts to eliminate Gender Based violence through the Gender Based Violence Prevention and Support Project.

HIGHLIGHTED PROJECTS

Find a list of our current projects below.

School Sector Education Programme (SESP)

Norway has supported Nepal’s sector programmes for education for many years, among them the Education for All program, the School Sector Reform Program, the School Sector Development Program (SSDP) and currently the School Education Sector Program (SESP). The School SESP is a long-term strategic plan of the Government of Nepal. It aims to increase participation of all children in quality school education. It focuses on strategic interventions and new reform initiatives to improve the equitable access, quality, efficiency, governance, management and resilience of the education system. The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MOEST) is the executing agency and the Centre for Education and Human Resource Development (CEHRD) is the implementing agency of the SESP. Norway’s contribution to the program is 195 million Norwegian kroner from 2022– 2025. Norway has also supported the reconstruction of 58 Schools that were destroyed during the earthquake in 2015.

Sexual and reproductive health and rights

Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) is highly prioritized within Norwegian development cooperation. Nepal’s Right to Safe Motherhood and Reproductive Health Act (2018) reinforces Nepali women's rights to safe motherhood and reproductive health, including the right to affordable, accessible information and services for all girls and women. However, awareness, accountability and implementation of this Act at the national and sub-national level have been limited and negatively affect the ability of girls and women to make informed and independent choices, and to realise their reproductive rights. Maternal mortality and the unmet need for modern family planning continue to be high, and there is a critical shortage of midwives. There are considerable concerns about the availability, quality and accessibility of essential SRH care, including: family planning; emergency obstetric and newborn care (EmONC); adolescent and youth-friendly services. Therefore, the Embassy supports UNFPA’s efforts through the Reproductive Health and Rights for Accelerating Impacts (RHEA) project. The goal of the project is to contribute to an enabling environment for SRHR policy, financing, delivery and uptake. The project will be implemented in Madhesh and Sudurpaschim. Norway will support the project with 32 million Norwegian Kroner in period 2022 – 2025.

Gender Based Violence Prevention and Response Project

Several policies and legislation for the prevention of gender based violence and the provision of response services have been put in place in Nepal, and there are encouraging signs of progress. Despite this, much more needs to be done to end violence against women. The Embassy supports UNFPA’s efforts through the Gender Based Violence Prevention and Support Project. https://nepal.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/final_brochure-english.pdf. The goal of the project is to reduce all forms of gender based violence and discrimination against women in Province 1 and Sudurpaschim through both prevention and response activities. The project is a cooperation with the Swiss Development Cooperation, and the Norwegian contribution to the project is 32 million Norwegian Kroner in the project period 2020 – 2024.

Cross-cutting issues

All measures funded by the Norwegian government are required to be based on these principles:

sky - Photo:sky

Climate change and the environment

Climate change and environmental damage are destroying ecosystems, with negative repercussions for development, health and food production. It is important that our projects take climate change and the environment into account.

Fredsdue@2x.png

Human Rights & Gender Equality

The promotion of human rights and democratic principles is a crucial part of Norwegian foreign policy. There is a special focus on gender equality where the fundamental aim is to increase the opportunities available to women and girls, promote their right to self-determination, and further their empowerment.

kapital

Zero-tolerance policy on corruption

Norway practices a zero-tolerance on corruption. If you have any suspicions of financial irregularities or other misconduct in our programmes or implementing partners, go to our contact page.