poverty and development in Nepal

1. NEPAL
by
Farjana Akter
Nazifa Rafa
Sukhi AkterPoverty and development in

2. Outline
 Nepal: A brief introduction
 Development trend over the years
 Challenges amid development progress
 Developmental success achieved till date
 Recommendations
 Conclusion
 References

3. NEPAL:
A BRIEF INTRODUCTION

4. famed for being home to the world’s…
tallest mountain
deepest gorge
highest lake
MOUNT EVEREST
KALI GANDAKI
TILICHO LAKE

5. A glimpse at it’s diversity
 an estimated population of 28.7 million (UNDESA, 2015)
 multi- ethnic groups
 more than 123 languages (Central Bureau of Statistics, Nepal, 2011), including
Nepali, which is the mother tongue
 recently adopted parliamentary democracy, resulting from the Nepalese Civil War
(1996- 2006), and proclaimed as secular republic in 2008, ending the world’s last
Hindu monarchy

6. Nepal is ranked 149 (of the
189 countries in the world) at
Human Development Index
with an index of 0.574
(categorized under Medium
Human Development), which
is one of the lowest in the
world. (UNDP, 2018)
Development trend
UNDP, 2018

7. Reasons for stunted
development progress

8. 1. Political problems
• Political instability
• Corruption
Ranked at 122 at Corruptions Perception Index with a score of 31% in transparency
(Transparency International, 2017).
• Incompetent leaders

9. 2. Poverty
Almost 25% of the population of Nepal falls under the
poverty line, with the negligible amount of salary to
meet their basic needs. (Asian Development Bank,
2010).
Educational dimension (UNDP, 2018):
 average years of schooling is only 4.9
years for the school going population.
 illiteracy rate among adults is 40.4%
 the gross enrolment in the tertiary
education of the total school age
population is only 12%
Employment dimension (UNDP, 2018):
 Of the total employed population (81.9%),
78.9% are in vulnerable employment.
Gender equality dimensions (UNDP,
2018):
• the mean years of schooling for males is
6.4 years while it is 3.6 years for females.
• total youth unemployment ratio for female
is to male ratio is 0.74

10. 3. Geography and topography
• Sea trade is impossible
• Must depend on India for many goods
• Transportation is challenging and expensive
to build due to mountains
• Prone to natural calamities due to topography
and location

11. 4. External hindrance
• Nepal has unlocked only 2% of its total hydroelectric potential (Guntilake,
Roland-Holst, 2013)
• political disagreements on ongoing border tensions with India has been delaying
the initiation of its hydro electric projects.

12. “Does Nepal still have a scope for
enduring development?”

13. Developmental success
achieved till date

14. (National Planning Commission of Nepal, 2016)

15. (World Bank, 2017)
(UNDP, 2018)

16. Recommendations to aid
development

17. 1. Increased integration of Nepal’s
products in the global market
• focus on prioritizing Nepal’s expertise
• encourage Nepalese production and the patenting of
technologies and seeds
• reduce barriers to deepen market access

18. 2. Reassessment of donor initiatives
• 5% net official development assistance of the total GNI (UNDP,
2018)
• money pays to corruption
• donors should start taking a stand on anti-corruption measures
• encourage more transparency within the government

19. Conclusion
Nepal’s development is not progressing due to the lack of coordination between
neighboring countries, human resources, natural resources, and government policies and
implementation.
The fact that Nepal made progress in attaining the MDG’s despite the long political
instability shows Nepal’s potential to rise beyond the challenges.
Nepal’s future in terms of long term development is an optimistic one.

20. References
1. Asian Development Bank. (2010). Poverty in Nepal. Retrieved from https://www.adb.org/.
2. Bell, T. (2015, March 22). Nepal's failed development. Aljazeera. Retrieved from https://www.aljazeera.com/.
3. Central Bureau of Statistics, Nepal. (2011). Official Summary of Census (2011). Kathmandu: Nepal Government Printing Office.
4. Guntilake, H., & Roland- Holst, D. (2013). Hydropower Development and Economic Growth in Nepal. Washington, D.C: Author.
5. National Planning Commission. (2016). Nepal and the Millennium Development Goals (MDG): Final Status Report 2000-2015. Kathmandu: Nepal Government Printing Office.
6. Savada, A. M., Harris, G. L. & Library Of Congress. (1993). Nepal and Bhutan: country studies (pp. 23- 25) [PDF file]. Washington, D.C.: Federal Research Division, Library of
Congress: For sale by the Supt. of Docs., U.S. Govt. Print. Office. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/93012226/.
7. Totajada, C. (2016, December 21). Bhutan and Nepal: two ‘least developed countries’ that could change the face of Asia. The Conversation. Retrieved from
https://theconversation.com/au.
8. Transparency International. (2018). Corruption Perceptions Index 2017. Retrieved from http://www.transparency.org.
9. United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), Population Division. (2017). “World Population Prospects: The 2017 Revision”. Retrieved from
http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/.
10. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). (2018). Human Development Indices and Indicators: 2018 Statistical Update. Retrieved from http://hdr.undp.org/en.
11. World Bank. (2017). Nepal: GDP per capita (current US$). Retrieved from http://data.worldbank.org.