School inauguration

It was a fascinating visit, but from a raft of impressions from the visit, what I wanted to write about was the women I met. When I went to open the new primary school that DFID had helped the community to build, the whole local community was there, about 200 people. Among these were about 70 women, mostly mothers of the children at the school. They had been involved in the school building, and were also involved in local credit schemes. Take a look at the Community Support Programme website to find out more.

There were three groups of women, all in matching saris depending on which group they belonged to: Red, pink or green. There was a sense of pride and solidarity in their "uniforms" and they stuck together in their groups throughout the whole inauguration ceremony and afterwards.

I wanted to know more about their credit groups. They were very organised. Only married women can belong, as they did not want an unmarried woman joining, taking out a loan, and then moving away because she had married and would go to live with her husband's family (possibly in another district) as is the custom here. They each contributed 61 Nepalese Rupees (NRs) a month to the kitty - this is about 50p. I asked why 61, not 60 and was told that 60 goes into the kitty and the 1 rupee goes towards stationary and running costs of the group. Very organised!

Most of the time the loans are between NRs 10-40,000 (£80 - £325), and are used to open small shops or to grow vegetables (to buy seeds and implements etc). We asked if they ever took loans to pay for a wedding or a dowry and they were shocked at such frivolous ideas! We asked what they did with the extra money the shops or vegetables brought in, but they were quite reticent about telling us. Studies of such credit groups show that additional income is usually used to supplement the food of the family, primarily the children, or to help pay for schooling. Perhaps if there is a little spare, they may buy a new sari, but they were not going to say that in front of the men of the community who were watching and listening closely! 

Talking to the credit group

And then something happened which has really stuck in my mind: I asked about safety, as the Terai can be a very dangerous place with criminal gangs controlling some areas. One group admitted they had once been robbed on the way to deposit money in the bank, so I suggested they should ask the men to accompany them, to provide additional security. They laughed at this idea and one woman explained that the men were not interested and did not support the women in what they were doing (even though at least indirectly they would also be getting the benefit of the increased income). At this, an older man stepped forward and shouted at the women - how dare they say such things, and how dare they say such things to foreigners! The effect was instantaneous and from a group of proud, confident women, they were suddenly more cowed, much more cautious. The discussion finished shortly afterwards.

The incident really underlined again for me the position that many women have in society here.  Despite great progress in some areas, many women in Nepal, particularly rural women, still have a rough deal.  Land is generally inherited from the father to the son, so women have much greater economic insecurity than men. A recent study showed that only 11 % of households had any land in female ownership, and only 7 % reported ownership of livestock. Somewhat surprising given that 72 % of women work in agriculture (compared to 48 % of men), and earn considerably less doing so - an average daily wage of NRs 47 (38p) per day compared to the male average of NRs 63 (51p).  This has an impact on the whole family, in Nepal around 50% of children are malnourished, and over 40% of adult women are too. Women eat last, eat the least and eat the worst food. It means their children are born malnourished and their future is permanently blighted. The low status of women is a key part of this problem.

But things are changing. I work in an office which has a good number of strong, dynamic Nepalese women, who are clearly the equal of their male counterparts.  33% of seats in the Nepalese Parliament are occupied by women - the highest number of women parliamentarians in South Asia. This compares favourably to the UK which stands at 19% or the US at just under 17%. And these women are beginning to make their mark. But these are educated and mostly urban women, and the impact of these favourable changes need to be felt more among poorer women too. That's why the programmes that we have on health, education, skills development and empowerment are so very important not only for the women I met last week, but for the next generation of women, girls and boys here in Nepal.

Young children in the hills (Credit: DFID Nepal)

So both my children were ill this week, and I took them to a local baby clinic here in Kathmandu where both received good care and medicines. And in the way that healthy children do, both bounced back to health quickly. But they are definitely the lucky ones.  Each day in Nepal 200 children under 5 years old die. Acute respiratory infections, diarrhoea, and measles account for most deaths: underlying many of these deaths is malnutrition which is a chronic challenge in Nepal. Here, 61 out of 1,000 children die before reaching 5 years old (i.e. a tragic 1 in 16 children), compared to 6 out of 1,000 in the UK.

Healthcare in Nepal, for anyone, not just children, is not a given. Health care provision has greatly expanded: over the last decade, the number of health care institutions quadrupled particularly at village level. These facilities are largely staffed by Nepal’s valiant female community health volunteers. The services they provide are a major factor in Nepal halving child death levels over this period.

However, impressive (and inspiring) as this is, it is not enough. Although the commute time has continued to decline with the improvement in roads and the increased number of facilities, in some remote areas it takes 4 days to walk to a hospital. Additionally, although the number of doctors has increased significantly, there are only 2 doctors per 10,000 compared to 23 per 10,000 in the UK. 

A healthy mother and baby (Credit: Nabin Baral)

I had a briefing from our Safer Motherhood programme today, which again brought home to me the disparities which exist and how difficult and dangerous life is for poor people here in Nepal. Although women dying in childbirth decreased significantly – at last by one third - between 1996 and 2006, there are still 281 deaths per 100,000 live births. That’s the same as one woman dying every four hours. I find that a dreadful statistic, particularly as so many of these deaths can be prevented. Although in the same period the use of doctors, nurses and midwives at births doubled from 9 to nearly 19%, this still means that over 80% of women in Nepal deliver without any help from a trained health worker.

A rural health post (Credit: DFID Nepal)

DFID is working to improve health conditions for poor people in Nepal. Over the last decade we have been at the forefront of the challenge to reduce maternal mortality. We are central to new policies: such as the one launched this year enabling all women to have free delivery care nationwide.  We help to train doctors and nurses, build, renovate and equip health facilities, build roads and bridges to improve access to these health facilities. Furthermore we work with communities to ensure everyone knows the value of antenatal and delivery care and where and when to get the services. We continue to support the reduction of child mortality: for example supporting the introduction of a new vaccine and supporting education, particularly for women, whose understanding and use of child health care and health services rises with education level.

None of this is rocket science - it’s simple and practical and is making a difference. So while I feel incredibly lucky that my family and I have access to good medical care here in Kathmandu, I’m also proud to be part of something that is trying to provide a better level of care to poor people all over this beautiful country.

The picture-postcard side of Nepal (Credit: Wendy Cue, UNOCHA Nepal)

I’ve arrived to head up DFID’s development programme in Nepal, which is worth about £172 million over the next three years. I don’t know Nepal very well - even though I lived for 3 years next door in Bangladesh. I first came here as a tourist 12 years ago, and Nepal has a reputation as a tourist destination – a Himalayan paradise. It certainly has a lot to offer with the beautiful mountains, colourful culture and lovely, friendly people, but Nepal is also the poorest and most unequal country in South Asia with around 31 % of Nepalis living below the poverty line. This means they don’t have enough money to buy food and basic necessities. The country is also already being hard-hit by climate change.

Over the years, I have been aware of the Maoist insurgency, which lasted a decade from 1996 to 2006. I remember watching the BBC last year when the Maoists joined the government after being democratically elected and thinking “Wow! What a turnaround!”

The queues for petrol (Credit: Kantipur publications)

But the country is not really what I expected. Okay, so I haven’t been outside Kathmandu yet, but still. There is a lot of traffic in Kathmandu now, despite fuel shortages and long queues at petrol stations. The arrival of petrol tankers from India is noted on the front page of the papers, with details on exactly where the fuel has been delivered to. There are power cuts for about 16 hours a day, which means that people have to plan their lives around when the power might be on, but they helpfully publish schedules of the “load shedding” to enable people to do just that.

And the politics…I really wasn’t completely prepared for the politics! It’s a highly-complicated political environment with 24 or so political parties. I’m learning fast about the various allegiances and alliances but with the recent resignation of the Prime Minister it’s hard to second-guess what exactly might happen now.

A Maoist political rally (Credit: Kantipur publications)

Every day there have been demonstrations in front of parliament and at other hotspots in the city and reports of violence between supporters of different political parties in some of the regions. The newspapers have detailed daily updates on the negotiations between the various political actors on possible alliances to form a new government. But most people don’t seem to expect that to happen any time soon, and neither do they appear to be too concerned at the thought of being without a government for a while! Nepal has had 21 governments in the last 20 years, so frequent changes and periods without a designated leader are nothing new…

But after nearly a week here, I’m struck by how contradictory it all is really. On the one hand Nepal is a beautiful, peaceful and rather magical place, which is quite rightly a magnet for tourists from all over the world. On the other hand, it is an extremely poor country beset with major challenges, including a rather difficult and very complex political situation. It is chaotic and violent at times, but at the same time very cultured and somehow ordered.

The political situation is such at the moment that nobody knows how or when the current impasse might be resolved. It could be peaceful, or it might not be. Some people I’ve spoken to see this as a moment of opportunity – a clearing of the air between age old enemies, after which the political parties can come together to make a fresh start. Others see it as a very dangerous situation, which if agreement cannot be reached could plunge the country back into unrest and bloodshed.

For the sake of this beautiful country and all the lovely, friendly people I’ve met so far, I very much hope it’s the former. Without peace and stability, it’s really difficult for government to deliver services, for economic growth to increase and provide more and better jobs, and for the UK and others to help support development. And it’s development that the poor people in this country desperately need and deserve. Along with everyone else, I will be watching closely to see what happens and looking to see how we can drive forward the development that’s needed.