Nepal

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About Nepal

HIV/AIDS rates are increasing in Nepal. As in many regions, unemployment, migrant labour, civil unrest, drug use, and prostitution are factors contributing to the spread of HIV.

 

MCC Supports:

Federation of Partners in Nepal

The Federation of Partners in Nepal includes work with 3 different organizations working on issues of HIV/AIDS and the trafficking of women in Nepal. In hard to reach villages throughout the country, this project aims to train community members in HIV/AIDS issues, so that they can serve as a source of information for their peers. Special training is provided in areas with a high prevalence of migrant labourers and trafficked women.

If contributions to a project exceed the amount needed, MCC will use the donations to support similar projects.

 

Rural Institute for Community Development (RICOD)

Nepal's capital Kathmandu experiences a vast influx of people from various parts of the country that come to the city seeking employment in industries such as carpet production, transportation, stone quarrying, and construction. Lalitpur, a district adjacent to Kathmandu, is where these workers settle. The exploitation of commercial sex is high among men who come to the city alone. Many young women coming to the city fall into prostitution as a way to earn money for basic survival. RICOD works in four areas in the remote part of the district and four areas in the suburban section. The focus of the program is to organize, educate, and develop an anti-HIV/AIDS program among youth peer groups. The program also includes youth leadership development and support to community institutions such as health posts that are vital components in an HIV/AIDS response.

If contributions to a project exceed the amount needed, MCC will use the donations to support similar projects.

 

Sakriya Sewa Samaj (SSS)

The groups at highest risk for HIV infection in Nepal are intravenous-drug users, commercial-sex workers and their clients, and migrant labourers. HIV prevalence in intravenous-drug users in Kathmandu, for example, has risen to nearly 70 percent. Sakriya Sewa Samaj does AIDS work at many levels. At the national level, the group has provided advice and expertise to the government in the development of the National Strategic Plan for HIV/AIDS. Sakriya Sewa Samaj is also respected for its high-quality training sessions, which in 2009 will include training 360 HIV counsellors, 180 home-based care providers, 60 faith-based leaders, 45 political leaders, and 45 peer educators.

If contributions to a project exceed the amount needed, MCC will use the donations to support similar projects.

 

Education/Training and Service for Community Nepal

MCC has a two year commitment to work in the Makawanpur District, which has one of the highest rates of human trafficking in Nepal. Its proximity to the Indian border, poorly educated and legally unaware villagers who engage in subsistence agriculture on marginal land, and large families all contribute to this reality. As generous people, they are persuaded by brokers to send their children abroad to work, but these brokers often sell the children into the sex trade or the circus. Many of these trafficked people return to their homes broken and infected with HIV/AIDS. ETSC hopes to work with these communities to raise awareness and to facilitate support and care to develop communities free of human trafficking. Goals for FYE 2009 include community training sessions in 10 local districts on preventing HIV/AIDS, STDs, and human trafficking, and strengthening communities to organize and deal with brokers coming into communities.

If contributions to a project exceed the amount needed, MCC will use the donations to support similar projects.