WFP Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific - 2016 SPRs RBB 2016 SPRs by country | Page 447

Standard Project Report 2016
[4] 2015 Global Hunger Index (International Food Policy Research Institute, Concern et al).
[5] Nepal Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (NMICS), Central Bureau of Statistics 2014.
[6] The Nepal Ministry of Health (2011). Nepal Demographic and Health Survey 2011. Kathmandu: Ministry of
Health and Population, New Era and Macro International Inc.
[7] 2015 Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) (Government National Planning Commission).
[8] Growth of 27.6 percent in three months to June 2015 compared to the same period the year before—“Nepal
Development Update”, World Bank, May 2016.
[9] World Bank data on agriculture (percent of GDP), 2014.
[10] The Nepal Ministry of Agricultural Development, 2016.
[11] Goals established through several programmes, including the Education for All - National Plan of Action
(2004-2007) and most recently the School Sector Reform Plan (2009-2016).
[12] Nepal Education in Figures 2015. Ministry of Education, Government of Nepal.
Response of the Government and Strategic Coordination
Nepal's national social protection framework identifies the country's social protection needs and encompasses the
broad areas of (i) food security, livelihood recovery and emergency assistance, (ii) child protection, (iii) essential
health services, (iv) free education up to grade 10, and (iv) employment promotion schemes. The Government of
Nepal continues to work towards expanding existing social protection schemes by increasing expenditure to
scholarships, expanding short-term employment programmes, and reintegrating conflict-affected populations into
socio-economic life to promote peace and security. However, weak institutional capacity at the central and local
levels, lack of access to more inclusive public goods and services, and low budgets have hindered the reach and
expansion of these services.
Nepal has a longstanding National School Meals Programme (NSMP) spanning over 40 years, which uses two
delivery modalities: food items or cash resources for schools to cook or outsource food items. WFP has been an
integral part of this school meals programme for 40 years, providing mid-day meals made from corn-soya blend,
vegetable oil and sugar to 200,000 school-aged children across the country. Collectively, the food and cash-based
NSMP reaches more than half a million school children enrolled in basic education (grades 1 to 8) in 29 out of 75
districts, representing 16 percent of the net enrolment in primary schools [13]. The NSMP represents one of the
largest social safety nets for school-aged children in Nepal.
Given the high levels of poverty and household food insecurity, another social safety net of similar importance is the
Rural Community Infrastructure Works (RCIW). Since its inception in 1995, RCIW has played a critical role in
reducing hunger and poverty by providing employment geared towards creating protective and productive
community assets, for which food insecure, participating households receive food assistance during the agricultural
lean seasons. The programme operates mainly in the districts of the mid- and far-western region which has
particularly high food insecurity levels and underdevelopment. WFP has been a contributor to the RCIW programme
by supporting improvements in the food security of rural communities through food-assistance-for-assets projects
that use both food rations and cash transfers as assistance modalities.
WFP works in partnership with United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN
Women), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the International Fund for
Agricultural Development (IFAD) on a joint programme for rural women's economic empowerment (RWEE). WFP
has also worked together with th