December 14, 2001

KATHMANDU: Nepal signed three finance accords with donors Thursday and Friday to implement various programmes and projects, the Finance Ministry said. Norway Friday gave Nepal a grant of Rs.48.96 million to develop environmentally and socially sustainable hydropower projects from 2001to 2003, the Ministry said.

Nepal and the International Labour Organization (ILO) also signed  a $3.4 million accord equivalent to Rs.260.27 million Friday to eliminate child labour in Nepal in the next three years, the Finance Ministry said. Excluding 10 percent contribution by implementing agencies, the U.S.A. and the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IEPC) will finance the project to benefit ex-kamaiyas or bonded labourers.

The project will rehabilitate bonded adults and child bonded labourers and prevent them from reentering exploitative forms of labour after being freed in 2000. Altogether 14,000 families stand to benefit.

Asian Development Bank (ADB) Thursday gave Nepal a grant of $ 30 million to execute a governance reform programme to improve service delivery in Nepal,  the Finance Ministry and the Bank said.

The programme aims to make public management clean, lean, transparent, efficient and accountable.