Assistant General Secretary of the United Nations Kul Chandra Gautam has asked the Nepali Diaspora to do its best to help in Nepal’s development.
Addressing the 25th convention of the Association of Nepalis in America (ANA) on June 30 in Los Angeles, Gautam, who is an advisor to the Non Resident Nepali Association (NRNA)- International Coordination Committee (ICC), said the Diaspora had nothing to be ashamed of being settled anywhere in the global village of today and that the choice did not hinder anyone in their goal of helping Nepal.
He remarked that what were perhaps true decades ago no longer holds and it is up to the Diaspora to figure out the right way to help Nepal. “Like many other Diaspora, Nepali Diaspora can also make a big impact in Nepal’s development,” he said.
Dr Jeet Jossee, former president of Nepal America Council (NAC) gave a synopsis of the history of the NRN movement.
Kanwal Rekhi an Indian-American engineer, businessman and millionaire philanthropist from the Silicon Valley recalled the poor educational background on Indian societies in 60s, in the engineering and IT field, which has changed now.
Sagar Onta youth representative of NRNA, said his team was working on a programme to get working youths in North America more involved in Nepal and Nepali businesses. He said six Nepali business houses were offering internships to young Nepali-origin professionals.
Ratan Jha, Vice Chair NAC-NRN Committee described the criteria set by the NRNA to sponsor, initiate or complete one project in each of the 75 districts of Nepal in education, health or clean water at a cost of US$ 20,000 or more and should be implemented by September 30, 2007. Stating that the current initiatives from North America have not been adequate to fulfill these criteria, he asked all to be more active in the programme.
Niley Shrestha, financial advisor at Oppenheimer & Co. in San Francisco with 18 years experience in money management, addressed the proposed NRNA US$100 million investment fund with half of it to be invested in Nepal and provided a primer on the feasibility, management issues and expectations from such a fund. He spoke on how it might be possible to tap into the pools of funds in North America to raise a substantial and proportionate amount from the North American pool of savings.
Dr. Alok Bohara, Professor of Economics at the University of New Mexico and founder of the Nepal Studies Center, proposed measures to help Nepal through micro-finance, using very small sums of money from multiple sources channeled through not-for-profit organisation called KIVA.
The convention also decided to speed up the activities for upcoming NRNA convention in Nepal scheduled for October 15-17.