Jul 9, 2017: , The partnership project constructed 650 Transitional Learning Centers — safe learning environment for children — as permanent rebuilding catches on in the years to come. Along with this, it has provided for learning materials and teacher training in the nine most affected districts as an overall strategy to recover the educational infrastructure.…

The world is not yet on track to meet Sustainable Development Goal 6: Access to safe water and sanitation for all.

What if your first job after graduation happened to be right in the heart of the biggest disaster the country has suffered in almost 80 years? Would you have taken it? For young professionals Sushmita Sapkota (left), Bhawana Dhakal (centre) and Goma Koirala (right), there really was no question.  When Nepal was hit by the 7.8-magnitude earthquake…, Getting up close and personal with locals, Even before the earthquake, the water and sanitation situation in many communities in Gorkha was extremely dire. Open defecation was a widespread practice and water scarcity a persistent problem. Local women spent hours walking to collect a Gagri (traditional pot) of water. This was usually all people had for cooking, drinking and cleaning.…, Out and about, All three agree that in an already difficult setting like the one at the epicentre, there are added challenges to working as a young woman in the field. Physical safety was a constant concern, for instance, and Bhawana, Sushmita and Goma said they had to be extra cautious when venturing into a new place. Obstacles aside, however, the rewards of…, “just go for it.”, Goma orients community members in Gorkha District on improved water and sanitation practices. - Goma orients community members in Gorkha District on improved water and sanitation practices. Sushmita (second from left) demonstrating proper handwashing technique to schoolchildren in Gorkha District. - Sushmita (second from left) demonstrating proper…

Rautahat, Nepal:, Some months ago, Janaki Sah (name changed) took a step that would change her life. The 14-year-old eighth grader goes to a secondary school in her home village in Rautahat District, in Nepal’s southern plains. In class, she is generally a force to be reckoned with, a bright student who gets good grades and always has something to contribute to…

“We were already struggling to make a living before that, but after the earthquake, everything became even more complicated,” she says. UNICEF Nepal Just a few years ago, Januka could have never imagined she’d be doing this. But when the first of the 2015 earthquakes struck the country, with the epicentre in Gorkha, the life she knew was turned…

Rautahat, Nepal –, When 17-year-old Asmita Kumari Chaudhary learned about the impending marriages of two of her fellow students, she felt she had to intervene. Like her, Sekh Jamser Aalam was a ninth-grader at the Shree Secondary School in Kanakpur in Rautahat District near Nepal’s southern border, and Osed Aalam was even younger, only in grade six. As president of…

Okhaldhunga, Nepal –, Not too long ago, Saraswati Tamang had taken her husband, who was ill, to the hospital in Okhaldhunga bazaar in Okhaldhunga District in eastern Nepal. The couple had travelled by jeep for four hours on a trail-road to get to the bazaar from her village. After writing out a prescription, the doctor instructed the couple to visit “room number 4” of…

Sindhupalchowk, Nepal –, Kristina B.K. has long dreamed of a career in agriculture. To get there, the thirteen-year-old, sixth-grader from Kubhinde Village in Sindhupalchowk District plans to pursue a diploma in agriculture at Setidevi Panchakanya Secondary School.   This school is one of the few in the district offering a diploma degree, which is equivalent to a high-…

Sindhupalchowk, Nepal –, On a rainy August morning in Sindhupalchowk District, Hotrika Joshi rushes towards the Setidevi Basic School in Sunkoshi Rural Municipality. Joshi was born and raised in Kailali District in the Far Western region of Nepal. She travelled the nearly 500 kilometers from home to Sindhupalchowk to oversee the construction of a Transitional Learning…

KATHMANDU, Nepal -, On 11 November 2017, UNICEF Nepal handed over a disaster-resilient prefabricated health facility to the local government in Barpak of Gorkha District – the epicentre of the 2015 Nepal earthquake. The health facility, fully equipped with essential equipment and furniture, will provide primary health care services to the residents of Barpak and the…, UNICEF approach to the 2015 Nepal earthquakes, UNICEF stepped into gear right from day one of the earthquake with its emergency response to address the lifesaving needs of women and children. Staff were quickly deployed to the affected districts. Prepositioned supplies proved a life-saving bridge before additional supplies arrived. The quick start was key to addressing the immediate and most…, Way Forward, The experiences from the 2015 Nepal earthquake reinforced the importance of ‘building back better’. As UNICEF completes most its work in the earthquake-affected districts by December 2017, lessons learned during this time underpin the work on building resilience and are being documented in the form of standard operating procedures. This will not…