Nepal Transitional Interim Country Strategic Plan (January - December 2018)

T-ICSP approved in August 2017 and revised as per Revision 03 (approved by ED in June 2018)

The Government of Nepal has developed the “Vision 2022” plan  to graduate from a least developed country  status  in  2022  and  enters  the  era  of  the Sustainable Development Goals having reduced poverty in recent years. However, more remains to be done to achieve the key goals of SDG 2; ending hunger and malnutrition.

WFP’s  work  in  Nepal  during the Transitional-Interim Country Strategy Plan (T-ICSP) will continue to support  the Government in reducing hunger and malnutrition through five Strategic Objectives (SOs): i). School-aged children in food insecure and remote rural areas have sustainable access to food by 2022; ii). Refugees from Bhutan in eastern Nepal maintain access to adequate food. Iii). Children 6-23 months old, Pregnant and Lactating Women and Girls (PLWG) and other vulnerable persons in Nepal have improved nutritional status by 2030;  iv). Improved availability of pro-smallholder public goods and services in vulnerable communities in central and western Nepal by 2030;  v). Capacities of national and local authorities are enhanced to prepare for and respond to food insecurity and emergencies by 2030.

Vulnerable populations such  as refugees, and particular groups such PLWG and children under five years and poor households in remote locations will be targeted for direct assistance, both food and cash transfers. This includes school children in basic education (grades 1 to 8) in public schools in the targeted areas. Gender equality and women’s empowerment will remain an important component of programme activities as a prerequisite for all people (women, men, girls and boys) to have access to sufficient food to lead healthy lives. Capacity strengthening at national and sub national level will continue with a focus on emergency preparedness and logistics augmentation. Activities that have been planned but hitherto not implemented due to lack of resources (such as treatment of moderate acute malnutrition) will be discontinued. A key strategic change envisaged during the T-ICSP is the change of commodities in the school meals programme: from fortified blended food to a locally available, culturally appropriate meal of rice and lentils.

The objectives and activities proposed in this T-ICSP are in line with the United Nations Development Assistance Framework for Nepal, the Government’s development priorities as set out in the 14th National Development Plan and the Sustainable Development Goals.