With a population of almost 30 million, Nepal is one of the world’s 50 least developed countries, ranked 146th out of 193 on the UN Human Development Index. An estimated 20% of the Nepalese population lives below the poverty line as of 2023, with 25% of children under the age of five suffering from malnutrition.
Oxfam has been supporting the people of Nepal for more than 40 years with the vision to create a just and sustainable world.
Our mission in Nepal as a humanitarian and development organization is to strengthen civic space and peoples’ actions to end all forms of inequalities and social injustices, informed by a decolonial feminist lens rooted in the Global South.
In Nepal, Oxfam implements programmes through three interrelated thematic priorities to respond to the intersectional and multidimensional nature of inequalities and injustices that perpetuate poverty in the lives of women, marginalized, vulnerable people and communities.
Oxfam's work in Nepal
Oxfam builds upon its niche and delivers through five inter-connected programs:
Members of a women’s group celebrate the success of their garlic project. Oxfam and partner NEEDS provided technical assistance for the project, and supported the women’s group with trainings. The women have led efforts to reduce disaster risks and bring essential services to their community. (Photo: Elizabeth Stevens/Oxfam)
Gender Justice
Oxfam in Nepal is dedicated to ending gender disparity and ensuring that women, girls, and gender non-binary people enjoy their human rights. The people we work with are change agents who influence their communities and local governments to challenge patriarchal values and stand in solidarity for gender equality.
The Gender Justice Program is committed to ensuring women and girls live life free of violence, where girls and women are empowered to have free choice, equal opportunities, holding position broad leadership positions.
The program endeavours to promote diversified feminist leadership platforms for learning and alliance building for the rights of women and marginalised communities. We aim for social and economic empowerment of women by working against Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWGs) and by working to prevent Child, Early and Forced Marriages (CEFM).
Yangjee Sherpa is a gardener at Multiple Nursery of Jaiwik Bibidhata Cooperative in Jorayal Rural Municipality of Doti district, Nepal. (Photo: Kishor Sharma/Oxfam)
Climate Justice and Resilience
Oxfam in Nepal aims to increase the resilience and adaptive capacities of communities most vulnerable to and affected by climate shocks and disasters. We support vulnerable communities in adapting to a changing climate and improving their resilience to climate shocks. We strive for development that does not cause or increase risks, stresses, and volatility for people living in poverty and makes progress towards a just world.
The Climate Justice and Resilience Program aims at advancing climate justice for poor, marginalised, and vulnerable communities who are disproportionately impacted by climate change through strengthening capacities of Community Based Organisations (CBOs), Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) networks and alliances, Women’s Rights Organizations (WROs) to integrate feminist approach to climate change into their strategies and operations. The program focuses on supporting those who are affected by the climate emergency and poor environmental and natural resource management.
Muna Dhungel Chalise shows cloth bag she made at a women’s cooperative office in Chandrapur Muncipality, Madhesh Province, Nepal. (Photo: Kishor Sharma/Oxfam)
Economic Justice
Oxfam in Nepal aims to help communities, youths, women, and marginalised groups diversify their income, livelihood sources and adopt climate-resilient income generation and enterprise development, including the use of digital resources.
The Economic Justice Program focuses on promoting value chain developments building on the good practices of inclusive market development and collecting evidence, co-creating knowledge jointly with partners and other stakeholders, and advocating from feminist perspectives. Likewise, we aim to influence policies related to economic rights, income and food security, employment, safety net and access to digital resources.
Kabita Luhar drinking water at home. Kabita is a citizen scientist who has been advocating for access to water and other social issues in the community. (Photo: Kishor Sharma/Oxfam)
Water Governance & Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH)
Oxfam in Nepal hopes to address water insecurity for poor and socially excluded women and men and achieve systemic change for sustainable and equitable access to water and sanitation.
Water Governance and WASH Program focuses on strengthening water governance and delivering key WASH services. The program has two major sub-themes – WASH and Water Resource Management. Under WASH, we focus on WASH infrastructure construction, access to finance for WASH facilities, demand creation & behavior change and functionality and sustainability, while under Water Resource Management, focus is on basin management and river resilience.
The program aims to invest in building a technically sound WASH infrastructure and invest in exploring innovative financial models to improve access to finances for poor communities. The theme also invests in identifying new behavior change models that can encourage community in adopting safe and hygienic behavior.
Bimal Khatiwada from Oxfam (left), farmer Basanti Sunar (middle), and Ishwar Upadhyay of NEEDS (right) discuss the sugarcane crop in the village of Kutiya Kabar. Kutiya Kabar is situated between two rivers, and the frequency and intensity of floods is on the rise. Sunar, who is a leader in both a women’s group and her local disaster management committee, is spearheading efforts to introduce sugarcane as a flood-resistant cash crop. (Photo: Elizabeth Stevens/Oxfam)
Humanitarian Response
Oxfam in Nepal aims to save lives by swiftly responding to provide assistance and promote protection during emergencies. Everyone has a right to life, safety, and help in a humanitarian crisis. In anticipation of future disaster scenarios, we will use a range of activities and approaches to prepare ourselves and others to provide the best possible assistance when needed.
The Humanitarian Response Program focuses on improving internal capacities and preparedness of Oxfam and its partners for immediate response in the event of humanitarian crisis. We aim to promote and demonstrate anticipatory approaches in risks (disaster) management while enhancing innovations in and enabling Oxfam's internal capacities and preparedness.