Jhpiego officially registers with the Government of Nepal
July 2006
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Jhpiego/Nepal staff members Ms. Geeta Sharma Bhattarai, Ms. Stephanie Suhowatsky,
Dr. Rajendra Prasad Bhadra
and Mr. Mahendra Raj Panta
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On 24 May 2006, Jhpiego officially signed its registration with the Government of
Nepal through the development coordinating body called the Social Welfare Council (SWC). As the
152nd international non-governmental organization (INGO) to register with SWC, Jhpiego joins the
growing pool of INGOs and over 20,000 NGOs to formally register with the government.
For more than 20 years, Jhpiego has worked in partnership with the Ministry of Health,
providing technical support and implementing successful maternal and child health programs with the
support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Through a memorandum of
understanding, Jhpiego worked with USAID funding to strengthen government systems and institutions.
With the signing of this general agreement, Jhpiego has a legal presence in Nepal
and will be better poised to address the staggering maternal and neonatal health care needs. According to
the World Health Organization, only 10.9 percent of live births receive assistance at delivery from a
trained health professional and the infant mortality rate stands at 61 per 1,000 live births (2001).
The Jhpiego office in Nepal now can develop projects with various donors, as well
as be recognized as one of the Government of Nepal’s key development partners. Jhpiego, with SWC,
has agreed to support government programs and work with local NGO partners when feasible to develop
local health worker capacity and promote sustainability.
The SWC was founded in 1992 but
began to play a more visible role only in the past few years. The government strengthened SWC’s role to centralize
donor-INGO-government partnerships under one coordinating body.
About Jhpiego
For nearly 40 years, Jhpiego, (pronounced "ja-pie-go"), has empowered front-line health
workers by designing and implementing simple, low-cost, hands-on solutions that
strengthen the delivery of health care services, following the
household-to-hospital continuum of care. We partner with community- to
national-level organizations to build sustainable, local capacity through
advocacy, policy and guidelines development, and quality and performance
improvement approaches.
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