In addition to bringing devastation to the people of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/ukraines-lessons-for-sandwiched-nations-like-nepal">Ukraine</a>, the war has had severe impacts on the global scale, even raising the spectre of a nuclear weapon exchange. As the conflict drags into its second year, there have been urgent calls for its resolution, and the matter will come up at the G7 Summit of leading industrial nations in Hiroshima from 19-21 May. In February, an emergency special session of the UN General Assembly passed a resolution calling for the early realisation of peace in Ukraine. Among the operative paragraphs of the resolution was one that urged the ‘immediate cessation of the attacks on the critical infrastructure of Ukraine and any deliberate attacks on civilian objects, including those that are residences, schools and hospitals’. Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/90-seconds-to-midnight">90 seconds to midnight</a>, Daisaku Ikeda With that as a first essential step, all concerned parties must come together to create a space for deliberation toward a complete cessation of hostilities. I would like to propose that, as negotiations advance through the cooperative efforts of the concerned countries, they be joined by representatives of civil society, such as physicians and educators who work in schools and hospitals to protect and nurture people’s lives and futures, participating as observers. In March, the leaders of Russia and China issued a joint statement following their summit meeting which read in part: ‘The two sides call for stopping all moves that lead to tensions and the protraction of fighting to prevent the crisis from getting worse or even out of control.’ This is aligned with the resolution adopted by the emergency special session of the UN General Assembly. The <a href="https://www.g7hiroshima.go.jp/en/summit/about/">G7 Hiroshima Summit </a>next week is an opportunity to build on these commitments and develop concrete plans for negotiations that will lead to a cessation of hostilities. I also urge the G7 to commit at the Hiroshima Summit to taking the lead in discussions on pledges of No First Use of nuclear weapons. The Ukraine crisis is without parallel in the length of time that the threat of use and the fear of actual use of nuclear weapons have persisted. Since the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the hibakusha of those cities, in coordination with the larger civil society movement, have stressed the inhumane nature of nuclear weapons. Non-nuclear-weapon states have engaged in continuous diplomatic efforts, and the states possessing nuclear weapons have exercised self-restraint. As a result, the world has somehow managed to maintain a seventy-seven-year record of non-use of nuclear weapons.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230509090512_43ed50f0f0bbdd477bc52a0aba3313079bdaf26cdcbedec4f6e9439da3576221.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20230509090512_43ed50f0f0bbdd477bc52a0aba3313079bdaf26cdcbedec4f6e9439da3576221" data-rendition-name="original" width="1207" height="702" loading="lazy" alt="G7 summit"> <figcaption>Karipbek Kuyukov (left) at a gathering of anti-nuclear weapons activists in Tokyo ahead of the G7 Summit in Hiroshima. The Kazakh painter was born without arms because of exposure to radiation from the former Soviet nuclear testing site in Semipalatinsk. Photo: Katsuhiro Asagiri, Multimedia Director of INPS Japan.</figcaption> </figure>  If international public opinion and the taboo against the use of nuclear weapons were to fail to provide their braking function, nuclear deterrence policy will compel humankind to stand on the edge of a precipice, never knowing when it might give way. Since the start of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/ukraine-crisis-hits-nepal-economy-hard">the Ukraine crisis</a>, I have drawn attention to the joint statement by the five nuclear-weapon states (United States, Russia, United Kingdom, France and China) made in January 2022, which reiterated the principle that ‘a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought’, and called for it to serve as the basis for reducing the risk of nuclear weapons use. Also of important note is the declaration issued by the G20 group in Indonesia last November, which stated: ‘The use or threat of use of nuclear weapons is inadmissible.’ The G20 member countries include nuclear-weapon states as well as nuclear-dependent states. It is deeply significant that these countries have officially expressed their shared recognition that the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons is ‘inadmissible’ — the spirit underlying the <a href="https://disarmament.unoda.org/wmd/nuclear/tpnw/#:~:text=The%20Treaty%20on%20the%20Prohibition,threaten%20to%20use%20nuclear%20weapons.">Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons</a> (TPNW). It is vital that this message be communicated powerfully to the world from Hiroshima. As the G7 leaders revisit the actual consequences of a nuclear weapon detonation and the bitter lessons of the nuclear era, I urge that they initiate earnest deliberations on making pledges of No First Use so that their shared recognition of the inadmissible nature of nuclear weapons can find expression in changed policies. If agreement could be reached on the principle of No First Use, which was at one point included in drafts of the final statement for last year’s NPT Review Conference, this would establish the basis on which states could together transform the challenging security environments in which they find themselves. I believe it is vital to make the shift to a ‘common security’ paradigm. Commitment to policies of No First Use is indeed a prescription for hope. It can serve as the axle connecting the twin wheels of the NPT and TPNW, speeding realisation of a world free from nuclear weapons. Soka Gakkai International (SGI) has continued to work with the world’s hibakusha, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, which arose from its parent body IPPNW, and other organisations first for the adoption and now the universalisation of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. As members of civil society, we are committed to promoting the prompt adoption of policies of No First Use of nuclear weapons, generating momentum to transform our age. <a href="https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sokaglobal.org%2Fabout-the-soka-gakkai%2Flives-of-the-founding-presidents%2Fdaisaku-ikeda.html&amp;data=05%7C01%7C%7C530ac282429b4975602d08daf631f280%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C638092991631893918%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=wxDtf2a8bAHpXRQsESarxm6r2OMbqQQ2Yn9cdYklX2A%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">Daisaku Ikeda</a> is a peace builder and Buddhist leader, and President of the Soka Gakkai International (<a href="https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsgi-peace.org%2F&amp;data=05%7C01%7C%7C530ac282429b4975602d08daf631f280%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C638092991631893918%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=sAZGJhUq0jZ6zvwMxPxPP5%2FT6fKkD%2FPoZhyzUI9IFko%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">SGI</a>). <a href="https://www.daisakuikeda.org/" target="_blank">https://www.daisakuikeda.org/</a>&nbsp; Read <a href="https://www.daisakuikeda.org/sub/resources/works/lect/2023apr27-g7-hiroshima-stmt.html" target="_blank">full statement</a>.

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G7 in Hiroshima must defuse Ukraine nuclear risk

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121140/636b92179c7e80680e06f12bjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="667"/><figcaption></figcaption></figure>UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors Priyanka Chopra Jonas, David Beckham, Katy Perry, Orlando Bloom, Whoopi Goldberg, Angélique Kidjo, and Liam Neeson have joined a call demanding that G7 leaders commit to urgently donate doses of Covid-19 vaccines to poorer countries.The open letter, published ahead of the three-day G7 Leaders’ Summit beginning 11 June in Cornwall, UK urges the leaders to share a minimum of 20% of Covid-19 vaccine dose supply urgently, to reduce the risk of the virus spreading further and the threat of mutant strains."The world has spent a year and a half battling the Covid-19 pandemic, but the virus is still spreading in many countries and producing new variants with the potential to put us all back where we started," the letter reads. "This means more school closures, more healthcare disruptions, and greater economic fallout – threating the futures of families and childreneverywhere."Nepal has fully vaccinated close to 700,000 people using either AstraZeneca Covishield or Sinopharm VeroCell vaccines, a mere 4% of its total 30 million population.People in the age group 60-64 are currently being inoculated with their first dose with one million additional doses of VeroCell gifted by China earlier this month.But what Nepal immediately needs is Covidshield vaccines for at least 1.4 million Nepalis above 65 years who had received their first dose three months ago and are past their recommended time for the booster shot.The Serum Institute of India wasn't able to deliver remaining one million doses of Covishield due to the continued Indian ban on the export. The COVAX facility for global equitable distribution of Covid vaccine was able to send only the first consignment of 348,000 doses of Covishield to Nepal due to the bottleneck in supply.On Wednesday, Nepal recorded 4,344 new cases while 5,768 people made a successful recovery. There were 81 fatalities in the past 24 hours. There are now 80,336 active cases. Of 1,312 people in ICUs across the country, 375 are in ventilator support.The COVAX facility is already facing a shortfall of 190 million doses. By donating 20% of their vaccines between June and August, which amounts to 150 million doses, the G7 countries could temporarily compensate for this shortfall.And the G7 nations could do so without significant delay to current plans to vaccinate domestic adult populations, according to a recent data analysis by Airfinity, the life sciences research facility.“The pandemic won’t be over until it’s over everywhere, so it’s vital that all communities around the world have fair access to Covid-19 vaccines urgently,” says David Beckham, English footballer and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.Without urgently ensuring fair and equitable access supply, the world will continue to be at risk of deadly virus mutations – like the devastating second wave of Covid-19 sweeping across India and other South Asian countries including Nepal, Pakistan and Afghanistan.“The crisis in India shows why we must act now to avoid further deadly mutations ravaging low- and middle- income nations around the world. UNICEF and its COVAX partners are ensuring vaccines and treatments reaches the world’s most vulnerable populations, but cannot do it alone,” says Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Bollywood actor and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.“I’ve joined my fellow UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors in signing this letter, urgently asking G7 leaders to make this commitment at the UK summit this week, to keep families and children everywhere safe from Covid-19.”The letter reiterates that this weekend’s summit is a vital opportunity to get vaccines where they are most needed, fast, and urges leaders to set out a roadmap to scale-up donations as supplies increase, noting that forecasts suggest as many as one billion doses may be available for donation by year end.“Countries need not choose between fighting the disease at home or fighting it abroad. We can, and must, do both simultaneously – and immediately,” says Henrietta Fore, UNICEF Executive Director. “This is a pivotal time in the fight against Covid-19, as leaders meet to set priorities for what form this fight will take in the coming weeks and months. The disease is not respecting boundaries on a map. Our fight to get ahead of the virus, and its variants, should not either.”The 28 high-profile UNICEF Ambassadors and Supporters joining the cause to ensure fair and equitable vaccine supply to low- and middle- income countries are Ramla Ali, Fernando Alonso, David Beckham, Orlando Bloom, José Manuel Calderón, Sofia Carson, Gemma Chan, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Olivia Colman, Billie Eilish, Pau Gasol, Whoopi Goldberg, David Harewood, Sir Chris Hoy, Angelique Kidjo, Téa Leoni, Lucy Liu, Juan Manuel López Iturriaga, Ewan McGregor, Alyssa Milano, Andy Murray, Liam Neeson, Liam Payne, Katy Perry, Sergio Ramos, Claudia Schiffer, Teresa Viejo and P!nk.

Hollywood call for urgent vaccine supply

<figure><img width="1644" height="1084" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110131124/636ced8d9c7e80680e09add2jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>All photos: UNICEF NEPAL</figcaption></figure>UNICEF has made an urgent appeal ahead of a G7 summit next month to ask developed countries to release some of their vaccine stockpiles to fight the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic sweeping the Subcontinent.UNICEF with WHO are sponsors of the COVAX Facility that had promised to procure vaccines for developing countries so that they could inoculate at least 20% of their populations. Nepal has only received 348,000 out of the promised 2.248 million doses in March. By the end of this week, the global Covid vaccine equity scheme will have been able to deliver only 65 million of the 170 million doses it was supposed to ship out by now. By the time G7 leaders gather in the UK next month, and as <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/this-is-war/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">a deadly new surge devastated India and Nepal</a>, the shortfall will near 190 million doses."We have issued repeated warnings of the risks of letting down our guard and leaving low and middle income countries without equitable access to vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics," UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore said in a strongly-worded statement issued in New York on Monday.She added: "While the situation in India is tragic, it is not unique. Cases are exploding and health systems are struggling in countries near – like Nepal, Sri Lanka and Maldives – and far, like Argentina and Brazil. The cost for children and families will be incalculable."On Monday, Nepal recorded a spike in new cases <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/covid-19-numbers-slightly-down-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">after a slight dip over the weekend</a> with 9,247 new infections, 3,098 of them in Kathmandu Valley. Test positivity rate climbed back to 41.8%. Total fatalities in the last 24 hours also saw a notable increase at 214.There were 5,767 recoveries while 6,970 individuals are undergoing treatment in various hospitals across the country. Of them, 1,259 are in ICU and 400 in ventilators support. <figure><img width="2058" height="1238" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110131124/636ced909c7e80680e09add3jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure><img width="640" height="355" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110131124/636ced939c7e80680e09add4jpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="640" height="345" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110131124/636ced969c7e80680e09add5jpeg.jpg" alt="">Nepal restarted its vaccination drive from 16 May for some 300,000 people in the age group 18-59 years who received their first dose of the Chinese VeroCell vaccine last month.So far less than 400,000 of Nepal’s 30 million population have been inoculated with both doses while the fate of 1.3 million who received the first shot of Covishield vaccine remains uncertain because of the ban on exports of the AstraZeneca covishield vaccine by India.Nepal has run out of AstraZeneca Covishield stock, and the COVAX initiative has not been able to deliver after its first consignment of 348,000 doses of the Covishield jab in March (pictured above).The <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/how-nepal-can-survive-2nd-covid-wave/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">clearest pathway out of this pandemic</a> is a global, equitable distribution of vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics. But COVAX is undersupplied due to limited production capacity, particularly because of the surge in India, which is a global hub for vaccine production.Vaccine nationalism and lack of funding have also played a part in delaying the roll-out. The longer the virus continues to spread unchecked, the higher the risk of more deadly or contagious variants emerging. New data analysis provided by Airfinity, the life sciences research facility, and commissioned by the UK National Committee for UNICEF, indicates that G7 nations and ‘Team Europe’ group of European Union Member States could donate around 153 million vaccine doses if they shared just 20% of their available supply over June, July and August.Critically, they could do so while still meeting their commitments to vaccinate their own populations and buttress vulnerable countries against becoming the next global hotspot while doing so, warns Fore in her statement, adding that supporting the expansion of vaccine manufacturing capacity will help the global vaccinate race.She says: "These measures are critical, but they won’t change anything overnight. Sharing immediately available excess doses is a minimum, essential and emergency stop-gap measure, and it is needed right now."UNICEF helped the Nepal government on Monday to fly in 155,000 Covid-19 antigen test kits to Kathmandu. The kits will be used for quick testing to gauge community spread and at the Indian border.

UNICEF urges G7 to dispatch vaccines

<figure><img width="1644" height="1084" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111148/636b85779c7e80680e0677f5jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>All photos: UNICEF NEPAL</figcaption></figure>UNICEF has made an urgent appeal ahead of a G7 summit next month to ask developed countries to release some of their vaccine stockpiles to fight the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic sweeping the Subcontinent.UNICEF with WHO are sponsors of the COVAX Facility that had promised to procure vaccines for developing countries so that they could inoculate at least 20% of their populations. Nepal has only received 348,000 out of the promised 2.248 million doses in March. By the end of this week, the global Covid vaccine equity scheme will have been able to deliver only 65 million of the 170 million doses it was supposed to ship out by now. By the time G7 leaders gather in the UK next month, and as <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/this-is-war/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">a deadly new surge devastated India and Nepal</a>, the shortfall will near 190 million doses."We have issued repeated warnings of the risks of letting down our guard and leaving low and middle income countries without equitable access to vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics," UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore said in a strongly-worded statement issued in New York on Monday.She added: "While the situation in India is tragic, it is not unique. Cases are exploding and health systems are struggling in countries near – like Nepal, Sri Lanka and Maldives – and far, like Argentina and Brazil. The cost for children and families will be incalculable."On Monday, Nepal recorded a spike in new cases <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/covid-19-numbers-slightly-down-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">after a slight dip over the weekend</a> with 9,247 new infections, 3,098 of them in Kathmandu Valley. Test positivity rate climbed back to 41.8%. Total fatalities in the last 24 hours also saw a notable increase at 214.There were 5,767 recoveries while 6,970 individuals are undergoing treatment in various hospitals across the country. Of them, 1,259 are in ICU and 400 in ventilators support. <figure><img width="2058" height="1238" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111148/636b857a9c7e80680e0677f6jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure><img width="640" height="355" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111148/636b857d9c7e80680e0677f7jpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="640" height="345" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111148/636b85809c7e80680e0677f8jpeg.jpg" alt="">Nepal restarted its vaccination drive from 16 May for some 300,000 people in the age group 18-59 years who received their first dose of the Chinese VeroCell vaccine last month.So far less than 400,000 of Nepal’s 30 million population have been inoculated with both doses while the fate of 1.3 million who received the first shot of Covishield vaccine remains uncertain because of the ban on exports of the AstraZeneca covishield vaccine by India.Nepal has run out of AstraZeneca Covishield stock, and the COVAX initiative has not been able to deliver after its first consignment of 348,000 doses of the Covishield jab in March (pictured above).The <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/how-nepal-can-survive-2nd-covid-wave/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">clearest pathway out of this pandemic</a> is a global, equitable distribution of vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics. But COVAX is undersupplied due to limited production capacity, particularly because of the surge in India, which is a global hub for vaccine production.Vaccine nationalism and lack of funding have also played a part in delaying the roll-out. The longer the virus continues to spread unchecked, the higher the risk of more deadly or contagious variants emerging. New data analysis provided by Airfinity, the life sciences research facility, and commissioned by the UK National Committee for UNICEF, indicates that G7 nations and ‘Team Europe’ group of European Union Member States could donate around 153 million vaccine doses if they shared just 20% of their available supply over June, July and August.Critically, they could do so while still meeting their commitments to vaccinate their own populations and buttress vulnerable countries against becoming the next global hotspot while doing so, warns Fore in her statement, adding that supporting the expansion of vaccine manufacturing capacity will help the global vaccinate race.She says: "These measures are critical, but they won’t change anything overnight. Sharing immediately available excess doses is a minimum, essential and emergency stop-gap measure, and it is needed right now."UNICEF helped the Nepal government on Monday to fly in 155,000 Covid-19 antigen test kits to Kathmandu. The kits will be used for quick testing to gauge community spread and at the Indian border.

<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107111152/6368e3fc9c7e80680e0333b2jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1192" height="830"/>This month President Trump launched the opening salvo of a trade war by <a href="http://time.com/5297073/donald-trump-steel-aluminum-tariffs-eu-canada-mexico/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">unilaterally imposing tariffs on steel and aluminum imported into the country from the European Union (EU), Canada and Mexico.</a>Canada immediately warned that it would announce retaliatory measures. The EU and Mexico have their guns loaded. The US and China are also at the brink of a trade war.On 15 June, Trump announced tariffs on $50 billion worth of Chinese goods and warned that any retaliation by Beijing would trigger another round of tariffs on Chinese goods. But <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/15/us/politics/us-china-tariffs-trade.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">China struck back</a> within hours, slapping the same amount of tariff on American imports, from agriculture and seafood to cars and energy products.Hopefully the worst can still be avoided, but the experience of the 1930s and the subsequent Great Depression suggest that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/apr/05/us-china-trade-war-supply-chains-consumers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">trade wars can have serious economic and social consequences on the entire global economy</a>. The IMF has warned that Trump’s new import tariffs pose a stark threat to the global trading system and will ultimately damage the US economy.In addition to starting <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-43512098" target="_blank" rel="noopener">trade wars</a>, Trump’s trade policies are undermining the post-World War II rules-based multilateral trading system established by the US itself, as the hegemon, with the cooperation of other like-minded countries mainly in Europe.Under the auspices of GATT and its successor the WTO, globally tariffs had fallen to record low levels, the volume of international trade had expanded, bringing unprecedented economic prosperity all over the world.Seventy years on, the Doha Round has stalled and some of the WTO rules and exceptions to the rules need to be revisited. But instead of reforming the institution, Trump has threatened to withdraw the US from the WTO – which could happen if the WTO rules against the recent metal tariffs which the US imposed on national security grounds.The US is also undermining the <a href="https://www.wto.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WTO</a> by refusing to appoint new judges to the WTO Appellate Body, accusing it of bias against the US. The WTO has traditionally appointed judges based on consensus among its members. Perhaps it is time to change this method to save the rules-based system.At the recent G7 summit, with a single tweet from Air Force One while flying to Singapore, Trump drove a deep wedge between the US and other countries that traditionally consider themselves Washington’s closest allies and which had cooperated closely with the US to help build the post-World War II rules-based trading system. The summit was a fiasco.The future of the G7, which is supposed to be an oversight body for global matters including trade, is therefore uncertain. Contrary to what Trump had said at the recent Davos meeting that ‘America First does not mean America Alone’, the G7 is now being described by many as G6+1.The European Union countries and Japan, China, and India should unite, resist, and speak up in favour of the WTO. They should also cooperate more closely in resolving issues, for example, on agriculture, trade, and in reforming the WTO. One reform proposal is that the WTO should address the 21st century trade issues which are ‘behind the border’ such as rules for investment protection, intellectual property and regulations on product standards and their harmonisation.Global value chain or parts and components trade now comprise about 70% of global trade. Currently the WTO focuses on 20th century trade issues such as tariffs, quotas, and subsidies. It is the mega-free trade agreements such as the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comprehensive_and_Progressive_Agreement_for_Trans-Pacific_Partnership" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP)</a> and, to a lesser extent, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regional_Comprehensive_Economic_Partnership" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP)</a> that are focusing on 21st century trade issues.It is also time to start thinking of replacing the G7 with the G20. Of course, the G20 is not perfect and there is a need to enhance both its ‘input’ legitimacy – its exclusive nature and lack of broader representation – and ‘output’ legitimacy – its ability to strengthen international cooperation and come up with solutions.But it is the only forum where, in addition to the G7 countries, systemically important emerging markets have a representation and voice. The G7 members once ruled the world but now their share of world GDP is declining from about three-fourths in the 1990s to about one-half currently. The G7’s share of world population has also declined from about 20% to 15% during the same period, with aging populations in most countries. On the other hand, the G20 accounts for 85% of the world’s GDP and over 60% of its population. It could well save the global trading system from the depredation of the go-it-alone tendency of the US.Pradumna B Rana is Associate Professor at the Centre for Multilateralism Studies at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

Trade tit-for-tat

Many of us former Nepal Peace Corps volunteers (PCVs) would agree that our time in Nepal changed in significant but very different ways our perspectives on life if not the future paths we chose to follow. Of no one was this truer than Dorothy Mierow. Dorothy was born in 1920, in Colorado Springs. Her father Charles C Mierow was a classics scholar and Latin professor, who served for ten years as president of Colorado College.&nbsp; Dorothy developed an interest in animals as a child, graduated with a BA degree in natural history from Carlton College in 1942, a Master’s in biology from the University of Pittsburgh, and another Master’s in geography from the University of Minnesota.&nbsp; As a young woman, Dorothy traveled with her father throughout Europe, including a visit to ancient Greek ruins, and took a Magellan Tour by cruise ship around the world in 1958.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025071901074_0bad133ab22aada319e74bbad95d563e191371db291c08f373839fbd15440262.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2025071901074_0bad133ab22aada319e74bbad95d563e191371db291c08f373839fbd15440262" data-rendition-name="original" width="903" height="1178" loading="lazy" alt="How the Peace Corps changed a volunteer's life"> <figcaption>HOME AWAY FROM HOME: Dorothy Mierow as a college student in her native Colorado.</figcaption> </figure>  She was a college teacher during much of the 1940s, also teaching at a girls’ school in Hawaii. Then back to her native Colorado in 1953, where she became a curator and later director of the Colorado College Natural History Museum. She taught geography classes, and in her free time, Dorothy climbed 22 of Colorado’s 14,000-foot peaks. Traveling in India in 1960, Dorothy decided to spend two weeks in Nepal. In late 1961, she filled out an application to join the Peace Corps and specified that she wanted to go to Nepal, ‘because I admired the people so much when my father and I were there on our trip’.&nbsp; Dorothy reached Kathmandu in September 1962 as the first group of American Peace Corps volunteers in Nepal. She stood out from the others: one of the few women in that group, surely the oldest at age 41, a world traveler, and a woman who already had established a professional career.&nbsp; One doubts if Dorothy had had a husband and children whether she would ever have gone to work and spend much of the rest of her life in Nepal.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025071901078_68e84ade1ffb0f6c83c7f8fa5c1e7315b5f6c543217f96cde012e4d86f171515.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2025071901078_68e84ade1ffb0f6c83c7f8fa5c1e7315b5f6c543217f96cde012e4d86f171515" data-rendition-name="original" width="1259" height="910" loading="lazy" alt="How th Peace Corps changed a volunteer's life NT"> <figcaption>Pokhara Bazar in 1962.</figcaption> </figure>  The Peace Corps assigned Dorothy to teach geography at Tri-Chandra College. After the school closed in the winter due to lack of heating, USAID and the College of Education asked Dorothy to help train general science teachers.&nbsp; She taught for two months and became involved in a textbook-writing project, commenting: ‘I would like the children to know something about public health, conservation (the trees are going fast and so is the soil), and learn the names of some of their common birds, trees, and flowers. They are more impressed with electricity, airplanes, and cell structure.’ When a new college opened in Pokhara in 1963, Dorothy was transferred there and lived with a Nepali family. The college boasted 30 students and no permanent buildings.&nbsp; In October 1963, Dorothy wrote: ‘Pokhara is a town of almost 5,000 people … We are in a fertile valley surrounded by foothills … There is a small Mission Hospital … a Leper Hospital and Tibetan Refugee Camp started by the Red Cross and now run by the Swiss. With winter approaching, more Tibetans are appearing in town, often with pack horses or donkeys. Some have been carrying large boxes of powdered milk,donated (by USAID) to the camp from the airport … There is no electricity, and the transportation problems make many items scarce and expensive. I am really a sort of a museum. The landlord brings all kinds of people in to see how I live and count my shoes and dresses. They express amazement at my books, pictures, tin oven, Nepali dolls from Kathmandu, screened food shelves and curtained closet.’ The standard term for Peace Corps volunteers was two years, but Dorothy extended her term and was still at Prithvi Narayan College at the end of 1965, when she wrote that she had 20 Geography students in the first-year class and 6 in the second year preparing for the IA Examination. The college enrollment was 125 students, and the foundation for a new science building was being excavated.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025071901074_c6a80e5e0db0c705b2f8733c6d30dc0386fe3abbd2238ea9d947b7d746f94a29.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="2025071901074_c6a80e5e0db0c705b2f8733c6d30dc0386fe3abbd2238ea9d947b7d746f94a29" data-rendition-name="original" width="902" height="605" loading="lazy" alt="How the Peace Corps changed a volunteer's life"> <figcaption>Mierow and friends at Phewa Lake.</figcaption> </figure>  Dorothy noted that she ate one meal a day at the (Shining Mission) Hospital but otherwise lived on dal-bhat, momo, and potato curry at local shops. However, she had developed a new passion: to build what she initially called the Pokhara Museum of the Himalaya. In commendable Peace Corps fashion, Dorothy always worked with Nepalis and respected the culture. ‘The greatest joy and satisfaction I have had has been from the building of a Museum-Library in memory of my parents … It has been possible to feel like a wealthy benefactor with the money saved by father for the family’s education and now available for the education of others… (Father) would have loved to be in on the founding of a new college and be able to plan a library. Several hundred of the books to be in the museum-library came from his collection and were carefully selected to be of use for students in Nepal…’&nbsp; ‘The museum part is to satisfy my own inclinations and was thought of when I found how little diversion there was for the people of Pokhara… It is part of the University requirements for the college that it should have a geography and biology museum. The museum building is small but adequate.&nbsp; I have tried to design it in harmony with Nepalese architecture and decorate it with some of the art of the best artists or woodcarvers… Posts holding up the porch roof are carved by Cottage Industries to represent different peoples of Nepal in typical costumes. The door was carved by a local wood carver and has typical birds of Nepal around it. Inside are 10 roof-support carvings designed by the retired Director of the National Museum in Kathmandu, Mr. C.M. Maskey.&nbsp; They were carved by the best wood carvers in Patan very skilfully. The building has three rooms: the library, the exhibition room, and a smaller workroom which can be used by our newly formed Woman’s Club as well as other groups or classes.’  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025071901074_03d3359c65389d30a0134e9a4862778994121e7e833b7d28b18e06e36fc76ff8.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="2025071901074_03d3359c65389d30a0134e9a4862778994121e7e833b7d28b18e06e36fc76ff8" data-rendition-name="original" width="629" height="599" loading="lazy" alt="How the Peace Corps changed a volunteer's life"> <figcaption>Mierow with local women in Pokhara in 1969.</figcaption> </figure>  Dorothy promoted her project to influential Nepalis connected with organisations whose support she solicited: The Department of Archaeology, the Department of Agriculture, the Godavari Botanical Gardens; Tribhuvan University’s Science and Education Department, Nature Conservation Society.&nbsp; The museum was opened officially in early 1967. The Annapurna Natural History Museum, the building Dorothy designed and had constructed, is still open and features some exhibits which she created many years ago.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025071901074_54326a8a0685e980e782378076de2f5cd02d2426e9b0d94eed972d3dbe83af26.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="2025071901074_54326a8a0685e980e782378076de2f5cd02d2426e9b0d94eed972d3dbe83af26" data-rendition-name="original" width="1333" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="How the Peace Corps changed a volunteer's life"> <figcaption>The Annapurna Natural History Museum.</figcaption> </figure>  Dorothy returned to America in 1967, but she longed for Nepal. In the spring of 1969, she again tried to enroll as a Peace Corps volunteer but was told that as she had spent more than four years, she would not be eligible for another assignment. Undeterred, she persuaded the college in Pokhara to invite her to return as a teacher.&nbsp; UNICEF and the Forestry Department sponsored Dorothy to prepare charts on trees, birds, animals and flowers in colour for distribution to the schools of Nepal. Dorothy, back in the Peace Corps, returned to Pokhara and the Museum in 1972. She formed a friendship with her former geography student from Sikles, Chandra Prasad Gurung, and in 1974, she brought Chandra to America, where he enrolled in Colorado College and studied cultural anthropology.&nbsp; Chandra subsequently earned his PhD in geography from the University of Hawaii and returned to Pokhara to become director of the Annapurna Conservation Area Project. Gurung actively promoted ecotourism, landscape conservation, and biodiversity conservation in Nepal. His life was cut short along with those of 23 other Nepalis and foreigners who perished in a helicopter crash near Taplejung in September 2006.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025071901074_322d3c3ac6f1b08ffa07c44a19998b937a7db9eb43527f7539cf6481e1546314.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="2025071901074_322d3c3ac6f1b08ffa07c44a19998b937a7db9eb43527f7539cf6481e1546314" data-rendition-name="original" width="2500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="How the Peace Corps changed a volunteer's life"> <figcaption>Mierow's four books on Nepal and its biodiversity. </figcaption> </figure>  Dorothy worked with several well-known Nepalis to publish her paintings and photos in beautifully illustrated books. She and Hemanta Mishra of the National Parks and Wildlife Service wrote Wild Animals of Nepal (Ratna Pustak Bhandar, 1976). More than 400 photos Dorothy took on treks to the Everest region, Gosaikunda, Muktinath, Jumla and Rara Lake, as well as travels in the Tarai, appeared in Himalayan Flowers and Trees (Sahayogi Prakashan, 1978).&nbsp; The botanist Tirtha Bahadur Shrestha identified the species. Dorothy and Kesar Lall published This Beautiful Nepal (Sahayogi Press, 1981). Birds of the Central Himalayas (1988) contained Dorothy’s paintings of 250 species of birds found along the areas of the Kali Gandaki River, Pokhara, Chitwan and the central Tarai. Dorothy summed up her life and work in Nepal in Thirty Years in Pokhara (Pilgrims Book House, 1997). Dorothy returned to Pokhara and her adopted Gurung family several times during the 1980s and 1990s to celebrate festivals and meet old friends. Her final years were spent at her mountain cottage in Green Mountain Falls north of Colorado Springs. She died at the age of 79 in August, 2000. Nepal gave new meaning and purpose to Dorothy Mierow’s life. Daniel W Edwards was a Peace Corps volunteer in 1966 and is the author of several books on Nepal. The author thanks Special Collections, Tutt Library, Colorado College.

How the Peace Corps changed a volunteer’s life

Does anyone know that 2023-33 was declared the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/visit-nepal-again">Visit Nepal</a> Decade? Or that Pokhara announced that 2025 is a Special Tourism Year? The fuselage of Nepal Airlines jets still carry the Visit Nepal Year 2020 logos. Such ad hoc and unnoticed promotion is emblematic of the way Nepal has tried to increase visitor arrivals <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-hopes-for-tourism-rebound-in-2021-rk4dlo9t">post-Covid</a> — and of the country’s wider political disarray. Deepak Raj Joshi of the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) has his work cut out to coordinate various agencies of the government to boost arrivals.&nbsp; He says, “We have been working on marketing strategies to revive the tourism sector, and are hopeful that this year will mark a 8-10% increase in arrivals compared to the pre-pandemic times.” On paper, tourist numbers have rebounded to pre-Covid numbers with over 1 million last year, but official figures do not give a true picture of duration of stay, average spending, and the fact every visitor is counted as a ‘tourist’, even repeat visitors who come on business. The few bright spots are largely a result of private sector promotion of niche tourism products, individual social media posts of <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/page/top-10-treks">adventurous treks in Nepal</a>, or the fact that Indians are allowed to enter China again to visit Lake Mansarovar and Mt Kailash via Nepal. Indeed, Simkot airport has up to 15 flights a day from Nepalganj bringing in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/borderlines/nepal-india-trans-boundary-bonds">Indian pilgrims</a> who are then ferried by helicopter to the border in Hilsa, or Lapcha Pass from where the holy sites in Tibet are visible. The rudimentary hotels and rest houses along the route in Humla have been bursting at the seams for the past month, to the point that some establishments are no longer able to provide patrons basic amenities.&nbsp; Last year, 1.14 million tourists visited Nepal, and the government has projected up to 10% increase in tourist arrivals this year. International tourist arrivals to Nepal have been steadily increasing, especially from the US, Europe, and India. Domestic and regional travel has also increased after the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/lockdown-5-utlzqtvs">Covid lockdowns</a>.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250717120756_e1c8f08e7e26496d2b2394e0be776e147fb46c415347b781ed9e5c64d9c9e505.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20250717120756_e1c8f08e7e26496d2b2394e0be776e147fb46c415347b781ed9e5c64d9c9e505" data-rendition-name="original" width="1145" height="668" loading="lazy" alt="Tourist numbers"> </figure>  The tourism industry employs at least 1 million people, trekking injects money directly into the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/not-rising-nepal">rural economy </a>and sustains ancillary sectors like handicrafts and domestic aviation. In the last fiscal year, tourism brought in Rs82.33 billion, according to Nepal Rastra Bank. But the industry has been affected by negative publicity about poor infrastructure, air pollution in Kathmandu, travel safety and news of disasters like the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/rasuwa-flood-likely-a-glof">China-Nepal flood last week</a> that made international headlines. Growing worries about the climate crisis is also affecting youth travel, especially from Europe. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/missing-out-on-nepal-s-tourism-potential">Missing out on Nepal’s tourism potential</a> “The limitations of airport and road infrastructure has hindered the development of the tourism sector,” admits Joshi. “And many are put off by the appalling state of our road network, especially during <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/managing-the-monsoon">the monsoon season</a>.” Nepal is home to 20 protected areas, 10 heritage sites, and eight out of the world’s 10 highest mountains, and despite all the obstacles it is still the perfect destination for the modern social media savvy traveller, who are experience-driven and inclined to look for itineraries that emphasise wellness and cultural immersion.&nbsp; Some hotels around Kathmandu, Pokhara, Jomsom and the Khumbu have strived to adapt to this new tourism landscape, expanding facilities with significant international investment. <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/business/a-thamel-within-thamel">Luxury hotels like Aloft Kathmandu</a> in Thamel were inaugurated just before the pandemic lockdowns, survived the crisis and thrived as it. Says General Manager Vikram Singh (pictured, below): “Our prime location in Thamel enhances the guest experience, especially for those seeking convenience and immersion in the local scene and travellers who want to be in the centre of it all.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025071805070_8d29803e8b52bcd4439422e7b7a0bc25aa68ef3d227b9130bd0e079af626677d.jpg" data-media-id="editor_11" data-image-id="2025071805070_8d29803e8b52bcd4439422e7b7a0bc25aa68ef3d227b9130bd0e079af626677d" data-rendition-name="original" width="1066" height="1600" loading="lazy" alt="Aloft GM"> </figure>  <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/what-sustainable-tourism-means-in-practice">Sustainability </a>and environmental consciousness has also become an integral part of the hospitality industry. ISO certifications as well as sustainability initiatives like the Travelife sustainability certification for eco-friendly resorts validate credibility of hotels. Aloft is the first five-star hotel in Nepal to have earned the Waste Smart Certificate, and it has also been awarded the ISO 14001:2015 certification, which is the internationally recognised standard for environmental management systems (EMS). But such investments will not amount to much unless Nepal makes serious efforts to promote itself as a<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/peak-tourism-in-2023-9ukoi8iz?utm="> tourism destination</a>, especially to its two giant neighbours. More importantly, the country needs to increase activities in which tourists can spend the money they want to. “While <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-pushes-mountain-bike-tourism?fbclid=IwAR1MNH0iFGv1vRz5G9uZ4AzUlKxB6nY7JKq0qT6je_FV4_SuxPZqviwKGn0">mountaineering and adventure tourism</a> are extensively promoted, we have fallen short of marketing other elements such as wildlife, pilgrimage and cultural heritage,” says Joshi. “There is a need to diversify promotion to increase income from the tourism sector.” Meanwhile, making Nepal more accessible to international and domestic visitors, must also be a priority. Kathmandu remains the sole aerial gateway despite new airports in Pokhara and Bhairawa. “International airlines have shown interest, and if access and flights are increased these airports can be fully functional,” says Joshi. But Sichuan Airlines has stopped flying to Pokhara, and there does not seem to be much interest from Thai, Vietnamese and Cambodian carriers to fly directly to Lumbini. Says Singh: “There’s tremendous opportunity to strengthen Nepal’s destination marketing by telling richer, more compelling stories that <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/culture-cannot-be-an-afterthought">connect travellers with our culture</a>, nature, and people.”

Tourism needs a new push

This week at the National Population Policy launch Prime Minister K P Oli exhorted Nepalis to get married by age 20 and have three babies by the time they are 30. This was the first indication that the highest office in the land has understood the need to address Nepal’s dramatically <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepals-demographic-window-is-closing">falling birth rate</a>, but Oli’s statement was greeted with ridicule on<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/avoiding-the-quicksand-of-social-media"> social media</a> — especially by women. Most urban young are already grappling with economic pressures and shifting life priorities. Even with a university degree,<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/workers-return-to-jobless-nepal?%2F"> many cannot find jobs</a>, and are taking the first flight out for overseas employment. Having a child is now a fraught decision shaped by income, individual autonomy, and family pressure. The <a href="https://www.unfpa.org/swp2025">UNFPA’s State of the World Population report </a>released last month, highlighted a significant <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/migrating-males-and-population-decline">decline in fertility rates </a>around the world. The global average fertility rate is 2.25 children per woman, and 18% of the reproductive adults said they will not be able to have the number of children they desire. The total fertility rate in Nepal has plummeted to 2.1 births per woman — down from 5 just 30 years ago. This is considered replacement level, meaning the newborns will replace their parents.&nbsp; However, birth rates are not declining as rapidly everywhere. The Tarai in has a total fertility rate of 2.20, and northwestern mountains is still 2.24.&nbsp; There are multiple factors in play, and the report broadly divides them into four categories: health issues, economic concerns, fears about the future, and lack of a supportive partner or their absence. More than half of the respondents said finance, which includes unemployment and increased cost of housing, as well as parenthood, was a barrier to having children. “More and more people prefer one or two children at maximum. Many women also decide to have children at a much later age,” says Kamala Devi Lamichhane of Tribhuvan University. “The opportunity cost is far higher for women.” But there is also a cost for the country, as the National Population Policy notes. At the rate the total fertility rate is falling it will soon be below replacement level — meaning that in the next three decades Nepal will be confronted with an <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/the-future-is-older">ageing population</a>.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250714140740_bac3e5a284b69a77d97b3b99daf2e7fd3019bc48f1a399fb2771381c751d8291.png" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20250714140740_bac3e5a284b69a77d97b3b99daf2e7fd3019bc48f1a399fb2771381c751d8291" data-rendition-name="original" width="1302" height="501" loading="lazy" alt="Nepalis having fewer babies. Why?"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250714140740_251115b0a88d4e82be70245c43cb74477f3be18042ef1aa3b904c597d815f13b.png" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20250714140740_251115b0a88d4e82be70245c43cb74477f3be18042ef1aa3b904c597d815f13b" data-rendition-name="original" width="1125" height="500" loading="lazy" alt="Nepalis having fewer babies. Why?"> </figure>  Besides income, there are also cultural factors at play in women having fewer babies — they are expected to do all the childcare duties, even putting their careers on hold. In general, there is little help from spouses, and with more nuclear families there is less support from relatives. “Women today are well educated, career-oriented, and economically independent, allowing them to delay marriage as well as being conscious about their body and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/nepal-far-from-hitting-contraceptive-target?%2F">reproductive rights</a>,” says Laxmi Tamang of the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM). Also present at the policy launch was demographer Yagya Bahadur Karki, who said that women are more educated and hence, empowered to take their own informed decisions regarding having children.&nbsp; He adds, “But the fertility rates have reached replacement rate, and that stands as a warning for the future.”&nbsp; Fertility rates have fallen in inverse proportion to the rise in female literacy. The regions of Nepal where couples have more babies is where women are less educated. Couples in Madhes and Sudur Paschim provinces, where child marriage, gender-based discrimination, menstrual huts and dowry are still widespread are where the fertility rate is still high.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250717120740_ababfd31ed5ff79ded427e1f1adfff02e6af2384bd541e51dfe05e52fbbccb39.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20250717120740_ababfd31ed5ff79ded427e1f1adfff02e6af2384bd541e51dfe05e52fbbccb39" data-rendition-name="original" width="994" height="682" loading="lazy" alt="TFR Map"> </figure>  And because female literacy also has a direct correlation with <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/fatal-discrimination">infant and child mortality</a>, couples in those regions tend to have more babies so some of them survive.&nbsp; But it is Nepal’s urban centres among the educated where the increased choices in reproductive health, including alternative methods of conception like IVF and treatment for infertility, as well as <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/implant-service-providers-take-contraception-to-nepals-poor">contraceptives</a> offer more options for family planning. “There are more choices regarding reproductive health, and there is more awareness as well, which is why people decide carefully on whether or not to bear a child,” says population expert Yogendra Gurung. <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/migrants-returning-from-the-gulf-with-infertility">Migration is another factor</a> adding to the decline in fertility rates. Many young Nepalis of reproductive age leave every day in pursuit of better jobs overseas. Spousal separation means fewer children.&nbsp; “Once away, even if not educated, they realise that child-rearing costs are high, and try to have fewer and even no children in some cases,” Gurung adds. Recent studies have also shown that men returning after their stint in the Gulf and Malaysia, where they are <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/gulf-workers-need-protection-from-heat">exposed to extreme heat </a>for extended periods as well as various chemicals and toxins in their work environment &nbsp;have a range of health problems, including infertility. To increase the birth rate, Nepal will have to reverse its family planning strategy of the past 40 years. Complicating this is that some regions of Nepal will need measures to control the birth rate, while urban areas will need a strategy to help parents have more babies. One way to help families have more children is to develop more <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/future-proofing-nepal-s-population-strategy?s=04&amp;fbclid=IwY2xjawFQf-NleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHRxSwwGPfm7_2cBhDVAowPxEmFXP0Os-KRs1DXqIW_84wDhciExtZuNi1g_aem_jzRqN2cEVAppfwr5qedxRg">family-friendly policies</a> that favour women and youth as the Nordic countries, which also have falling birth rates, have done. They have introduced flexible parental leaves for both parents, including financial and health incentives. China, also concerned about its declining birth rate and an ageing population, now has a three-child policy as well as tax deductions, expanded childcare services, and leave policies to encourage couples to have more children. “We must work towards childbirth and childcare policies and plans that are suitable for Nepal, so that couples planning for children do not have to think twice about it because of finances or other reasons,” adds Gurung. Tamang of the International Confederation of Midwives says a gender transformative approach is needed to address the issues of the gender gap which is adding to the decline in childbirth. Husbands need to play a more important role in child-rearing. Instead of increasing fertility for the sake of it, the objective should be to assist young people to start the families they desire, at a point and time of their choice. Respect for everyone’s rights and dignity lays a foundation for a more balanced demographic trend. Lamichhane sums it up: “If fertility rates are to be sustained, it requires changes in the gender roles and behaviour, keeping the youth’s aspirations in mind.”

Nepalis are having fewer babies. Why?

· On the night of 15 May, two glacial lakes burst in Tharka in Humla and the debris flow washed away homes and bridges.&nbsp; · Last week, a slurry surge on the Kali Gandaki in Upper Mustang caused at least Rs15 million in damage, and was traced to a melting glacier. · Dozens are feared dead after <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/rasuwa-flood-likely-a-glof">an expanding glacial lake in Tibet overflowed</a>, sweeping down into Nepal and damaging four hydropower plants generating 230MW, nearly 8% of the country’s total grid supply.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250718060748_45225dc707c1e9c2968ca8dbf6e564e01e4eb6e2ff254fb8eb940cf62cdd910b.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20250718060748_45225dc707c1e9c2968ca8dbf6e564e01e4eb6e2ff254fb8eb940cf62cdd910b" data-rendition-name="original" width="2667" height="1500" loading="lazy" alt="Rasuwa flood"> <figcaption>Miteri friendship bridge connecting Nepal and China was swept away in the Rasuwa flood. Photo: PRAKASH CHANDRA TIMILSENA / NPL</figcaption> </figure>  And those are just in the past month. Climate scientists say Himalayan glacial lake outbursts are becoming more frequent and destructive, and a warning for Nepal not to put all its eggs in the hydropower basket.&nbsp; <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/when-it-rains-it-pours-ksqprbu3">Record precipitation last September</a> unleashed floods that killed 200 people, and temporarily slashed Nepal’s total generation capacity of 3,000MW by nearly half. The <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-valley-suffers-quadruple-disaster">Melamchi flood of 2021</a> caused by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/the-not-so-permanent-frost">permafrost melting</a> on a glacier upstream nearly destroyed a $800 million water supply scheme, Nepal’s largest infrastructure project which four years later still has not resumed full operation. The <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/sikkim-flood-is-warning-to-nepal">glacial lake overflow in Sikkim</a> caused by record rainfall in September 2023 that destroyed the $1.2 billion Chungthung Dam and caused catastrophic damage to infrastructure on the Teesta River. This was a warning to the cascade of hydropower plants on the Arun and Marsyangdi river basins.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250718060736_6f61797a6be308321e3bae26e55d2f64cba4b9e5eb262adacb9e92fb5f3c6152.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20250718060736_6f61797a6be308321e3bae26e55d2f64cba4b9e5eb262adacb9e92fb5f3c6152" data-rendition-name="original" width="919" height="549" loading="lazy" alt="hydro disasters and hydropower plants"> </figure>  Nepal has set a target of generating an additional 28,500MW by 2035 -- out of the feasible 48,000MW -- but how viable is an energy strategy that is exposed to heightened risk due to climate breakdown? &nbsp; “As extreme weather events increase, we must design and build infrastructures respecting river flow and topography,” says former Energy Secretary Dwarika Nath Dhungel. “We must make the best use of our water resources, but not by letting excavators loose everywhere mining riverbeds and building haphazardly where we shouldn’t.”&nbsp; Although no project can be disaster-proof, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/climate-smarter-himalayan-infrastructure">climate smart design</a> can minimise damage from flash floods and landslides. Recent disasters have driven up insurance premiums for energy projects in Nepal, and smaller ones cannot even afford them. The 456MW Upper Tamakosi hydroelectric project which is still not fully functional after the September floods has claimed insurance worth Rs1.8 billion. The alternative to high risk high investment hydropower projects is <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/what-s-cooking-in-nepal-besides-politics">energy diversification</a> to other renewables such as solar, wind or biogas. Nepal gets annual sunlight of 300 days with 6-7 hours on average to total 50,000 terawatt-hours (TWh) per year.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250718060744_4acd452b4117180ca9bb5d3be839ff46dfd5464e4d507f5ad3704cef6253bc48.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20250718060744_4acd452b4117180ca9bb5d3be839ff46dfd5464e4d507f5ad3704cef6253bc48" data-rendition-name="original" width="1080" height="720" loading="lazy" alt="solar power"> <figcaption>Farmers in Tarai using solar powered water pump. Photo: GHAMPOWER</figcaption> </figure>  The Solar and Wind Energy Resource Assessment (SWERA) calculates that Nepal could source 3,000MW from wind energy alone, considering 10% of the area with more than 300W/m2 wind power density. <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/people-power/decentralising-power-in-nepal">Solar energy</a> stations are cheaper and quicker to build, and would be an ideal alternative to reliance on hydropower.&nbsp; “There has been some investment in solar power, especially from the state sector,” says water expert Madhukar Upadhyay. “But there is an issue of land acquisition since the arrays need a lot of space. It is comparatively easier to get a permit to put up a hydropower plant on a river.” As for biogas, there is simply no incentive to build on past success with household level plants to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/more-bullshit">promote industrial-scale production</a>. Scaling up biogas by integrating it with urban biodegradable waste would still be a viable alternative to LPG.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250718060744_715d44afd5eb4ba8dafa209b0ad0f19400665797b5f078f5636821e600f96684.jpg" data-media-id="editor_12" data-image-id="20250718060744_715d44afd5eb4ba8dafa209b0ad0f19400665797b5f078f5636821e600f96684" data-rendition-name="original" width="1419" height="954" loading="lazy" alt="windmill"> <figcaption>A wind mill in Hapsikot in Nawalpur. Photo: WINPOWER NEPAL</figcaption> </figure>  Nepal’s public sphere is buzzing with excitement over the discovery of potentially 430 billion cubic metres of methane gas beneath Dailekh district that, if properly harnessed, would meet the country’s energy demand for the next 50 years. Even though a feasibility study is awaited, politicians from the prime minister down see this as a petro bonanza that will make Nepal rich. But drilling, storage and distribution of CNG in the country’s current kleptocratic state make that unlikely. If Nepal was to get rich solely on its hydro-energy potential, it could have done so in the past 50 years. Says Dhungel: “This is not exactly a new discovery, but it is premature to celebrate until its extraction is proven to be cost effective. And let us hope it does not get <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/balance-of-power">tangled in geopolitics</a>, since China is involved in the prospecting and drilling, which could make India uneasy.”&nbsp; The country suffers from the Dutch Disease curse even before its resource is fully exploited. And the same cronyism, corruption and rent-seeking structure cannot deliver the riches we expect from Dailekh’s methane discovery. Now, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/right-climate-for-nepal-s-energy-transition">with hydropower in jeopardy</a>, Nepal’s planners will have to evolve a new strategy for energy security into the future. But first, governance needs to be cleaned up with long-term strategic planning that takes climate risk into account. For example, do we need to mine fossil gas when there are renewable options? Will Dailekh take Nepal away from its climate commitments? Says Madhukar Upadhyay: “Nepal has always been resource rich and management poor. And the larger the resource, the bigger our management incapacity. It is a societal malaise.”&nbsp;

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Nepalis are having fewer babies. Why?

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