<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111413114/63722f839c7e80680e0c251djpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1200" height="800"/><figcaption>Photo: PRASANSA BUDHA LAMA</figcaption></figure>From 1991 to 2016, the maternal mortality rate in Nepal declined by a staggering 72% -- from 850 deaths per 100,000 live births to 239 in 25 years.This was a dramatic advance, but since then progress has slowed and almost plateaued off, mainly due to high rates of neonatal deaths.And at the current rate, Nepal will have to further bring down this figure by 71% by 2030 to meet its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on maternal health. This is a considerable challenge given that Nepal has the highest maternal and neonatal mortality rates in South Asia, behind only Afghanistan.A shortage of skilled birth attendants, weak referral systems and difficulty in accessing treatment for complex pregnancies all point to the government’s chronic neglect of women’s health and the subsequent high mother-baby death rate.It is well established that the six pillars of safe motherhood are family planning, HIV/STD control, antenatal care, obstetric care, postnatal care and abortion care. And these can be strengthened through education, gender equality and access to primary health care. However, the Ministry of Health has overlooked these aspects, and this is undermining past gains.The 2015 Right to Safe Motherhood and Reproductive Health Act guarantees women the right to necessary counseling and maternity services from a midwife. But this does not apply to a majority of women in rural areas due to a lack of trained staff.Read also: <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/GUEST-COLUMN/Saving-one-mother-at-a-time,816">Saving one mother at a time</a>, Bikash GauchanThe government needs to produce more than 10,000 midwives with a minimum of a three-year certificate if it is to reduce the maternal mortality rate to 75 for every 100,000 births by 2030, as per the SDGs.Under the previous Millennium Development Goal (MDG), Nepal had committed to reducing maternal mortality by three-quarters by 2015, which included midwifery education and services in the five-year plan. A policy was then formulated in 2006 to produce skilled birth assistants (SBA) with other staff to be given two months of training to develop 27 basic maternity services.The strategy includes basic nursing skills in nursing and medical education such as ANMI certification, BSc Nursing, MBBS and MDGP and aims to produce professional midwives in the long run.At present, Sudeni Maternal and Child Health Workers and Assistant Nurse-Midwife (ANMI) who underwent midwifery training for two months are deployed to communities as maternal health service providers.Since 2006, the program has produced more than 10,000 SBAs and reduced maternal mortality by 15% in the past decade at the cost of Rs1 billion, but we are yet to see the kind of progress we aspired to. The program has significantly increased awareness about maternal healthcare, but has not produced as many professional midwives.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/nepali-ama/">Nepali Ama</a>, EditorialIn India, ANMI must have passed high school and undergone two years of training. In Nepal, those who have passed grade 8 and trained for 29 months can become ANMI. Therefore, people at the forefront of providing maternal and child healthcare are already lagging in resources, skills and education levels.In urban centres, mothers have the choice of obstetricians and gynecologists, but in villages, their best bet are ANMIs, many of whom have not even completed remote obstetric training. This negligence has cost the lives of many young mothers.Further, women accessing health facilities face humiliation, and even violence, and are stigmatised. The main reason for this is the lack of midwives, and the shortage of such an important position within the National Health Care System.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/another-babys-life-is-saved-in-rural-nepal/">Another baby’s life is saved in rural Nepal</a>, Naresh NewarThere is also a tendency to announce popular programs only to source large budgets from state coffers. The President’s Program for Women’s Upliftment is an initiative to save the lives of mothers at childbirth.Launched in 2018, the program has only spent Rs36.6 million in three years when its budget was Rs50 million a year. In the same period, while it saved 360 women, 789 died without treatment.Expecting women in remote areas are constantly at risk due to the delays: at home while making a decision, on-road in lack of proper transport and at health facilities.Even then we can mitigate the illiteracy, ignorance and financial constraints that cause decision delays at home and on roads with public awareness programs. But the bigger challenge is that of local health facilities take time to transfer women to better-equipped hospitals.According to 2020 Maternal Infant Mortality Monitoring and Response (MPDSR), most maternal deaths were due to preventable causes such as bleeding, high blood pressure, infections and prolonged labour pains. The analysis also showed that 37% of women died on the way from one health facility to another, 30% at home, 23% in private and non-government hospitals and 10% on the way home from health facilities. Most of these deaths were of women under 34.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/balancing-life-and-death-in-nepal/">Balancing life and death in Nepal</a>, Ashmita Hamal and Naresh NewarBy mobilising skilled midwives at local-level health facilities, we can manage many complications and counsel families if a mother needs to be relocated. And one way to achieve that is by providing the ANMIs with a 3-year certificate level midwifery education.Midwives in essence stand for women's rights. They advocate for all women of reproductive age to receive the quality and dignified services they deserve, especially during pregnancy and childbirth.Midwives have proven their effectiveness in countries like Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands for the past 250 years and have reduced maternal mortality rates to as low as 2 per 100,000 live births.With the maternity knowledge, skill and behaviour they have, only a midwife can determine the true condition of a woman in labour pain when there is no obstetrician and gynecologist present which is often the case across Nepal’s rural villages.If we want to save our mothers, it is of utmost importance that the Nepali state act immediately to produce midwifery practitioners.Laxmi Tamang is the president of the Nepal Midwifery Society.Adapted from the <a href="https://www.himalkhabar.com/news/130974">Nepali original</a> in Himalkhabar monthly magazine by Aria Parasai.Read more: <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=16327#.Ys5GPOxBzAM">Homeward bound</a>, Sabhyata Timsina

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Midwives to the rescue in Nepal

<figure><img width="429" height="488" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110111156/636cd94a9c7e80680e092e8fjpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption></figcaption></figure>A year since Nepal went into lockdown to control the spread of the coronavirus, different facets of socio-political economy are being revisited. Findings of one such recent study, paints a grim picture of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/uneven-pandemic-impact-on-nepali-women/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">women’s economic status</a>.A large number of women both in the formal and informal sectors faced and continue to face pay-cuts since the start of the pandemic. Many have been laid off.South Asia Economic Policy Research COVID-19 &amp; The  New Normal for Women in the Economy in Nepal just as its elaborate title suggests, examines the conditions of women and their contribution to the economy in the days since the world braced for a pandemic.The report released this weekend highlights the already challenging status of Nepali women, that has been further compounded with increased unpaid household work and burgeoning instances of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/in-nepal-lockdown-a-domestic-violence-spike/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">domestic violence and abuse</a> in 2020. This study is done by a team of young Nepali women and men in mid-twenties and aims at understanding the current socio-economic situation of Nepali women to pave ways forward, says Shilshila Acharya of the Himalayan Climate Initiative (HCI) which partnered with The Asia Foundation (TAF) on the report.The paper covers 401 women and 51 private sector firms from all seven provinces and focuses on three major aspects affecting women during the pandemic including economic, psycho-social, and sexual and reproductive health.“So many women have lost their jobs and income due to the pandemic. To help in their income generation, a lot of skill enhancement trainings, including digital, and entrepreneurship promotion work must be done,” says Acharya. <img width="349" height="213" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110111156/636cd94c9c7e80680e092e90jpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="448" height="295" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110111156/636cd94d9c7e80680e092e91jpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="444" height="238" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110111156/636cd94f9c7e80680e092e92jpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="377" height="162" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110111156/636cd9519c7e80680e092e93jpeg.jpg" alt="">The study documents respondents’ concerns on issues related to the marginalised communities, mainly women. It highlights how the lack of planning has led womens’ <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/new-contraceptive-for-increased-lockdown-use/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">inability to access contraceptives</a>, increased chances of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/baby-boom-expected-after-lockdown/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">unintended pregnancies</a>, and starkly <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/birth-and-death-during-a-pandemic/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">high maternal mortality</a>, among others. The impact on mental health of women has increased. This research also included a survey with 51 female employers representing individual employers (households), Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and informal sector employers, and formal sector employers (large industries), including businesses primarily owned by women. The survey found that 37% of businesses imposed a pay cut on female employees, out of which 58% had inflicted a 50% deduction in salary. More than half of the businesses surveyed had laid off 50% to 100% women employees. A total of 631,000 female jobs are estimated to be at risk in the higher impact scenario. For women entrepreneurs, the pandemic has led to the closure of businesses, leading to financial distress and insecurity. In response to the dwindling economic situation, the government announced that it would provide coverage through the Social Security Fund (SSF) to private entities for the month of April 2020 worth Rs.180 million. But, none of the companies in the survey were aware of it. The report mentions that many rural women farmers who also take informal loans on high interest rates remain excluded from interest reduction schemes of the government, and farmers on credit were struggling to repay loans. A majority of women tenant farmers cannot access the government’s compensation  schemes, because they have no land entitlement. To avoid the risk of a permanent exit of women from the labor market, it is important to ensure assistance to the people currently in the informal economy, the report says. Complex bureaucratic vetting and red-tapism have to be replaced by opportunities for direct cash transfers and insurance programs. The lesson of the pandemic is that the informal economy needs to be registered in the government system and social security schemes for businesses established.  To prevent the progress related to work done on women’s rights from sliding back by decades, strategies are needed to support women not just during the pandemic but also in a post-pandemic world.  “The research information tells a story of the groundbreaking role women have already played in the pandemic adaptation and response,” says Meghan Nalbo of TAF.  “The data on differential economic impacts of Covid-19 validates a more accurate picture of reality against which policy makers, community leaders, and women themselves can make decisions as part of the economic recovery we now face ahead of us as we crawl out of the Covid-19 recession.”

Nepali women survive pandemic economy

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110111152/636cd8879c7e80680e092e49jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1125"/><figcaption>Phediguth village in Okhaldhunga where poor roads make access to health facilities difficult for complicated maternity cases. All photos: NARESH NEWAR</figcaption></figure>Stories of birthing are not the kind of conversation that children in Nepal usually have with their mothers. Surya Bhatta’s career path, however, took a new turn when his mother shared her own story of how she survived a near-death complication when she was giving birth to his elder sister.His mother was married at 11, and had her first baby at 16. Access to health services in their home village in Dhading was limited at the time, and she suffered from severe postpartum complications.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110111152/636cd88b9c7e80680e092e4ajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="364"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>“Luckily, my mother survived but we all know many Nepali mothers still face similar risks due to poor maternal health,” says Bhatta, now executive director of One Heart Worldwide (OHW), a US-based organisation working in Nepal.At 34 Bhatta is proud to be playing a role to save the lives of mothers like his mother. Although the country has made vast improvements in reducing the maternal mortality rate from 539 per 100,000 live births 25 years ago to 240 today, it is still unacceptably high.An estimated 2,000 new <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/who-will-save-nepals-poor-new-mothers/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/who-will-save-nepals-poor-new-mothers/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1615874753197000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEu5wCZ54G1e7vKzay3LB7DTXI7mA">mothers still die</a> in Nepal every year —  most of them because health posts are not properly equipped and staffed. The maternal mortality rate also went up in 2020 because the lockdown and pandemic prevented many mothers from getting to hospitals or birthing centres.Bhatta and his colleagues have been working to improve maternal neonatal health care, and with a 70-strong team is setting up birthing centres and hospitals in Nepal’s most remote districts to upgrade care for mothers and babies.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110111152/636cd88e9c7e80680e092e4bjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="191">Starting from five villages of Baglung in 2010, One Heart has expanded to 21 districts and helped renovate and equip more than 500 birthing centres in 164 municipalities where road access is still limited. The centres work with local municipalities on a cost-sharing public-private-partnership formula.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVA--CRk3nMMany government health posts in rural municipality wards are under-resourced and often struggle to even buy standard maternity delivery beds and lifesaving equipment. There is inadequate <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/federalism-leaves-nepals-medical-sector-ailing/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/federalism-leaves-nepals-medical-sector-ailing/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1615874753197000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEX5KH1MBkZwv3gDbQd0uKEItLdXg">infrastructure</a> for pre-natal, delivery and post-natal care, and a chronic shortage of trained midwives in rural areas.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110111152/636cd88f9c7e80680e092e4cjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1710"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Nurses are not trained to handle complicated cases during and after delivery, and as frontline maternity workers face the wrath of local communities when mothers and babies die.Bhatta and his team have zeroed in on training nurses at health posts to become skilled birth attendants, an intervention that directly saves lives. One Heart’s trained nurses and renovated birthing centres now care for more than 72,000 pregnant women across Nepal annually.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110111152/636cd8929c7e80680e092e4djpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1125"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>“Even during the pandemic rural municipalities were able to find resources to share half the cost of construction to renovate the birthing centres,” says Bhatta who works in partnership with local governments and community groups.Bhatta sets program priorities after consultation with local elected representatives, tries to raise money locally, and then tops it up by competing globally for international grants. He says, “We can’t make our people always dependant on international aid. We need to be innovative by taking risks with new ideas.”<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110111152/636cd8959c7e80680e092e4ejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1125"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The partnership approach for upgrading birthing centres through cost-sharing is innovative, and one that encourages local ownership, clearly outlining outcomes. It went ahead because local governments under Nepal’s new federal structure were willing to start implementation immediately.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110111152/636cd8989c7e80680e092e4fjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1125"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>“Entrepreneurship is needed in the social sector not for profit making, but for creating quality service that can go up to scale,” explains Bhatta. “Social entrepreneurship is all about evidence-based work that guide organisations to reduce risks and help improve through sustainable local health systems. There are challenges in Nepal, but there are so many opportunities to overcome them through partnerships like this.”<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110111152/636cd89b9c7e80680e092e50jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="964"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Bhatta makes a case for Nepalis to return home after higher education overseas, just as he himself did after graduating from Dartmouth in the United States, fulfilling the promise he had made to his mother that he would make a difference for as many Nepali mothers like her as possible.He says, “I am proud of the team we have built, I feel we are making a difference especially for rural communities. What can be more fulfilling than helping save lives?

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“What can be more fulfilling than saving lives?”

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109141140/636bade89c7e80680e077fbdjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1496" height="1146"/><figcaption>Min Bajracharya’s iconic photograph of Durga Thapa, 22, as she leapt up during a victory rally on 9 April 1990 to shout “Long live democracy!” All photos: MIN RATNA BAJRACHARYA</figcaption></figure>The <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/one-moment-30-years-ago-today/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">People’s Movement in 1990</a> erupted because for three decades of partylessness, Nepalis could not let off steam and socio-political pressure had been building up.We got a constitutional monarchy, the parties were unbanned, the mass media was unshackled. And soon enough, we started using our newfound freedoms to complain about the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/nepal-from-royal-to-republic,3736" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">king and queen</a>. When the Maoists took the country to war, we complained about the violence.After the ceasefire of 2006, we were not happy about the restoration of peace – we started complaining about the political transition. Our constant moaning and groaning probably prolonged that transition.Then the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/kundadixit/2015/05/27/a-month-that-felt-like-a-year/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">earthquake struck in 2015</a>, and even as the aftershocks rocked us, we whined about the relief being poorly distributed, and the slow pace of reconstruction. We then had the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/editorial/autopsy-of-a-blockade%20,2863" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Indian blockade</a> to complain about. And as soon as the 2017 election was over, we started criticising the very leaders we had just elected to power.We were about to run out of things to complain about when there was the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/nepals-new-normal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">COVID-19 pandemic</a>, and we could complain about <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/reduce-harm/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the lockdown</a> and the corruption in the procurement of medical supplies and the government’s general incompetence.It is human nature. Like most people around the world, Nepalis are never happy with the state of affairs. In fact, we do not score very high in the Happiness Index. That itself is a positive thing because it means we know there is plenty of room for improvement. Things can always be better. That is the whole idea behind the need to see the world as half full.Remember the days when there were 16 hour power cuts every day? <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/an-electric-shock-to-nepals-energy-future/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Now that there is surplus power</a>, we are complaining that the electricity we generate is going waste. What to do with it? Where to sell it?There was a time in the 1980s when the proponents of the Himalayan Degradation Theory predicted that Nepal would be a desert by the turn of the century. Here we are four decades later, and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/tree-mendous/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nepal has doubled forest cover</a>. We have almost a quarter of our area designated as national parks, and 15% of Nepal is covered in <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/who-now-owns-nepals-forests/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">community-managed forests</a>.Enrollment in school is nearly 100%, infant and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/who-will-save-nepals-poor-new-mothers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">maternal mortality</a> have seen dramatic reductions. Absolute poverty has been halved in 25 years. The education we got and the remittance economy has exposed many Nepalis to jobs all around the world, and the quality of life for many have improved with the money sent home.Yet we complain that our youth are away. But that is also good because the end goal should be to create jobs for them at home.There are many products in the market that require energy to produce. If Nepal is to select a few of these and manufacture them near our many <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/decentralising-hydropower/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">hydropower</a> plants, we could become productive and competitive.In Birganj, for example, there are truck loads of metal sheets coming in from India. They are rolled into pipes and poles, and sent back out. This is the value added for Nepal’s abundant, clean, reliable energy.Entrepreneurs will begin to look for energy production sites where goods can also be produced. We will then see how education will be valued in these areas because it means jobs at the local level. We will no longer have the debate about exporting energy, and sending Nepali youth abroad to prop up the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/remit-for-remittances/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">remittance based economy</a>. Local agriculture will have a local market. Nepalis will also understand the true meaning of Value Added Tax.We can use spilled hydropower at night to pump water for to irrigate farms and boost food production, and during the day use the water to generate power. This is the chance for an entrepreneur to set up a factory to manufacture rice cookers and electric kettles so we <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/look-whats-cooking-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reduce our reliance on imported LPG</a>.Nepal’s poverty related problems can be solved with political will. Nepal’s problems are simple and so are their solutions. Unfortunately, we like to complicate things so we can seek complicated solutions. It is almost as if we want to remain poor so we keep getting grants for poverty alleviation, so our experts and consultants have jobs. It is precisely because we have only complained and not implemented solutions over the past seven decades that we would rather export manpower than value-added good and services.Historically we have always described Nepal with what we do not have. For example, we do not have access to the sea. Or the terrain is not easy. These were always top reasons given for why we remain poor, rather than look at poor governance and mediocre leadership.More and more Nepalis now live in comfortable homes, drive fancy cars, send their children to the best schools. And yet we complain. Human progress is about not being content and wanting things to improve. There is so much to do as we move ahead whether you see the glass half empty, or half full. It is time to take the lead and move ahead.Anil Chitrakar is President of Siddharthinc. This is his last written column, he will now be hosting a fortnightly Anil’s Walkabout video program on the Nepali Times YouTube channel.

Anil Chitrakar

Stop complaining, start contributing

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221129151140/638619f69c7e80680e0cccd2jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="844"/><figcaption>Photo: MARTY LOGAN</figcaption></figure>It should not be surprising that <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/the-story-of-nepals-first-covid-19-fatality/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nepal’s first COVID-19 death was a new mother</a>. What was surprising was to hear Prime Minister K P Oli admitting in Parliament on Tuesday that Nepal’s coronavirus deaths represented a failure of his government.<a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/3rd-month-of-lockdown/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Three Nepalis have died with coronavirus</a> since the pandemic hit Nepal. But that is the number of mothers who died every day across Nepal at childbirth. Despite dramatic strides in reducing the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/who-will-save-nepals-poor-new-mothers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">maternal mortality</a> rate, 1,200 mothers still die while giving birth every year.Government statistics show that this number has risen dramatically in March and April, as women avoid hospitals because of the COVID-19 scare, as well as because of the lack of transport during the lockdown.The 29-year-old woman from Sindhupalchok, whose name has not been released, died on 16 May of post-partum sepsis and a <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/bhaktapurs-covid-19-heroes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">coronavirus infection</a> 10 days after safely delivering her baby at Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu, then returning home. There were delays in taking her to hospital after complications because the family could not find an ambulance.Even before the COVID-19 crisis, one of the reasons far too many Nepali women still give birth unsafely at home was the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/Comment/mothers-in-Nepal-still-dying-at-childbirth,1007" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/Comment/mothers-in-Nepal-still-dying-at-childbirth,1007&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1590230096851000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHGPAy4FgQc1EbtnlKIZJMxrFl6XA">high cost of ambulance</a> to take them to health facilities.Nepal has made <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/people-politics-placentas-child-delivery-complications,3922" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">progress in reducing maternal mortality</a> and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/born-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">newborn deaths</a> thanks to the Safe Motherhood program, for which it received global recognition. But that improvement was nowhere enough to conclude that the job was done and the country could rest on its laurels.Figures show that in 1990, 901 women died per 100,000 births. That number was slashed to 239 per 100,000 live births in 2015. Yet the target for 2030 under the global Sustainable Development Goals is less than 70.If the health of pregnant women is still a government priority it has not been obvious during the lockdown. Pregnant women have been too fearful to visit clinics for crucial antenatal checkups, but by now arrangements should have been made for them to do so safely — or alternatives put in place — and those plans communicated to women.Of course, post-partum mothers are not the only Nepalis dying because of the broken health system. <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/kidney-patients-dying-due-to-covid-19-lockdown/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Non-communicable diseases </a> NCDs) are now the cause of most deaths in the country, led by heart disease, lung disease and stroke, but an NCD Multisectoral Action Plan spanning 2014-20 has yielded no visible results.The main causes of maternal mortality include post-partum bleeding, unsafe abortions, high blood pressure and post-delivery infection. Abortions aside — because there is still stigma attached to having one and a lack of knowledge about their legality — the other causes are treatable.Some initiatives have been taken. The President’s Women Uplift Program has used helicopters to rescue dozens of pregnant or post-partum mothers in emergency situations and many local governments have started programs to cajole or coerce women to give birth in facilities andto properly care for themselves and their newborns in the crucial days following delivery. But too many health facilities that should be providing services to pregnant women remain <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/who-will-save-nepals-poor-new-mothers/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/who-will-save-nepals-poor-new-mothers/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1590230096851000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEb9E7sQYw1XzmTTnMfGji3UmNybQ">under-staffed, ill-equipped and short of medicines</a>, and there is no visible national action plan, certainly no sense of urgency.Contrast media coverage of deaths of new mothers with those of women and girls practising chhaupadi in far western Nepal. Temporarily exiled from their homes during menstruation or after giving birth, they are at risk of snakebite, asphyxiation in tiny, windowless huts, and rape and physical assault. While outlawed, the practice continues.In recent years chhaupadi has been reported widely in Nepal and garnered numerous headlines in major global media. Yet, while roughly 15 women have died in <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/tipping-point-on-menstrual-banishment-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">chhaupadi</a> in Nepal since 2010, there have been 15,000 women who died in that time from causes associated with giving birth. For much of the media, death during pregnancy has become too routine to deserve coverage.The prime minister was right to admit failure over the COVID-19 deaths to date: his government <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/has-nepals-lockdown-just-postponed-covid-19/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">has had ample time to craft a much more effective response, and has not</a>  The deficits in the health system overall have been evident, and discussed, throughout the decades that the prime minister and his colleagues in all parties have been in power. That deserves an admission of failure, followed by corrective action.

3 Nepali mothers still die daily at childbirth

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101152/636b79289c7e80680e0646e7jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="960" height="640"/><figcaption>A quarantine zone at Nepal Army's headquarters in Tundikhel. Photo: BIKRAM RAI</figcaption></figure>By now the novel coronavirus pandemic has affected every corner of the globe. If it has not brought disease, it has at least brought the <a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.15px;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/fear-goes-viral/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fear of infection</a>. Cities, and indeed entire countries, are in lockdown. Fortress Europe has raised its walls higher. Airlines are grounded. Nepal has banned trunk international routes from Friday night. Even countries with excellent public health facilities and emergency preparedness plans are overwhelmed.Nepal is now <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/global-thinking-and-local-action-on-coronavirus/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">so closely intertwined with globalisation</a> through migration, tourism and trade that its <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepals-economy-already-weak-takes-direct-hit/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">already-fragile economy has been badly hit</a> even before a full-blown health emergency hits. Ironically, less-developed countries seem to have a built-in resilience that comes from being crisis-prone -- since they are lower down in the economic ladder, they have a shorter distance to fall.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/poor-health-makes-nepalis-poorer/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Poor health makes Nepalis poorer</a>, EditorialDespite Nepal’s surprisingly <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/born-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dramatic improvements in mother-child survival </a>over the past two decades, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/poor-health/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the public health system here is in crisis</a>. State-of-the-art modern hospitals in the city, while reducing the need for Nepalis to go abroad for treatment, are out of reach of a majority of the population. Government health facilities are more affordable, but for the most part medical care there is not up to mark.Nepalis are still afflicted by easily preventable water-borne diseases like <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=16988#.XnMUhagzbSF" target="_blank" rel="noopener">typhoid and diarrhoea</a>, vector-borne infections like malaria, encephalitis or dengue, and illnesses like <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-tb-cases-grossly-underestimated/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tuberculosis </a>and acute respiratory infections that spread through breathing. Great inroads have been made in reducing the impact of communicable diseases in the past decades through awareness programs, vaccinations and safer drinking water, but children in <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/this-is-how-to-upgrade-nepals-rural-health/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">remoter parts of Nepal</a> are still dying of simple infections.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/a-shot-in-the-arm-for-vaccines-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A shot in the arm for vaccines in Nepal</a>, Sonia AwaleOn top of this, urbanising Nepal now also has the added burden of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/poor-health/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">non-communicable afflictions</a> like diabetes, cardio-vascular ailments and renal disease. As families move from the districts to the cities, changes in diet and more sedentary habits have given rise to an epidemic of lifestyle-related diseases. This is compounded by genetic susceptibility among South Asians for diabetes and heart disease.For example, a study by the BPKIHS in Dharan showed that while the national average for <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/diabetes-in-south-asia,3018" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Type 2 diabetes </a>prevalence is 8.1% of the population, the incidence in Dharan was 14%, while it was only 1% in Taplejung. The prime minister’s own second kidney transplant this month showed that <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/editorial/health-tip-editorial,4032" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ignoring risk factors and not diagnosing non-communicable diseases</a> can lead to a huge health burden for families and the state. A small percentage of Nepalis have health insurance, so many middle income families fall below the poverty line due to medical expenses. Many Nepali migrant workers have been forced to seek jobs abroad to pay back debts incurred during hospitalisation of family members.Last summer’s explosion of dengue in Kathmandu Valley was <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/mosquitoes-move-up-mountains-as-the-earth-warms/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">blamed on climate change</a>. But it was actually a perfect storm of crowded and squalid living conditions, poor drainage, greater mobility of people, and a particularly wet monsoon. None of these factors have been addressed, so we are staring at a recurrence of dengue this year even while we cope with <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/why-nepal-must-watch-about-coronavirus-but-not-panic/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a possible COVID-19 outbreak</a>.Public health has not been a national priority for successive governments in Nepal. Even if it has, it is only in paper and has not really been translated into <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/is-free-health-care-possible-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">accessible and affordable healthcare</a> for the general public. Governance failure has contributed to this state of affairs, but there is also the virus of corruption that has afflicted the entire government healthcare system. A politico-business nexus has also infected <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=19560" target="_blank" rel="noopener">medical education</a>, putting it out of reach of deserving poorer students.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/when-panic-goes-viral/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">When panic goes viral</a>, EditorialInto this mix, we now have the coronavirus scare. Officially, Nepal has just one case in which the patient recovered and has been discharged. The government has tested about 500 people, and all have been negative. Experts have confirmed that the tests are credible, and proper protocols are in place. But not enough tests have been done to determine if there are more people out there with the virus.At $75 per test, the kits are expensive. This is where international help would be needed, and if the case rate rises the country will also need help with containment and mitigation. Nepal has been lucky so far that there is no indication of community transmission yet. But our luck could turn any day.

This is a test

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141124/636a58c19c7e80680e054852jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="933"/><figcaption>WELCOME TO THE WORLD: A child sleeps in a hammock while its parents work in a workshop making idols for the Dasain festival in Kupondol. Photo: GOPEN RAI</figcaption></figure>Giving birth is a life or death issue in Nepal. Even though the maternal mortality rate dropped from 1,000 per 100,000 live births 40 years ago to 239 today, inadequate birthing facilities is still a problem. But attention is now also shifting to preventing pregnancies.There is a big <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/implant-service-providers-take-contraception-to-nepals-poor/">unmet need for contraceptives</a>: nearly a quarter of women surveyed nationwide in 2016 said they were not using birth control, even if they need it. Social stigma, patriarchy, ignorance and lack of access were reasons.Nepal’s contraceptive prevalence rate is 52%, but in remote Bajura it is only 34%. Although progress is being made, we are still a long way from the government’s target of raising the rate to 75% by 2030.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=33714&amp;preview_nonce=033aa12640&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nepal far from hitting contraceptive target,</a> Sewa BhattaraiAs our reports in this edition from Bajura and Chitwan show, there are cultural hurdles. With <a style="background-color: #ffffff; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/migrating-males-and-population-decline/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">husbands away working for long periods</a>, their wives are reluctant to use contraceptives because of what others will say. The result: women suffer unwanted pregnancies, <a style="background-color: #ffffff; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/globe-rallies-to-aid-nepals-women,3841" target="_blank" rel="noopener">unsafe abortions</a> and ultimately struggle to take care of large families.Almost every woman who visited a hospital in Bajura on a busy day last month had the same story: their husbands were away and they did not use birth control. Some were suffering from botched abortions.More than 800 abortion cases were registered in Bajura last year. Just one hospital in Achham terminated more than 600 pregnancies in one year. Meanwhile, Nepal’s total fertility rate has dropped from 6 in 1960 to near-replacement level at 2.05 today, and the country’s population growth rate is also down from 2.5% in 1990 to 1.1% today. Surveys in Province 2 and Far-western Province have shown a clear correlation between unwanted pregnancies, child marriage and fertility in regions with entrenched patriarchy.Among Nepalis, 21% use injectable contraceptives, 10% are on pills, 10% use condoms, 8% have IUDs and only 3% have implants. Depo-Provera was among the most used injectables, but it was difficult to administer and painful. Now, the government, with donor support, is field-testing in Nawalpur and Sindhuli a lower-dose injectable called Sayana Press, which could make contraceptives more accessible to women.Interventions like these, the government hopes, will reduce unwanted pregnancies, thus preventing unsafe abortions and reducing the number of women who have to take care of larger families.<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/Comment/mothers-in-Nepal-still-dying-at-childbirth,1007" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Complications during pregnancy or at childbirth</a> are the leading causes of death among girls aged 15-19 in low-income countries like Nepal. Unwanted pregnancies also hamper women’s education and economic independence, and impact their family life, fuelling an intergenerational cycle of poverty and poor health.Read also: <a style="background-color: #ffffff; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/implant-service-providers-take-contraception-to-nepals-poor/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Implant service providers take contraception to Nepal's poor</a>, Rojita Adhikari

Born in Nepal

The newly-formed Himalayan Art Council is set to launch Nepal’s National Art Protection Platform that seeks to preserve <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/the-history-of-heritage">Nepal’s unique cultural heritage </a>using<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/artificial-censorship"> AI-powered tools</a>. The Council seeks to safeguard <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/nepali-art-going-places">Nepali art works</a> from neglect, theft and counterfeiting as well as preserve existing artwork and celebrate living masters by giving them a cultural space to continue the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/sacred-survival">sacred art traditions</a>. "We are introducing a new digital platform designed to preserve, verify and elevate <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-new-generation-of-alternative-artists">Nepal’s art for generations to come,</a>” says a statement from the Council, adding that the digital platform will use AI told for authentication and blockchain to keep track of works of art. Artists can now be protected by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/ayo-ai?fbclid=IwAR1uwmTVq4gUB70ljfRezjzukD9ArWXPuMnUikopeQ8PoiZMjicToPSwhKE&amp;=1">AI tools</a> that detect forgeries, identify their work even when unsigned, and ensure they receive proper recognition and credit. The archives will be searchable with translated inscription and interactive guides. Says curator Meena Lama: “AI and blockchains are tools that give us the power to detect fakes and identify unsigned paintings and track every piece. With these tools we can restore trust, secure authorship and give artists the dignity they deserve.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250514170544_2ab58f6313c0458f75114a692b0016bd9efb3b59d5f8f07f0da72e1e37b82f53.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20250514170544_2ab58f6313c0458f75114a692b0016bd9efb3b59d5f8f07f0da72e1e37b82f53" data-rendition-name="original" width="1300" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Artwork at the Traditional Art Exhibition at Patan Museum."> <figcaption>Artwork at the Traditional Art Exhibition at Patan Museum.</figcaption> </figure>  The Council is also holding an exhibition of Nepali cultural masterpieces with 50 historical <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/Buzz-the-art,671">thangka and paubha </a>by past masters and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/between-the-sacred-and-everyday">contemporary works by current artists</a>. This curated collection is a living tribute to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/when-yaks-go-so-does-culture">Himalayan culture</a> with economic depictions of deities, mandala and sacred narratives. The exhibition at <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/a-portal-into-patan-s-past-and-present">Patan Museum</a> also provides an opportunity to meet painters and custodians of art and culture. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/golden-deities">Golden deities</a>, Sewa Bhattarai ‘The exhibition is only the first step in a long journey to ensure that Nepali art is no just seen but fully understood, <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Narratives-of-Faith-and-Memory-Remembering-the-Lost-Sculptures-of-Kathmandu-exhibition,987">protected and remembered</a>,’ the Council says. Artist Kailash K Shrestha of Artudio has spent decades promoting thankha and paubha traditions because of their beauty and devotional meaning. But he also says artists are underpaid, exploited and ignored. He adds, “AI and blockchain are not just buzzwords, they are powerful tools that can protect Nepal’s artists from fraud, verify authenticity and build a permanent record of provenance.” Traditional Art Exhibition Till 17 May Patan Museum

Digital protection for Nepal’s art

India and Pakistan are twins separated at birth. Tensions between them have been at a hair trigger ever since independence and has erupted into full scale conflict at least four times in the past 80 years.
The 22 April terrorist attack in Kashmir that killed 25 Indian tourists and a Nepali citizen, threatens to escalate tension between the two nuclear-armed nations. India has squarely blamed Pakistan for the attacks, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given his military “operational freedom” to respond. Pakistan has said it has credible intelligence of an Indian military strike and its officials have promised a “full spectrum” response — a code for a <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/thinking-the-thinkable">nuclear retaliation</a>.
For Nepal, the killing of its national in the Pahalgam attack comes as another stark reminder that in conflicts from Afghanistan to Iraq, from <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/how-to-agree-an-armistice-in-ukraine">Ukraine</a> to Israel, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/10-nepalis-from-one-town-fighting-in-ukraine">Nepalis are getting caught in the crossfire</a>. The last time full-scale fighting broke out between <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/peacemongers-at-india-pakistan-border">India and Pakistan</a> on Kargil in 1999, at least 22<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/india-s-trial-by-fire-for-soldiers-from-nepal?%27%5C%22="> Nepalis fighting for the Indian Army</a> were killed in action.
Three of Nepal’s immediate neighbours (China, India, Pakistan) have nuclear weapons, and they do not have good relations. With China supplying weapons, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/war-and-warming">missile technology</a> and other support to Pakistan, this triangular friction could set off a regional conflagration.&nbsp;
<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s43016-022-00573-0" target="_blank">Research at Rutgers University</a> has calculated that even a week-long tactical nuclear exchange between India and Pakistan would throw up so much smoke and debris into the atmosphere that it would block out the sun for years, and lead to a collapse of the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/grow-nourish-sustain-together-world-food-day">global food system</a>. This does not take into account the radioactive fallout that prevailing winds would blow up to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/lives-on-the-line-in-the-himalaya">the Himalaya</a>, contaminating glaciers that are the sources of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/saving-what-is-left-of-himalayan-rivers">Asia’s main rivers</a>.
The impact of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/climate-breakdown-linked-to-thame-flood">climate breakdown </a>on High Asia was already ringing alarm bells about its <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/himalayan-icecap-melting-faster-than-thought">shrinking ice cap</a> reducing the dry season flow of water downstream. Water was going to be the next strategic commodity, geopolitical experts warned, and the next wars in Asia would be over water.
That water war is already happening. India retaliated to the Kashmir attack by suspending the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/24/world/asia/india-pakistan-indus-waters-treaty.html" target="_blank">Indus Waters Treaty</a> of 1960 mediated by the World Bank that has withstood at least three wars between India and Pakistan. The treaty gives India control over the three eastern tributaries of the Indus (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beas_River" target="_blank">Beas</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ravi_River" target="_blank">Ravi</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sutlej" target="_blank">Sutlej</a>), while Pakistan got water from the Indus and two of its western tributaries (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indus_River" target="_blank">Indus</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chenab_River" target="_blank">Chenab</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jhelum_River" target="_blank">Jhelum</a>.
Pakistan was assured of 70% of the annual flow, and India could use a reasonable amount of water for<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=15231"> irrigation and hydropower</a>. &nbsp;Within days of its threat, India stopped water flowing down to Pakistan from the Chenab river and is reportedly preparing to do the same on the Jhelum.
The sabre-rattling has reached a crescendo. Besides threats and counter-threats there are also symbolic drills, with the Indian Air Force practicing landing on an expressway in Uttar Pradesh by its Rafale, Su-30 and Jaguar fighter jets to demonstrate ‘operational readiness’. In response Pakistan test-fired its Abdali ballistic missile that can carry a nuclear warhead and has a range of 450km.&nbsp;
The danger is that with ultra-nationalist rhetoric and the beating the war drums by both sides, India’s government and Pakistan’s military may have to ‘do something’ to appease domestic public opinion. But any tactical strike, an artillery exchange, or territorial incursion could quickly escalate out of control.
Expecting an Indian retaliation for the Pahalgam killings, Pakistan is using<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/interfaith-collaboration-for-nuclear-disarmament"> nuclear deterrence </a>and warning of “catastrophic consequences”. The two neighbours came close to a nuclear exchange in 2019 after an attack on the Indian military in Kashmir, and prompt international intervention led by the United States cooled tensions.&nbsp;
This time, the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/trump-shock-wave-hits-nepal">Trump administration</a> is too distracted and not as engaged. Pakistan has denied it was responsible for the terrorist attack and called on Washington to stop a possible Indian retaliation. India and Pakistan have stopped overflights by each other’s airlines, and some international carriers have even stopped flying over Pakistan fearing an air war.
Washington, Beijing, the UN and the EU have all urged restraint. Iran, which has good relations with both India and Pakistan has sent its foreign minister to urge both countries not to go into a tit-for-tat war. Iran has its own nuclear flashpoint to worry about with tensions in Israel, &nbsp;Yemen and Syria.
India and Pakistan both share similar problems of joblessness, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/why-nepal-s-poverty-rate-is-stuck">poverty </a>and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/climate-change-new-threat-to-nepal-s-rhinos">environmental threats</a>. Neither side needs the threat of a senseless war, and we in the neighbourhood do not need it either.&nbsp;
Kunda Dixit
This Editorial is brought to you by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/" target="_blank">Nepali Times</a>, in collaboration with <a href="https://inpsjapan.com/en/" target="_blank">INPS Japan</a> and <a href="https://sgi-peace.org/" target="_blank">Soka Gakkai International</a>, in consultative status with UN ECOSOC.

Nukes in the neighbourhood

Most Nepalis thought they had seen the last of it after <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/11-56-25-april-2015-wkc9q2an">the 25 April 7.8 magnitude </a>earthquake ten years ago. But the Himalaya had more surprises in store. On 12 May, another 7.3 magnitude tremor that some said was an aftershock, but was strong enough to itself be a major earthquake, struck Dolakha.&nbsp; Not many people had heard of Singati till then — a cluster of houses by the Tama Kosi River along a narrow gorge that is the roadhead to Rolwaling Valley.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250508110520_57b6e316656851f71eca56ca6f98d9bbcc820c1a00d62af3c990725b4361244d.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20250508110520_57b6e316656851f71eca56ca6f98d9bbcc820c1a00d62af3c990725b4361244d" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="1500" loading="lazy" alt="Climate magnifies earthquake risk in Nepal village NT"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250508110520_016534fb2b6a79957402281cda768efb83a146786377e39e11df3e251d37159e.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20250508110520_016534fb2b6a79957402281cda768efb83a146786377e39e11df3e251d37159e" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Climate magnifies earthquake risk in Nepal village NT"> </figure>  It was here that dozens were killed on 25 April in the first earthquake. Hundreds of <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Singati-rising-from-rubble-rebuilding,3703">Singati survivors</a> had lined up for food and relief supplies in the morning of 12 May when the second earthquake triggered a rock slide that buried a nearby camp. At least 50 people were killed. &nbsp; Three hours later, a US Marine Corps UH-1Y Venom helicopter landed in a nearby cornfield to pick up the wounded, and flew off. The aircraft lost contact with air traffic control in Kathmandu and its wreckage was located high on Kalinchok four days later. Six American servicemen, two Nepal Army soldiers, and five wounded civilians from Singati were killed. Today, Singati bears little physical scar of the multiple tragedies that struck the town ten years ago. Most <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/bungamati-builds-back">houses have been rebuilt</a> as urban-style concrete structures, and Singati has become an economic hub on the road leading up to several hydropower plants and a<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/off-the-beaten-trek-in-nepal"> popular trekking destination</a>.&nbsp; The town looks less like a village and more like a suburb of the Dolakha district headquarter of Charikot, 47km away.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250508110520_196f341d1df1403ba133e5dfeb837eec20d7cbcb4c8c56b17cc5598810de5df2.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20250508110520_196f341d1df1403ba133e5dfeb837eec20d7cbcb4c8c56b17cc5598810de5df2" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Climate magnifies earthquake risk in Nepal village NT"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250508110524_ae66c4a92430f67db51b5e11e017059eedfbac4cb18c8e073f2a50cca1fe904e.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20250508110524_ae66c4a92430f67db51b5e11e017059eedfbac4cb18c8e073f2a50cca1fe904e" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Climate magnifies earthquake risk in Nepal village NT"> </figure>  “The demand for construction material, cement, iron rods and bricks peaked after the earthquakes,” says Suresh Khadka, who owns a hardware business here and now supplies material to the 456MW Upper Tama Kosi hydropower project that is undergoing repairs after it was damaged by a landslide last year. The demand for cement boomed since most residents believe, not necessarily correctly, that <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/in-a-disastrous-state">cement houses are safer</a>. Although Khadka did well selling construction material after the earthquake, he worries that most new structures do not follow seismic-resistant building codes.&nbsp; The construction boom financed by bank loans has in turn forced many from Singati to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/making-overseas-migration-better">migrate overseas for work</a> so they can service their debt.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250508110524_50caa4530bd5ff9120cf7ab70a62173846d337ef448ff8bac339f3faa375a9e2.jpg" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="20250508110524_50caa4530bd5ff9120cf7ab70a62173846d337ef448ff8bac339f3faa375a9e2" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Climate magnifies earthquake risk in Nepal village NT"> <figcaption>Suresh Khadka</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250508110520_ef8b7d3993fc3b5df852bbf952feb3fbabc96d6883b0d5eb74ee5c60f4123b83.jpg" data-media-id="editor_11" data-image-id="20250508110520_ef8b7d3993fc3b5df852bbf952feb3fbabc96d6883b0d5eb74ee5c60f4123b83" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Climate magnifies earthquake risk in Nepal village NT"> <figcaption>Phu Doma Sherpa (right)</figcaption> </figure>  “My family had no choice but to borrow money to rebuild our home since the government compensation was not enough, and ten years later we are still paying off the loan,” says Phu Doma Sherpa, 60. Because of the shortage of qualified masons and proper seismic engineering, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/structural-problems">many of the buildings are of questionable building standards </a>and the traditional architecture has been abandoned, admits Kul Bahadur Budathoki, deputy chair of the municipality. “But these buildings were more expensive than what the government grants could cover, many people here are heavily in debt and the men have <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/every-day-is-closer-to-pay-day">migrated to the Gulf to pay their loans</a>,” Budathoki says.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250508110520_32f89e97b7e757fc9286c0bbb671f48ea8d4468e9634fa646d7247c650ad8480.jpg" data-media-id="editor_14" data-image-id="20250508110520_32f89e97b7e757fc9286c0bbb671f48ea8d4468e9634fa646d7247c650ad8480" data-rendition-name="original" width="1501" height="1079" loading="lazy" alt="Climate magnifies earthquake risk in Nepal village NT"> <figcaption>Kul Bahadur Budathoki</figcaption> </figure>  Singati is in a multi-hazard zone. The <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Singati,3091">12 May 2015 earthquake </a>could have led to the collapse of Nepal’s largest glacial lake, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/stairway-to-heaven">Tso Rolpa</a>, upstream. Due to global warming, the glacier has turned into an expanding lake 3.5km long, and its collapse would have unleashed a catastrophic Himalayan tsunami down the Tama Kosi Valley, with Singati directly in its path. Singati has literally risen from the ashes of 2015, with its residents beginning to recover from the trauma and financial toll. But it is not out of danger as <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/climate-breakdown-linked-to-thame-flood">climate breakdown </a>magnifies the risk from future earthquakes.

Climate magnifies earthquake risk in Nepal village

<a href="https://www.instagram.com/prabalgurung/" target="_blank">Prabal Gurung</a> left Nepal for New York in 1999 to escape years of bullying, sexism and homophobia, and to pursue his dream of becoming a fashion designer. He <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqN0VaoAI5w" target="_blank">realised his dream</a>, but did not escape discrimination and racism in the new world. Propelled by passion for fashion, Gurung overcame everything America threw at him. He has attained <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/style/story/prabal-gurung-recalls-his-first-met-gala-when-zoe-saldana-was-at-his-side?srsltid=AfmBOooy-H0oGgxMit864FnW_Pmw8mUnV8rYrh-co-f6OyYK6m2ip5hP" target="_blank">fame and recognition</a> for his haute couture dress designs while remaining true to his Nepali roots, and is even more resolute in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSmNauyzACk" target="_blank">fighting prejudice</a> in all its forms. Prabal Gurung’s newly-released memoir <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Audible-Walk-Like-Girl-Memoir/dp/B0DG11HCDQ?fbclid=IwY2xjawKZfpxleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHuZcIJO2OXyXcRm1oq1iG6wzeoF7VJFrQ7GXOFI0YxuZZ4id_CNvSZSZZIna_aem_pG_mOKG73RTnYvN8JaC4fA">Walk Like a Girl</a> is a saga of harrowing abuse in boarding schools in Nepal and India, only finding himself facing a different kind of bullying in the US. He prevails over it all to be where he is today: an award-winning American fashion designer with his own label. Walk Like a Girl was launched last week in New York at a time when everything Gurung fought for — tolerance, inclusion and diversity — are in retreat in his adopted country because of a president who has espoused a culture of bullying. The book is a searing, raw exposé of how cruel and abusive people can be even at a young age in school. On the other hand, it also shows that there are generous, compassionate and open-minded souls out there. In his book, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4le_uWX7YE">Prabal Gurung</a> calls out those who tormented and tried to hold him back (some of their names have been altered). The moral of his story is: resist, never stop believing in yourself, do not let others define you, never lose sight of your dream, and help those who have been kept out. “Walk like a girl” was a slur used by bullies back in school in Nepal and India for Gurung’s effeminate ways. He fought back then, and he is still resisting by turning those words into something to be proud of.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250519170544_4ffc9c3f565dd2cfa754d10b224816897b82bb31ebaee91b6d79d469fc96f14e.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20250519170544_4ffc9c3f565dd2cfa754d10b224816897b82bb31ebaee91b6d79d469fc96f14e" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="1253" loading="lazy" alt="Prabal Gurung NT"> <figcaption>Prabal Gurung at home in Kathmandu in the 1990s.</figcaption> </figure>  “Living through it all was one thing, but writing about it is one of the hardest things I have done in my life,” admitted Gurung during the launch. “I broke down constantly during the six-year writing process.” He continues: “I did not want this to be a victim’s book. I did not want to burden my readers with my emotions. I wanted my struggle to be an inspiration for others facing what I faced. I am grateful to those who bullied me in school, they made me a stronger person ready to face the world.” Indeed, this book is a departure from his earlier one titled simply, Prabal Gurung (Abrams, 2019), which was a lush pictorial autobiography of his career in fashion. Walk Like a Girl is not a typical fashion book, it is an intimate tale of <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=16997">Gurung’s travails and triumphs</a>, and how he willed himself to succeed. Prabal pays a lavish tribute to his mother Durga Rana. We find out she is a descendant of the first wife of the eldest son of Jang Bahadur Rana who was banished to Palpa in the late 19th century. Prabal’s father served in the Singapore Police and that is where he was born before the family returned to Nepal when he was four. Gurung relates with brutal honesty about the violence his mother endured from his father. Durga raises three children as a single mother in Nepal, and Prabal credits her for his fierce determination to resist patriarchy and injustice, which in time manifests itself in his hyper-feminine and subversive dress designs. Writing the book has been a cathartic experience for Gurung, who says he is now relieved of the burdens of his past. It no longer haunts him, and he does not have to prove anything to anyone anymore. Walk Like a Girl has life lessons not just for the <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DJmOcSgxdWz/" target="_blank">fashion industry</a>, but for every other profession. How can my job serve a greater cause? Gurung tells us his work is <a href="https://asiasociety.org/blog/asia/why-designer-prabal-gurung-doesnt-want-just-stick-fashion" target="_blank">bigger than just making clothes</a>, it is about making the world a better place because it could do with a lot of improvement.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250519170544_d75296ad8bfdc00d88935f40d23543c6fea3d4d6a10e61a99d6cfc6127f2ee5b.png" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="20250519170544_d75296ad8bfdc00d88935f40d23543c6fea3d4d6a10e61a99d6cfc6127f2ee5b" data-rendition-name="original" width="1516" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Prabal Gurung"> </figure>  This story of chasing the American dream may sound familiar to many immigrants: knocking on doors for jobs, rejections, trying to survive from day to day on expensive rent, and dealing with subtle racism in white America. Gurung finds racism is rife, and he is often mockingly called ‘gaysian’. He writes: ‘There was a strong hypocrisy — this idea of independence felt like a marketting ruse … and for all the talk of feminism in America, these high society women were trapped by the patriarchy just like in Nepal and India.’ After a trek to the Khumbu region in 2013, Gurung is inspired to use the colours, palette and textures of Nepal for his collection exhibited on Manhattan’s 8th Avenue. A major buyer tells him bluntly: “Stick to making pretty dresses … if I need to see a collection like this, I could buy a copy of National Geographic.” The New York Times was equally dismissive: ‘The designer tries to draw connections between blistered techo-fabric used to construct it and the topography of his homeland, Nepal. But, at the moment, he has lost his map.’ One potential investor tells Gurung he cannot design for Americana because “you do not look American”. Gurung wants to use expletives, but restrains himself. After a fundraiser in New York for the Nepal earthquake in 2015, some belittled his effort, saying: “Here comes the saviour."&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/prabal-gurung-by-prabal-gurung">Prabal Gurung by Prabal Gurung</a>, Kunda Dixit The Gurkha DNA must be dominant in Prabal Gurung’s genes because he does not take such mistreatment lying down. When asked by a fashion publicist why he was designing clothes for fat people, he snaps back: “Because of people like you.” He joins the Black Lives Matter and #MeToo movements, launches the Shikshya Foundation charity in Nepal, and has powerful allies among celebrities who wear clothes he designed: Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Sara Jessica Parker, Kamala Harris, Deepika Padukone … it is a long list.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250519150556_48a5f4211991a23fa85b64bbd5377575ca7081d97309d7542035591dda5180fe.png" data-media-id="editor_12" data-image-id="20250519150556_48a5f4211991a23fa85b64bbd5377575ca7081d97309d7542035591dda5180fe" data-rendition-name="original" width="1114" height="1534" loading="lazy" alt="Being Prabal Gurung by design"> <figcaption>Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie wearing Atelier Prabal Gurung’s design for Met Gala 2025 in which the theme was ‘Superfine: Tailoring Black Style’. </figcaption> </figure>  “I don’t dress women to look beautiful, they already are,” Gurung says. “I try to bring out their innate strength and grace.” <a href="https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17908766880140171/" target="_blank">Admirers</a> tell Gurung he makes it all look so easy, but he used to put up a strong facade to not show his own vulnerabilities in public. “I was closed because of my childhood experiences,” he says. “I was always on guard to defend myself because I never knew where the next punch would come from.” But in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPVepzPA210" target="_blank">Walk Like a Girl,</a> Gurung comes to terms with his vulnerability, and bares his soul. It has not been easy, it took sustained will power and support from his mother, sister Kumudini and a circle of close friends. “I made unbelonging my power,” he says. “Nepal is where I still have my heart and soul. Nepal grounds you. It is where people go to find themselves. But I escaped.” Recently appointed vice-chair of the <a href="https://cfda.com/about-cfda" target="_blank">Council of American Fashion Designers</a>, Gurung says: “I can’t believe I am here, it feels like it is happening to someone else. Writing this book, the healing has finally begun.” <h2>‘Everything is better in color’</h2> The Met Gala was two weeks later, and my table was an example of everything I’d been fighting for all these years as my guests represented everything I believed in: dynamic, powerful, influential women who were unapologetically original and unabashedly graceful. I was grateful to Anna for inviting me to host and dress a table that reflected my ethos—and for her guidance in doing so. I was also aware of the privilege as one of the first-­ever Asian fashion designers—not just from Nepal, but from the entire continent— to get the opportunity to do so. That fact was not lost on me. I reached out beyond the expected Hollywood celebrities and well-­known socialites to curate a table of exceptional women who inspired me. I invited Deepika Padukone and Alia Bhatt for their first-­ever Met Galas, as well as Michelle Yeoh, Mindy Kaling, Camila Cabello, Ashley Park, Denée Benton, KiKi Layne, Quannah Chasinghorse, and Grace Elizabeth. Together we checked many boxes: Asian, Black, Latinx, and Indigenous, each woman undeniably chic and powerful, a dazzling array of skin tones and experiences that proved my decades‑in‑the-­making hypothesis: everything is better in color. Excerpt from Walk Like a Girl Viking © 2025 by Prabal Gurung  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250519170520_6b91d560e9f072c37d16876901058c073a51ffa05e7ad1b9461d19e1c9c28215.jpg" data-media-id="editor_16" data-image-id="20250519170520_6b91d560e9f072c37d16876901058c073a51ffa05e7ad1b9461d19e1c9c28215" data-rendition-name="original" width="1136" height="702" loading="lazy" alt="Prabal Gurung book details NT"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250519170520_345240c21be400e2ce2ec629b52bd82bb53890e5bd86fe95b48340d84b5f1748.jpg" data-media-id="editor_17" data-image-id="20250519170520_345240c21be400e2ce2ec629b52bd82bb53890e5bd86fe95b48340d84b5f1748" data-rendition-name="original" width="1136" height="702" loading="lazy" alt="Prabal Gurung book details NT"> </figure>  &nbsp;

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