Jorma Suvanto, the Ambassador of Finland to Nepal and Tomoo Hozumi, UNICEF Representative to Nepal sign agreement to co-finance recovery and reconstruction of WASH facilities. Photo: UNICEFWith the aim of assisting the process of reconstructing Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) facilities in earthquake affected schools and communities in Nepal, the government of Finland has agreed to finance UNICEF with 1 million Euros.
“Over the years, Nepal has made significant strides in achieving its water, sanitation and hygiene targets. However, with the devastating earthquake, we along with the Government of Nepal and UNICEF Nepal are working to build back better and achieve not just the universal target of WASH that Nepal has aimed for, but also move towards the Sustainable Development Goal agenda," said Mr. Jorma Suvanto, the Ambassador of Finland to Nepal.
UNICEF Nepal, with the help of this aid, will be involved in the reconstruction of 60 partially damaged water supply schemes and the provision of WASH facilities in 100 schools throughout this year, benefiting an estimated 33,000 people in earthquake affected areas. Additionally, it will also be actively working to build the capacity of national and district level government offices to construct WASH facilities.
"The continuing partnership with the government of Finland, while enabling us to provide “upstream” policy and capacity building support to the Government of Nepal for disaster resilience and system strengthening, will also help us to support “downstream” investment support for recovery and reconstruction of WASH services damaged by earthquake in the four priority districts,” said UNICEF Representative Mr. Tomoo Hozumi.
This contribution is part of the overall commitment the Finnish government made on 25 June 2015 at the International Conference on Nepal's Reconstruction. It also has the option of providing an additional 1 million Euros in 2017.