President and Chief Executive Officer of the World Vision International Kevin Jenkins was on a three-day visit to Nepal between20 and 22 March.


During his visit, he observed World Vision supported projects in Bhaktapur district. World Vision has been working in Livelihood, Education, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, Early Childhood Care and Development and Education sectors in five Village Development Committees of Bhaktapur, namely, Changunarayan, Katunje, Nangkhel, ipadole and Sudal, including Madhyapur Thimi Municipality since 2001.


In Sudal VDC, the President met women farmers from Farmers’ Field School. They shared their learnings in improved agricultural farming practices. He also viewed practical implementation of the integrated
crop management process in the field. This was followed by a visit to the Jeetpur Drinking Water Supply System which was constructed with the involvement of the community people in partnership with a local
NGO, ARSOW Nepal in 2008-2009. The drinking water supply system has provided 532 households with drinking water tapped through four spring water sources from the surrounding area and distributed via household taps.


Interacting with children from two child clubs, Sunaulo Bal Club and Saraswati Bal Club, Jenkins stressed on the need for children to display servant leadership in communities. He ended his field visit interacting with young children and their mothers in Kopila Bal Bikas Kendra, an Early Childhood Development (ECD) centre in Balkumari, Madhapur Thimi Municipality, supported by World Vision. Jenkins also met and interacted with key Constituent Assembly (CA) members, Dharma Shila Chapagain, Aang Dava Sherpa and Chandra Kala Rai to discuss the need to incorporate child rights in the new constitution and highlight the call for a provision to establish a child rights commission or a child rights commissioner within the National Human Rights Commission.

World Vision has been supporting various activities of child rights’ networks like Children as Zones of Peace (CZOP) and Consortium of Organisations Working for Child Participation to ensure child rights
in the new constitution of Nepal. One of the key activities has been working in collaboration with CA members to incorporate children rights in the new constitution that is being drafted. It is quite encouraging that some of the recommendations provided as experts’ submission to the CA have already been incorporated. Almost 85 percent of the recommendations made to protect children’s rights have been included in the draft of different thematic committees of the Constituent Assembly.


World Vision first started its development initiatives in Nepal in 1982 by donating funds to local groups for building hospitals and providing health care. In response to the 1988 earthquake, World Vision supported local non-governmental organisations in providing assistance to the quake affected people. Likewise, in 1993, World  Vision helped flood victims through local partners. World Vision formally started its long-term development work in Nepal after signing both general and project agreement with the Social Welfare Council in 2001.


Over the past nine years, World Vision International Nepal has funded community development in all regions of Nepal and is currently operational in twelve districts of Nepal, namely Bhaktapur, Doti,
Jumla, Kathmandu, Kaski, Kailali, Lamjung, Lalitpur, Morang,Rupandehi, Sunsari and Udayapur. In 2010, WVIN served around 239,782 people in Nepal through its community development, relief and advocacy programmes.