Vice-chair of National Planning Commission and chair of Government Facility Board Professor Dr.Govind Pokhrel and The ambassador of Denmark and co-chair of Governance Facility Board  Kirsten Geelan jointly launched Governance Facility.

Funded by three donors Denmark, Switzerland and United Kingdom, 40 million US dollar Governance Facility, a multi donor mechanism -includes governance issue like Peace building and democratic government, Access to Justice, Protecting and Promoting Human Rights and supporting voice and accountability.

Addressing the launching program, vice chair of National Planning Commission Dr. Pokhrel said that the Governance Facility is uniquely designed to make that possible because it is steered by representatives of state, civil society organization and donors who take decisions as equals.

“Coordination and national ownership of aid is something we have always discussed at meetings with donors. I am glad that it has become a reality. I am hopeful that this arrangement will be useful in reducing waste and duplication, which is what happens when there are scattered initiatives supported by multiple donors,” said Dr. Pokhrel.

Danish Ambassador to Nepal Geelan said,” with the new Facility we have come together to demonstrate our strong and continuous commitment to democratic governance by pooling our resources in order to make coordinated support available for supporting the process of bringing meaningful and accountable change.”

“We the three donors- Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Denmark-have a history of supporting efforts to enhance governance in Nepal. Many of you have worked as partners in initiatives supported by the Enabling State Program or ESP, the Rights, Democracy and Inclusion Fund for RDIF, the Human Rights and Good Governance Unit or Danida-HUGOU and projects supported by the Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation (SDC),” said Danish Ambassador Geelan.

Addressing the program Nick Dyer, director general, Policy and Global Programs, DFID, London said that Nepal sets a vision for sustainable peace and prosperity through progressive restructuring of the state, and improved delivery of public services through the better governance and stressed that the Governance Facility aims to contribute to achieving this vision.

“The Governance Facility will support efforts of both state and non-state actors and institutions to uphold the rule of law, promote respect for human rights and democratic norms, create equal access to justice and security for all,” said Dyer.