The Ambassador of Japan to Nepal, Masashi Ogawa laid the cornerstone of a training center for women’s cooperatives in Belaka Municipality (Former Thoksila and Rampur VDCs), Udayapur District. Along with Ambassador Ogawa, the former Minister of Urban Development, Dr. Narayan Khadka, attended the ceremony.

According to a press release issued by Japanese Embassy, the Project for the Construction of a Training Center for Women’s Cooperatives in Udayapur District is funded under the Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects (GGP) of the Japanese Government. The total grant for the project is USD 80,532 (approximately Rs. 8.6 million).

The training center will not only offer various types of trainings on vegetable farming, animal husbandry, bee keeping, and handicraft making, but will also provide accommodation to trainees coming from remote rural regions.

The project is being implemented by the Nepal Social Development and People Empowerment Centre (NESPEC) that, since 1997, has been working with local women in the district. This training center will be used by 600 members of the Small Farmer Women Agriculture Cooperative Society, one of NESPEC’s partners. The cooperative provides small loans and rents out agricultural tools for use by female farmers.

“The Embassy of Japan hopes that this project will contribute towards enhancing the income generation skills and productivity of women in rural areas. With the success of the project, we also hope to enhance bilateral friendship between Japan and Nepal,” said Press release issued by Embassy of Japan.