KIKUTA Yutaka, Ambassador of Japan to Nepal, attended the hostel handling ceremony. The handover ceremony of the girls' hostel, supported by the Government of Japan to Shree Kali Devi Secondary School (SKDSS) in Bagmati Rural Municipality, Lalitpur District, was held.

Under the Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects (GGP) of the Government of Japan, the project to construct a furnished girls’ hostel at SKDSS was supported with USD 156,881 (approximately NPR 20.5 million).

Addressing the program, ambassador Kikuta congratulated and expressed his appreciation for the efforts of all those involved in the project. Previously, students, especially female students, who lived far from the school were forced to walk long distances and hours to get to school or rent rooms in the communities near the school.

This situation made it difficult for them to concentrate on their school life. However, the newly constructed girls' hostel provides more suitable and secure environment for them.

Ambassador mentioned that the school’s classroom buildings were rebuilt with the support of Japan under the Emergency School Reconstruction Project after the 2015 earthquake, and that the learning and living environment for students will be further enhanced with the establishment of the hostel. He also expressed his hope that everyone involved - the local community, the school, and the families - will be committed to continuing the good maintenance of the hostel, and that the project will be an opportunity for a better future for the children and for the further development of the community.

He also encouraged the students to grow up as people who can work for the development of the society in Nepal and to play an active role as a bridge between Japan and Nepal in the future. SKDSS was established in 1962 and is the core educational institution for around 350 students in the southwestern part of Lalitpur and nearby Makwanpur district.

This project was implemented by Love Green Nepal, a non-governmental organization which has been working in the fields of education, environment, agriculture, women’s empowerment, community development, and more since 1991. The Embassy believes that this project will contribute to the improvement of the educational environment in Nepal and further strengthen the friendship between the people of Japan and Nepal.

GGP was established to implement projects that directly benefit people at the grassroots level for the socio-economic development of communities. Since 1991, over 200 GGP projects have been implemented in Nepal.