The U.S. government’s priorities in Nepal focus on encouraging democracy, enhancing economic prosperity and improving stability and disaster resilience. The embassy and the U.S. Agency for International Development mission are working to help the country recover from a pair of earthquakes that hit the country last year as it works to implement a newly adopted constitution.
The fledgling democracy faces a number of key challenges, including having 25 percent of its 29 million people living under the poverty line as of 2010, the most recent World Bank data. Half of the population is under the age of 25.
With relatively slow economic growth and few job opportunities outside of agriculture — only about 17 percent of Nepal’s population has paid work — young people, especially men, are increasingly looking outside the country. The country sees some half a million of its citizens leave each year to work overseas.
About the author
Adva Saldinger@AdvaSal
Adva Saldinger is a Senior Reporter at Devex where she covers development finance, as well as U.S. foreign aid policy. Adva explores the role the private sector and private capital play in development and authors the weekly Devex Invested newsletter bringing the latest news on the role of business and finance in addressing global challenges. A journalist with more than 10 years of experience, she has worked at several newspapers in the U.S. and lived in both Ghana and South Africa.
