Kathmandu – Chairperson of the Parliamentary Education, Health, and Information Technology Committee, Ammar Bahadur Thapa, has stated that a nation can remain healthy only if its citizens are in good health. Speaking at a review program for the Rights-Based Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights and Service Access Strengthening Project in Godawari Municipality, Kailali, Thapa emphasized the need to end the tendency of hiding diseases, enhance reproductive health awareness at the local level, and refrain from politicizing education, health, and development.

The project, implemented as a pilot initiative in Godawari Municipality, was conducted by the Center for Reproductive Rights, CARE, the Forum for Women, Law, and Development (FWLD), NIDS Nepal, and the Humanitarian Partnership Platform. Technical Coordinator of the consortium project, Shankar Dhami, stated that the project was launched to integrate sexual and reproductive health rights into disaster management policies and plans, ensuring safe, quality, and continuous health services even in emergencies.

Dhami further explained that the project’s primary objective was to advocate for evidence-based policymaking, establish and implement community accountability mechanisms, develop the capacity of healthcare workers and humanitarian aid providers, and incorporate reproductive health indicators into disaster monitoring systems while collaborating with human rights organizations.

Deputy Mayor of Godawari Municipality, Sharada Devi Rokaya, highlighted that the project was executed in coordination with the municipality. She emphasized its success and urged for the continuation of such initiatives in the municipality. According to Rokaya, following the project’s implementation, a new municipal law was enacted, and significant improvements in health awareness were observed.

She further elaborated on key achievements, including the allocation of NPR 10 million for implementing the newly established law, NPR 1.5 million for healthcare services, and the provision of home-based healthcare services for senior citizens by the municipality.

Health Section Chief Navaraj Awasthi stated that the project had contributed significantly to safe motherhood initiatives in the municipality. Despite having 18 health institutions, he noted that many residents were unaware of the services available. He also pointed out challenges such as the inability to fully engage all 107 healthcare workers in the municipality, the non-payment of health volunteers’ salaries for six months, and the delay in the supply of free medicines provided by the provincial and central governments.

Dipesh Shrestha, an advocate from FWLD, noted that Godawari Municipality had made significant progress compared to other municipalities by implementing progressive local laws. Kalidas Joshi from CARE Nepal shared that 21 community groups were formed across 21 wards, with facilitators assigned to ensure smooth implementation. NIDS Nepal’s Program Officer, Ruchi Rana Magar, elaborated on community-level accountability measures, while Prabhar Shrestha from the Center for Reproductive Rights provided an in-depth overview of the pilot project in Godawari Municipality.

The event also featured audiovisual presentations on the project’s objectives, preparation, and challenges. Praveena Bajracharya from the Center for Reproductive Rights mentioned that the project had to merge two groups to function effectively. She expressed confidence that, upon completion, the municipality had made significant achievements in addressing reproductive health issues amid natural disasters.