The World Bank and the Rural Reconstruction Nepal (RRN) have signed a $4.5 million grant agreement under the Dedicated Grant Mechanism for the Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities in Nepal project.
The agreement was signed between Lada Strelkova, World Bank Operations Manager for Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, and Dr Arjun Karki, the RRN President amid a function today, according to a statement.
The five-year project will help strengthen the capacity of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs) in Nepal’s forest sector to participate in the country’s REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) processes at the local, national, and global levels for the sustainable management of forests.
This will also help create livelihood opportunities, and increase the incomes of the forest-dependent communities in the Madhes and Lumbini Province. RRN is the national executing agency for the project.
“The project supports Nepal’s IPLCs through a dedicated funding mechanism that will promote and protect their customary institutions that are crucial for the sustainable management of natural resources and climate resilience,” said Strelkova on the occasion.
Similarly, Karki said the project provides much needed support to forest-dependent indigenous peoples and local communities of Nepal to enhance their resilience and build livelihoods through small-scale forest and non-forest-based business and employment opportunities.
Source: National News Agency Nepal
