LWF Nepal and NRNA Join Hands to Support Quake-affected People
Kathmandu, 1 September 2017 – The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Nepal and the Non-Resident Nepali Association (NRNA) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the implementation of Livelihood Intervention in Laprak village of Dharche Rural Municipality in Gorkha district here today.
Dr Prabin Manandhar, Country Director of LWF Nepal, and Mr Shesh Ghale, President of NRNA signed the MoU amid a function at LWF Nepal office.
The MoU has been signed to complement the ongoing reconstruction of houses damaged by the 2015 earthquake in Laprak by the NRAN which will focus on construct drainage system and stone pitching along the main road of the settlement area; stone pitching along the collector and arterial roads within resettlement area; and implement livelihood improvement project in Gupsipakha, Laprak village of Dharche Rural Municipality.
Welcoming the NRNA officials and advisors, Dr Manandhar said that LWF Nepal would contribute to realizing the NRNA’s dream of creating a model settlement in Laprak, a village destroyed by the 2015 earthquake.
“LWF Nepal will support the NRNA’s efforts to rebuild the village in Laprak by complimenting the reconstruction through livelihood restoration so that the settlement would become a model village. Reconstruction of houses alone would not be sufficient to render it a model settlement,” Dr Manandhar said.
LWF Nepal’s organizational strength equipped with long experience and thematic expertise in working with the community particularly in disaster risk reduction, emergency preparedness and response; and sustainable livelihood would be instrumental in complementing the NRNA’s efforts to build back better in the affected area, he added.
He further said that it was just the beginning of the joint initiative which would be scaled up in the days to come. “Although we have signed a 3-year MoU, we hope to carry forward our partnership for a long time in future,” Dr Manandhar said. He also thanked Mr Naba Raj Gurung, Humanitarian Coordinator with The Primates World Relief and Development Fund, Canada and Dr Ganesh Gurung, advisor to the NRNA for connecting LWF Nepal with the NRNA.
Mr Ghale said that he was impressed by the work LWF Nepal has done. “We are very impressed by Dr Manandhar. It is more than we expected,” he said. He said that LWF Nepal’s commitment to support in other areas was a welcome step. He also said that livelihood was a very important factor in building back better for the earthquake-affected people in Laprak and said that the NRNA was interested in cooperating with LWF Nepal in income generating activities for the affected families. We look forward to work together in the days and years to come, he added.
