About Nepal
- With its ancient culture and the Himalayas as a backdrop, landlocked Nepal was closed to the outside world until the 1950s.
- Since then the country has seen the creation of a multi-party parliamentary system, a decade-long Maoist insurgency and the abolition of its monarchy.
- Flanked by China and India, it is home to eight of the world's highest mountains including Mount Everest, known locally as Sagarmatha.
- As one of the world's poorer countries, Nepal's economy relies heavily on aid, tourism and remittances from migrant laborers.
- A devastating earthquake in April 2015 killed thousands of people, flattened villages and reduced numerous heritage sites to ruin.
- Since then problems in official management has delayed much of the reconstruction despite billions of dollars having been pledged.
COUNTRY INDICATORS
- Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal
- Capital: Kathmandu
- Population 31 million, Growth rate: 1.4%, Population Density 198/km2, Fertility Rate: 2.1% (2016),
- Working Population (58% in 2017)
- Area 147,181 sq km (56,827 sq miles)
- GDP Growth rate 6.3% (2018)
- Major languages Nepali
- Major religions Hinduism, Buddhism
- Prevalence of Undernourishment: 9.5% (2015-2017)
- Prevalence of Stunting among Children under 5 Years of Age: 36% (2016)
- Prevalence of Malnutrition (Wasting) among Children under 5 Years of Age: 9.6% (2016)
- Prevalence of Malnutrition (Overweight) among Children under 5 Years of Age: 1.2% (2016)
- Life expectancy 68 years (men), 71 years (women)
- Maternal Mortality Ratio (per 100,000 live births): 258 (2015)
- Proportion of Population Using Safely Managed Drinking Water Services: 26.8% (2015)
- Currency Nepalese rupee
URBAN POVERTY
Urban poverty is becoming more pervasive in Nepal: The poverty rate is increasing in urban areas, whilst it is declining in rural areas (ADB, 2013; UNDP, 2014). There has been a noticeable improvement in the rural Human Development Index (HDI) value between 2006 and 2011, whilst the urban HDI value has remained constant (UNDP, 2014).
Urban poverty rates vary substantially across Nepal: Urban areas in the hill ecological zone are the least poor with a poverty incidence of 8.7 per cent. This increases to 22 per cent in urban parts of the Tarai, whilst Kathmandu has a poverty rate of 11.5 per cent (CBS, 2012).
Informal settlements are a relatively new phenomenon in Nepal and there is a poor understanding of the overall context of slums and squatter settlements (UN, 2013). The key trends are that:
The key trends are that:
- Informal settlements are increasing in number and growing in population: The slum population as a proportion of the urban population increased in absolute numbers from 1.2 million in 1990 to 3.1 million in 2009, before reducing again to 2.8 million in 2014 (UNSD, n.d.). Squatter settlements are rising in fast-growing cities such as Kathmandu and Pokhara, as well as in urban areas such as Dharan, Birganj, Bharatpur and Mechinagar (MoUD, 2015).
- Increasing urban land and house prices are contributing to the growth of squatter settlements. The housing problem is particularly acute in the Kathmandu Valley (UN-HABITAT, 2010: p. 40).
The urban poor are vulnerable to natural hazards because of the location of informal settlements in marginal areas, the poor quality of housing, and the lack of assets to assist in their recovery. Slums and squatter settlements are often located in ecologically sensitive and marginal areas such as riverbeds, lowlands, and flood-prone areas (Muzzini & Aparacio, 2013: p. 63). Unplanned growth and poor enforcement of building regulations have led to substandard housing and the loss of open space. Narrow streets and the incremental growth of informal settlements increases the vulnerability of the urban poor to seismic hazards (Bajracharya et al., 2015; Muzzini & Aparacio, 2013).
Several dimensions of poverty that impact upon the vulnerability of the urban poor can be identified:
- Property rights and security of tenure: Without secure tenure and land title documents, squatter residents can be subject to harassment by the authorities and access to public services, credit and livelihood opportunities are limited (UN-HABITAT, 2010: p.9). Fear of eviction is a key factor preventing investment in structures and housing improvements (Bajracharya et al., 2015: p.25).
- Access to infrastructure and public utilities: The provision of water and sanitation is not sufficient to meet the demands of rapid urbanisation (Muzzini & Aparacio, 2013). Access decreases drastically for the poorest urban quintile (MoUD, 2015).
- Health: As a result of inadequate water and sanitation facilities, waterborne epidemics occur regularly in Nepal, affecting the poor and marginalised the most. Overcrowding has increased vulnerability to communicable diseases such as influenza and diarrhoea (Shrestha, 2013). Poor children and women are particularly vulnerable (Gupte & Bogati, 2014; HKI, 2010). For every 1000 babies born in Nepal in 2017, 34 died before their fifth birthday.
- Social exclusion: There is a strong sense of social exclusion amongst squatter and slum communities. They are often treated as temporary settlers and outsiders - the lack of tenure and the inability to obtain election cards deprives them of the right to participate in political processes (Shrestha, 2013).
- Crime and violence: There is an absence of the rule of law in slums, along with a lack of social protection mechanisms and isolation from other settlements (UN, 2013: p. 81).
A number of factors contribute to increasing the resilience of the urban poor: Social organization within informal settlements, local level initiatives and self-help schemes are helping to reduce vulnerability of the urban poor. Squatters are relatively organized in demanding their rights (UN, 2013: p. 83), whilst locally established saving and credit groups and cooperatives are providing access to credit and financial assets (Dahal, 2011).
Government policies on urban poverty and informal settlements do not directly address the issue of land tenure (UN, 2013), and no policy exists to prevent unnecessary evictions and violations of housing rights (UN-HABITAT, 2010: p. 59). There is a lack of public investment in slums and squatter areas, and housing development trends in Kathmandu largely ignore the urban poor (Shrestha, 2013; UN, 2013). Evidence on the efficacy of government resettlement schemes is limited. Squatters have been refusing to stay in the new settlements due to the inadequate size of the new housing units, the location of sites far away from their jobs and the lack of facilities such as markets and schools (B. Shrestha, personal communication, 20 December, 2015).