Reflections from Nepal: Challenges, Change, and Opportunity

A City Transformed Overnight

Kathmandu was calm when I woke on 8 September. By nightfall, it was the centre of a mass protest.

What began as scattered demonstrations against corruption, political privilege and proposed restrictions on social media rapidly escalated into nationwide protests. Within 36 hours, political leadership shifted and Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli resigned/.

Walking through the city the next morning, the signs of unrest were clear – a reminder of how quickly public frustration can surface and how strongly Nepalis feel about shaping their country’s future – demanding change.

Nepal’s Fragile Landscape and Political Challenges

Nepal is breathtaking with striking landscapes – from the subtropical Terai to the hills around Kathmandu and the impressive Himalayas. However, it is not without its challenges. The country’s geography means it is highly exposed to earthquakes, floods and droughts. Climate change is intensifying each of these pressures across the country. Its diverse terrain has also contributed to nurturing a diversity of communities with over 100 ethnic groups and more than 120 languages.

Alongside environmental pressures, Nepal’s development is shaped by political instability. Since the end of the monarchy in 2008, frequent changes in government, complex administrative structures and persistent governance issues have constrained progress. These systemic challenges influence daily life, affecting job opportunities, investment, public services and the country’s ability to maintain long-term policy direction.

In a Fragile Country, Education Becomes the Anchor

All these pressures, political, geographic, and social, shape one simple question: Can a child learn?

Investing in a child’s education rarely shows immediate results; it’s slow, often invisible work. But I’ve come to truly believe that expanding access, improving quality, and creating real opportunities in education is the most powerful way to break down the barriers described above. The cost of not investing in children’s futures is far greater too: it widens inequalities, deepens existing challenges, and limits the potential of entire communities. We often forget that education is a human right.

• It reduces poverty: children who stay in school longer earn more, find more stable work, and are less likely to rely on overseas labour migration.
• It increases resilience: educated communities are better able to respond to disasters, adapt to climate change, and access vital information.
• It supports gender equality: when girls stay in school, they marry later, have more control over their futures, and reinvest more in their families.
• It prepares young people for a changing economy: digital and financial literacy open pathways that don’t depend on geography or physical labour.

Street Child of Nepal has been working since the 2015 earthquake, which destroyed 33,000 classrooms across nearly 8,000 public schools. In those days, the priority was keeping education going amidst a crisis. When COVID-19 closed schools for up to three years, Street Child stepped in again.

Over time, the work shifted from emergency response to long-term transformation:

• rebuilding schools
• training teachers
• developing learner-centred curricula
• Financial literacy education

Introducing the Naveenta Programme: A New Pathway Forward

How do you give young people access to opportunity in a country where geography, inequality and limited job prospects often close those doors?

The Naveenta Programme is one answer. This pilot is designed to raise digital literacy among schoolgirls by equipping them with the skills, support and safeguarding they need to use technology confidently and safely. Through new IT infrastructure, coding, web development and introductory AI courses, as well as dedicated teacher training, community awareness sessions and online safety resources, Naveenta takes a multi-faceted approach to breaking down the multiple barriers girls face.

The programme is now expected to reach over 1,000 students across 40 government schools, offering many of them a first real platform to explore technology and the opportunities it can unlock.

Why Digital Literacy Matters Here

Nepal’s economy still relies heavily on agriculture and remittances. For many low-income families, pathways out of traditional, low-paid work are limited. Young people often grow up far from markets, training centres, or modern industries - and for girls especially, deep-rooted gender norms can confine their choices even further.

But the country is shifting. A small yet steadily expanding tech sector is emerging, creating new forms of work that aren’t tied to land, physical labour, or the need to migrate abroad.

This is where the Naveenta programme becomes transformative. Enabling students to use technology confidently it gives them access to information, learning resources, and practical skills they would never otherwise reach. It opens doors to new job markets, education pathways, and networks far beyond their district or province, and ensures they are not left behind as Nepal becomes increasingly digitally connected.

What My Work Really Looked Like

My role centred on guiding the Naveenta pilot from its initial concept into fully functioning activities on the ground. I worked across almost every component of the programme, coordinating multiple stakeholders and internal teams to keep everything moving in the right direction. This included onboarding and managing our local partner, Karkhana, and overseeing their part of the implementation; finalising all programme documentation such as budgets, monitoring and evaluation tools, contracts and MOUs; and managing donor relations and reporting.

As the pilot progressed, the most rewarding moments came from meeting parents, teachers and local government officials, listening to their perspectives, understanding their priorities, and ensuring the programme genuinely reflected the needs of the communities it aimed to serve. But there were challenging moments too: implementing a pilot in a metropolitan city facing its worst cholera outbreak since 2009, and adapting delivery plans during school closures linked to prolonged drought. These pressures required constant flexibility and reinforced the importance of designing a programme that remained relevant, practical and resilient.

Additional work.

Alongside the pilot, I also worked closely with several of Street Child’s local partners, one focused on women’s financial literacy and livelihoods, and another on strengthening teacher training. Drawing on my background in fundraising and grant management, I supported them with proposal development, reporting and donor alignment.

This technical assistance felt particularly important at a time when many local organisations in Nepal are facing significant funding pressures, with reductions from major donors such as USAID and, soon, several European bilateral agencies. Strengthening partners’ capacity wasn’t just valuable for the projects we were delivering together; it was essential for their long-term ability to secure funding, sustain their work and continue supporting their communities well into the future.

What I’m Taking Home

Travelling across provinces, working alongside local organisations, and listening to communities share their challenges, all while learning from my Nepali colleagues throughout, gave me a far deeper understanding of needs on the ground. Importantly, it helped me see the barriers programmes face in practice, and how crucial design, flexibility and careful resource allocation are to achieving real impact for the people they aim to serve.

Professionally, this experience sharpened my programme management skills, from partner coordination to project documentation and administration. It strengthened my communication across cultures and institutions, and taught me the importance of maintaining a clear, organised and detail-focused approach to every aspect of my work.