The Federal Republic of Germany has pledged fresh grant of Rs 7.55 billion or 55.6 million euros to Nepal during the two-day negotiations on development co-operation that concluded in Berlin on Thursday.   

Germany will disburse the pledged amount in sustainable economic development, health and energy efficiency/renewable energy, the German Embassy said here in a statement.

In addition, German Development Co-operation is supporting Nepal in earthquake recovery and local governance.

Out of the total commitment, 36.3 million euros would be provided under financial co-operation via KfW Development Bank. The remaining 19.3 million euros would be used for Technical Assistance via GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH), a German development agency.

According to the statement, a substantial portion of the committed funds would be allocated to the energy (24.55 million euros), sustainable economic development (13 million euros) and health (11.95 million euros).

The geographical focus of the co-operation would remain on the rural regions of Nepal’s Mid and Far West, with

additional support to selected districts that were severely affected by the earthquake in 2015.

The biggest new project supported with this year’s commitment (8.3 million euros) would be improving Mother and Child Care in the Kathmandu Valley by extending the services of the Paropakar Maternity and Women’s Hospital in Kathmandu to the surrounding areas.

Another major commitment would allow the continuation of Germany’s support for energy efficiency with the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation as the lead partner.

Key areas of support (among others) are improving the availability, usage and quality of health services, particularly those concerned with maternal and new-born health, as well as the establishing social health security programme to spur Nepal’s goal of accelerating Universal Health Coverage.

Co-operation in the field of economic development aims at creating sustainable income opportunities and jobs, in particular for disadvantaged groups. All new commitments will be implemented fully in line with Nepal’s Development Co-operation Policy, the embassy statement said.

Overall, Germany’s financial support to Nepal adds to approximately 1.2 billion euros since 1961.