Peace Corps Deputy Director David E White Jr arrived in Kathmandu on Wednesday on a five-day Nepal visit.

He will be meeting government and civil society representatives to thank them for their long-standing support of the Peace Corps programme since its founding and discuss plans to expand Peace Corps programmes, the US embassy in Kathmandu said in a statement.

White will also participate in the swearing-in of ten newly arrived Peace Corps response volunteers. According to the embassy, this is the first group of response volunteers to serve in Nepal.

During his visit, Deputy Director White will also meet currently serving volunteers and their counterparts across Nepal.

The embassy said 40 Peace Corps volunteers currently serve in seven districts of Nepal, teaching English in government schools and working on food and nutrition security in rural communities.

The new group being sworn in will bring the number of Peace Corps volunteers serving in eight districts of Nepal to fifty.