It has been discovered that the majority of international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) only operate their programs and initiatives in the Kathmandu Valley, not in the underserved distant and rural regions of the nation.
According to the Development Cooperation Report 2020, which was released by the Ministry of Finance (MoF) last week, 35 valley-focused projects, the largest of all, benefited from the help of 86 INGOs working in Nepal in 2019–20. Only four of these INGOs’ programs were active in the Manang district.
According to the MoF, the INGOs spent a total of US $ 132.80 million (Rs 15.80 billion) during the most recent fiscal year, which is around 39% less than the $ 215 million (Rs 25.58 billion) spent during the prior fiscal year.
INGOs allocate a significant portion of their funds to administrative expenses. According to a research report from 2019 created by the Social Welfare Council (SWC), the organization in charge of overseeing INGOs in the nation, many of these organizations have been spending a lot of money on employee salaries, stationery, transportation, and logistics while investing little money in the places they are intended to help.
According to a SWC policy, INGOs’ administrative expenses shouldn’t be more than 20% of the entire project cost. However, many INGOs have administrative costs that are over 25%.
The majority of INGOs’ spending during the previous fiscal year were devoted to health-related initiatives. The health sector of the nation received INGOs’ investment of $41.8 million (Rs 4.97 billion). According to the MoF, Save the Children was the most expensive INGOs in 2019–20 with a budget of $21.4 million.