Immediate UN Response for coherent safeguarding the livelihoods of people made most vulnerable by COVID-19 in Nepal

Project Summary:

COVID-19 has exacted a heavy socioeconomic cost in Nepal. The country wide lockdown started on 24^th March closed all factories, enterprises, and centres of production. Supply chains, domestic and international, have been disrupted including food systems. The lock down has limited the spread of contamination by COVID-19, but it has had an adverse effect on people with limited income and livelihood opportunities, many not covered by social safety nets, as well as exacerbating existing vulnerabilities. An immediate economic impact was seen in that IMF’s World Economic Outlook 2020 predicts that Nepal’s GDP growth will slip from 7.1% in 2019 to 2.5% in 2020. An estimation done by ILO Country Office for Nepal using Nepal Labour Force Survey 2017/18 data showed that 2 million workers could have lost their jobs due to the crisis.

About 250,000-300,000 migrant workers are estimated to be returning from Gulf countries with another 500,000 Nepali migrant workers in India reported to have returned back. This is expected to not only add an additional burden to an already depressed labour market but enact a social cost that sees particularly vulnerable segments of labour force and community affected more than others. The United Nations Multi-Partner Trust Fund (UN COVID 19 MPTF) is an inter-agency finance mechanism for supporting low and middle income countries respond to health and development crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. ILO has mobilized this fund by leveraging existing programme to deliver an immediate response for coherent safeguarding the livelihoods of people made most vulnerable by COVID-19 in Nepal.

Objectives: 

• Overall management of financial transaction to Road maintenance workers in their individual account as per monthly performance base work evaluation and certification by Team leader/SRRME.

Expected Result:

• Provide employment to 265 RMG in Lumbini Province for 3 months through Routine Maintenance of District Core Road Network (DRCN) under 10 Contracts.

Major Achievements:

• 10 RMG Groups were formed and RMG Contract agreements with 10 Road Maintenance Groups (RMGs) from 10 districts of Lumbini Province in the recommendation from Team Leader was completed.
• Detailed information of 265 RMG members were obtained and creation and update of 10 RMG group bank accounts along with 264 RMG members’ individual bank accounts was facilitated.
• Accidental and COVID-19 Insurance was carried out for all 265 RMG members effective from 15^th September 2020 to 30^th November 2020.
• Wage payment through the individual bank accounts of all the RMG members was carried out as per the recommendation by Team Leader (TL)/SRRME. The details of the payment is as follows: