Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Nepal have signed an agreement to rehabilitate and rebuild community infrastructure and facilities in Gorkha. 

The Community Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Improvement Project aims at enhancing the access of approximately 10,000 earthquake-affected people to improved community infrastructure and services. 
The total budget of the project is Nepalese rupee 36.8mn (over $335,300), of which QRCS will contribute Nepalese rupee 16.5mn ($150,000), UNDP Nepalese rupee 3.3mn ($30,000) and the Gorkha Municipality and communities Nepalese rupee 17mn (over $155,300), according to a press statement.
The agreement was signed in Nepal’s capital Kathmandu by Rashid Saad al-Mohannadi, director-general of Relief and International Development at QRCS, and Renaud Meyer, UNDP country director in Nepal, at the UN House in the presence of Qatar’s ambassador to Nepal Yusuf bin Mohamed Al-Hail. 
Upon signing the agreement, al-Mohannadi said: “We are pleased to be part of this six-month collaborative project with UNDP and the Gorkha Municipality and look forward to help earthquake-affected communities to improve their health and disaster resilience.”
The project includes construction of two irrigation schemes, a drinking water system, a school building, a health post and over 200 toilets, as well as putting in place a hospital waste management system. The project is complementary to the planned interventions of the local government and co-ordinated by the ward chairs concerned at the Gorkha Municipality. 
“UNDP is pleased to sign this agreement with Qatar Red Crescent. We want to see this as the beginning of a new partnership to mobilise the generosity of Qatar in helping Nepal build resilient communities and achieve progress on its broader development objectives.” said Meyer. “We hope we can reach other needy communities in the future with similar interventions.”
“We would like to thank Qatar Red Crescent and UNDP for their support to the community infrastructure projects, which will be implemented with full participation, leadership and ownership of local communities. The Gorkha Municipality and local people are contributing almost half of the total budget,” added Rajan Raj Panta, mayor, Gorkha Municipality.

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