27 November 2021
Mixed-Gender Football Match Organised to Call an End to Violence Against Women and Girls
Today, sports and gender equality champions from Association of the Nepalese Alumni from Australia (ANAA) and Nepali journalists donned orange jerseys to play a mixed-gender friendly football match. Dressed in orange, a colour symbolising a brighter future, free of violence, the audience demonstrated solidarity in eliminating all forms of violence against women and girls.
The game, organised to mark the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence and to celebrate the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women from 25 November to 10 December, ended with a common goal of raising voices to end gender-based violence. This year’s theme is Orange the World: End Violence against Women Now!
Addressing the opening of the friendly match, Australia’s Ambassador to Nepal, Felicity Volk said, “Women and girls in general are particularly vulnerable to gender-based violence. This vulnerability is compounded when women identify as lesbian, bisexual, transgender or intersex, when they live with disabilities, are indigenous or from ethnic minorities, where they are migrants or refugees and when they are living through natural and other humanitarian crises.”
Australian Embassy Media Release
25 November 2021
Ambassador Volk hands over Medical Equipment to Bir Hospital
On Thursday, 25 November, 2021, Australia’s Ambassador to Nepal, HE Felicity Volk, provided medical equipment worth NPR 4.2 million to the COVID-19 Unified Central Hospital, at the Bir Hospital under the National Academy of Medical Sciences (NAMS). The equipment, including Intensive Care Unit beds and equipment, will be used to establish an emergency ward in the COVID-19 Unified Central Hospital.
Australian Embassy Media Release
20 September 2021
Nepal National Day Message
On the occasion of Nepal’s National Day, Constitution Day, the Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia, His Excellency General the Honourable David Hurley AC DSC (Retd), extended to the Right Honourable Bidya Devi Bhandari, President of Nepal, the Government and the People of Nepal the warmest wishes from Australia.
नेपालको राष्ट्रिय दिवसको उपलक्ष्यमा शुभकामना सन्देश
नेपालको राष्ट्रिय दिवस, संविधान दिवस, को उपलक्ष्यमा अष्ट्रेलियाका गभर्नर जेनेरल, माननिय जेनेरल डेभिड हर्ली, एसी डिएससी (अप्रा) ले नेपालका सम्माननीय राष्ट्रपति श्रीमती विद्यादेवी भण्डारीज्यू, नेपाल सरकार र नेपाली जनतालाई अष्ट्रेलियाबाट हार्दिक शुभकामना ब्यक्त गर्नुभएकोछ ।
13 August 2021
Launch of Water Resources Development Strategy for the Kamala River Basin
Australia’s Ambassador to Nepal, HE Felicity Volk handed over the Australian-funded Water Resources Development Strategy for the Kamala River Basin, Nepal, to the Secretary of the Water and Energy Commission Secretariat (WECS), Mr Maniram Gelal.
At the event to mark the finalisation of the strategy, Ambassador Volk said that evidence-based, consultative water resource management was vital to ensure all Nepalis’ water needs are met in a sustainable manner. “Management of water resources is becoming ever more challenging as the impacts of climate change are witnessed across Nepal,” she said.
Through the Australian Government’s Sustainable Development Investment Portfolio (SDIP), Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) partnered with WECS to build capacity in water basin planning and water resource management, with a focus on the Kamala River Basin.
Australian Embassy Media Release
6 July 2021
Ambassador hands over Medical Equipment to Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital
On Tuesday, Australia’s Ambassador to Nepal, HE Felicity Volk, handed over medical equipment worth AUD 45,450 (approximately NPR 41 lakh) to Professor Dr Dibya Singh Shah, Dean of the Institute of Medicine (IOM), Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH) and Dr Samarika Dahal at the Forensic Department of TUTH.
The equipment – an ultrasound machine and a portable dental x-ray machine – were funded under the Australia Awards Alumni Grants Program to support the work of two Australian university alumni – Professor Dr Shah and Dr. Dahal.
The x-ray machine will be used in forensic odontology services in Nepal and will expand the disaster victim identification services provided by the Forensic Department at TUTH.
Australian Embassy Media Release
5 June 2021
Australian Government Delivers Essential Medical Supplies to Nepal
On 5 June 2021, a Royal Australian Air Force flight delivered emergency medical supplies worth AUD 1.8million to Nepal to assist in the frontline response to the COVID-19 crisis. Australia’s Ambassador to Nepal HE Felicity Volk handed over the equipment to Nepal Army Chief of General Staff, Lt Gen Prabhu Ram Sharma, at the Tribhuvan International Airport.
Ambassador Volk said that the delivery to Nepal was part of Australia’s regional effort to support its friends in South Asia, with medical supplies provided to Sri Lanka and India in addition to Nepal. Recognising the important role of the Nepalese Army in delivering frontline health services to communities across the country, Australia has directed its supplies, which were donated by the Western Australian Government, to support the work of the Army in hospitals, isolation centres and cremation grounds.
21 May 2021
Australia Provides $7 million to support Nepal's COVID-19 response
Australia will provide an additional AUD $7 million (NPR 635 million) in funding to Nepal to support the response to COVID-19. This funding is part of a AUD $17.5 million package to support Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka, to strengthen the resilience of the South Asian region.
Australia’s contribution will boost Nepal’s ability to address COVID-19, including through the procurement of essential equipment and health supplies, such as oxygen for provincial hospitals and personal protective equipment for health workers.
This funding will be delivered to our trusted and established partners working on-the-ground across Nepal, in coordination with the work being undertaken by other donors including the US, UK, Japan and UN agencies.
17 March 2021
Flourish, tha Australian Embassy Women's Summit
To mark International Women’s Day 2021, the Australian Embassy Nepal today hosted Flourish, the Australian Embassy Women’s Summit in Kathmandu.
The summit brought together elected women representatives, deputy mayors and ward members from local governments across all provinces of Nepal, focussing on the theme of ‘Women in leadership – achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world’. The participants, beneficiaries of the Australian Government funded Sub-National Governance and She Leads programs, shared experiences in supporting their local communities to respond to the challenges of COVID-19.
Addressing the event, Australia’s Ambassador to Nepal, HE Felicity Volk, highlighted the importance of empowering women in leadership to create stronger and more inclusive communities. She said that COVID-19 had compounded existing economic and other discrimination against women as well as their exposure to gender-based violence. ‘Women have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, but they also have a vital role to play as leaders in global responses to the COVID-19 crisis,’ said Ambassador Volk. She commended the contributions of summit participants to the efforts of their governments and communities towards COVID-19 recovery.