Lalitpur, March 29
EU Ambassador to Nepal, Veronica Cody visited Bungmati, Lalitpur on 28 March to take stock of the progress of Sustainable Tourism and Green Growth for Heritage Settlements of the Kathmandu Valley (Parya-Sampada) project funded under SWITCH-Asia intervention of the European Union.
The project is implemented by UN-Habitat in partnership with the Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies, the Netherlands, Centre for Integrated Urban Development, SAARC Business Association of Home-based workers Nepal, and Lumanti.
Speaking at the programme, Ambassador Cody highlighted that the initiative was contributing to enhancing the institutional capacity of the local government and communities to put the beautiful Bungmati town firmly on the radar screen of the tourism industry.
National Reconstruction Authority is also joining hands to provide backstopping support for the reconstruction works at Bungamati. The initiative kicked off in May 2018 in partnership with the Government of Nepal and Lalitpur Metropolitan City and is expected to be completed by 2020.
This initiative is an effort to support the post-earthquake recovery process, to regain the lost momentum by restoring Bungmati as a pilot case to its previous stage by conservation and creating sustainable tourism opportunities, mainly to improve livelihood of the community by capitalising on culture, local cuisines, festivals, rituals, music, local stories, etc. for the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (homestays, cafes, and handicraft shops, etc.), especially youths and women.
