LWF Nepal (The Lutheran World Federation Nepal)

A country programme of the LWF/Department for World Service, The Lutheran World Federation Nepal (LWF Nepal) has been working with marginalized and disadvantaged communities for the past 24 years in the areas of relief and rehabilitation, advocacy and networking, empowerment and organizational development. In these endeavours, LWF Nepal cooperates within its networks that include ecumenical, government and non-government, and community-based partner organisations.

Established in 1984, LWF Nepal is a leading international INGO active in both development and humanitarian works. Originally engaged in sectoral development, then community development projects, LWF Nepal made a major switch in 1997 to empowerment projects. It considers right-based approach as the key to development process.

LWF Nepal designs and implements all development and emergency works following empowerment and human rights-based approach that builds capacity and competence of poor, oppressed and vulnerable people to collectively achieve improvements for their quality and dignified lives. At the one hand, this approach enhances the rights holders in leading the way through proactive interventions while at the other hand it attempts to make state and other stakeholders accountable in their duties. LWF Nepal works through integrated and collaborative approach to reflect the interdependent and multifaceted nature of poverty, exclusion and injustice on the ground. It tries to ensure that the need for action is coherent and inter-connected. The integrated approach includes deliberate efforts to ensure operational collaboration with other actors and thematic programs that become supplementary and complementary to each other.

LWF Nepal has three strategic thematic areas;
- Emergency Response and Disaster Risk Management (ERDRM): Thematic objective is to see affected people and communities are prepared for, able to respond effectively to, and recover from all types of disasters and complex emergencies.
- Sustainable Livelihoods: Thematic objective is to demonstrate greater number of poor and marginalized achieves sustainable livelihoods. Specifically, the theme aims to improve food securities of poor and marginalized families, women’s access to and control over financial services and family income, health status, including HIV and AIDS prevention and access to and quality of education improved.
- Peace, Reconciliation and Human Rights: Thematic objective is to achieve marginalized people with whom LWF Nepal works benefit from peaceful and harmonious local environment, the full exercise of their human rights as well as participation in decision making at the local, regional and national context.

In additional to above-mentioned priority themes, LWF Nepal implements gender equity, environment and Health and HIV and AIDS related works as cross cutting themes across the agency i.e. program, organizational management and individual behaviors.