On 12th Feb 2020, ‘20 years of RAP’ was celebrated at the British Embassy, Kathmandu (BEK) to mark the success of the three phases of RAP and close collaboration between Nepal and the UK for development aid. Our project staff, stakeholders, beneficiaries and DFID/BEK staff have all contributed to its success through their hard work and dedication and now, with RAP3 MHLR reaching its final phase, we are progressively winding down the project.
After the completion of RAP3 main component, a new maintenance and resilience component under RAP3 MHLR was started from 1st July 2019 to provide technical and management support for road maintenance to the government of Karnali Province. In May 2020, an amendment to the RAP3 MHLR contract was signed and introduced a new COVID-19 Response component to support the Government of Nepal’s efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. After a year of offering wage income opportunities to the impoverished and vulnerable people of Karnali Province, the COVID-19 Response component is phasing out at the end of June 2021 and with this, the contracts of four of our senior staff have also come to an end.
On behalf of every member of the RAP3 MHLR, we would like to convey our profound gratitude for the hard work and splendid performance of our four-senior staff over the years. Our senior staff: Shankar Pokharel, Safeguard Specialist, joined the project in 2004; Arjun Poudel, COVID-19 Component Team Leader, started working on RAP in 2006; and similarly, Gopi Chandra Upreti, Province Support Manager and Mitra Shrestha, Province Stakeholder Coordinator joined the RAP project in 2011. The resilience and patience our senior staff showed during their tenure at RAP3 MHLR is commendable. The team has set a great example of leadership, bonding and friendship which has meant that the project has been able to achieve great success. To celebrate the achievement of COVID-19 Response Component and to honour the contribution of our senior team members, RAP3 MHLR organised an event on June 18, 2021 which highlighted the achievements of the component as well as our senior staff who shared their years of experience and memories of working on the project.
It has been a great privilege and an honor to have our senior staff working for RAP with great effort and generosity of spirit and while we are sad that they are leaving. We wish them all the best for their future endeavors!