About Us and Our Work
Development Nepal is a small UK-based charity working in the Sunsari district of eastern Nepal. For more than a decade, we have supported locally led projects designed to improve lives, strengthen communities and create greater economic independence.
Our approach has always been practical and collaborative. In the UK, our unpaid trustees and volunteers are responsible for fundraising, strategic direction, governance and oversight. In Nepal, a small local team works directly with communities and manages our programmes on the ground.
Today, our focus is increasingly on sustainability: helping our Nepalese partner, Ujyalo Bhabisya, to build the strength, resources and income it needs to support its own work long into the future.
Our Approach
The people closest to the challenges are often best placed to understand what will make a real difference.
Our work in Nepal is therefore led locally, with programmes shaped by the needs and priorities of the communities we support. Our role in the UK is to provide funding, strategic support and oversight, while enabling our Nepalese colleagues to deliver the work in the way that is most appropriate on the ground.
Practical support
Over the years, Development Nepal has supported programmes covering areas including education, health and livelihoods.
The emphasis has always been on practical help that can make a meaningful difference to everyday life, particularly for people and families who have limited access to financial resources and other forms of support.
Built to last
We do not want communities to remain dependent on charitable funding indefinitely.
Our current priority is to help Ujyalo Bhabisya develop a strong and successful co-operative, providing accessible financial services to people in Sunsari who may otherwise struggle to obtain them.
As the co-operative grows, the intention is that it will generate income that can help fund Ujyalo Bhabisya's wider community programmes, creating a more sustainable model for the future.
More Than a Decade of Work in Nepal
Development Nepal has been working with communities in Sunsari for more than ten years.
During that time, our work has evolved as local needs and opportunities have changed. What began as direct support for community programmes has developed into a longer-term partnership focused increasingly on resilience, independence and sustainability.
A central part of that journey has been the development of Ujyalo Bhabisya and its co-operative model.
Rather than simply funding individual projects, we are now helping to build an organisation that can generate its own income, extend access to financial services and continue supporting local people well into the future.
Hear From the People We Work With
Ujyalo Bhabisya
Ujyalo Bhabisya, meaning "Bright Future", is the Nepalese organisation at the heart of our work in Sunsari.
Its team has close links with the communities it serves and a detailed understanding of the challenges local people face. This local knowledge is essential to ensuring that support is relevant, practical and effective.
One of the most important areas of development is the Ujyalo Bhabisya Co-operative.
For many people living on very low incomes, access to conventional banking and affordable financial services can be extremely limited. The co-operative aims to provide a trusted local alternative, helping members to save, access appropriate financial support and improve their economic security.
Our long-term ambition is for the co-operative to become increasingly self-sufficient, generating funds that can support Ujyalo Bhabisya's wider work in areas such as education and health.The best way to understand the impact of our work is to hear directly from the people involved.
Our video introduces some of the communities and individuals who have benefited from the work of Ujyalo Bhabisya and explains more about what that support has meant in practice.
A Partnership, Not Just a Funding Relationship
Development Nepal is deliberately small.
That means our relationship with the Nepalese team is personal and direct. We remain closely involved in the work, understand how funds are being used and maintain regular contact with the people responsible for delivering programmes on the ground.
At the same time, our aim is not to direct every decision from the UK.
A successful partnership depends on local leadership, shared responsibility and mutual trust. Our role is to provide support where it is useful while helping Ujyalo Bhabisya strengthen its own capacity, governance and financial independence.