USAID Administrator Samantha Power arrives Nepal

07th Feb 2023

United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Samantha Power has arrived in Nepal.

She arrived Kathmandu on Tuesday morning on an official visit.

On Tuesday, after arriving she visited Adarsha Secondary School, Bhaktapur which is a part of USAID’s earthquake reconstruction support.

She will participate in a program on “Deepening the U.S. – Nepal Democratic Partnership” at Patan Durbar Square on Tuesday evening.

While in Nepal, Power will meet with civil society leaders, community groups, students, businesses, and government officials to discuss Nepal’s efforts and achievements in becoming a more democratic, prosperous, inclusive, and resilient country.

Administrator Power will underscore the United States’ enduring, more than 75-year partnership with the government and people of Nepal.

She will also highlight USAID’s commitment to increasing our engagement with Nepal and its new government.

Administrator Power will announce new efforts to build momentum to strengthen democratic gains in federalism, social inclusion, civil society, and media freedom.

The visit is taking place just a week after the brief Nepal visit of Victoria Nuland, the United States undersecretary of state for political affairs.

As she holds a cabinet status and National Security Council membership in the Joe Biden administration, officials say Power is the senior-most official to visit Nepal after the US State Secretary Colin Powell, who was in Nepal in 2002.

Power is also a member of the National Security Council of the United States and is a high-ranking official of the United States Cabinet.

In recent years, the frequency of visits of diplomats from the US is continuously rising, which for some is a hint of a shift in Nepal’s foreign relations priorities as well as the growing geopolitical importance of Nepal in the international community.