Improving children’s health and education by working together on school health and nutrition (SHN) programming in Nepal

Although the school-age children’s mortality rate is low, they face diseases that keep them from succeeding in school; therefore, the objective of a School Health and Nutrition (SHN) program is to improve the health and nutrition status of school children which leads to improved school performance. The program activities include iron supplementation and deworming; health and nutrition education; capacity building of partners, teachers, and students; and provision of safe drinking water and toilets. In 2009 Save the Children (SC) is implementing the SHN program in four districts of Nepal reaching 1,127 primary schools and 354,170 students in the districts, representing almost 90% of enrolled children in these districts.  Implementation is in partnership with local Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) and in close coordination with the Department of Education (DOE) and Child Health Division (CHD), Department of Health Services (DHS). In the past, many successful school based health, hygiene and nutrition programs were implemented in Nepal from time to time, but these initiatives were temporary projects. The National SHN Strategy 2006 successfully brought the two key ministries together along with other stakeholders to create a sustainable program. The National SHN Strategy 2006 emphasized implementing comprehensive SHN package by building the capacity of teachers, health workers, School Management Committees (SMC) including students at all levels.  Currently, the SHN program is progressing towards successful nation-wide expansion through the government system

Factors Influencing the Potential Distribution of Globally Endangered Egyptian Vulture Nesting Habitat in Nepal

Habitat suitability is crucial to ensure the long-term persistence of species and can be identified based on relationships between species occurrences and underlying abiotic and biotic factors. We identified potential nesting habitat for the Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus) in Nepal using ecological niche modeling with climatic variables. We estimated the currently suitable nesting habitat for Egyptian vulture in Nepal at 38,204 km2. We found a high probability of suitable nesting habitat on east-facing aspects, and the probability of a suitable nesting habitat was greater in more mountainous areas, particularly in central and western regions of Nepal. Precipitation was a major factor for predicting probability of the presence of nest sites for Egyptian vultures. After identifying potentially suitable habitat, we identified environmental factors affecting landscape-level suitable nesting habitat for Egyptian vultures using generalized linear models. For Egyptian vultures, sites near forests and human settlements were most suitable for nesting, roosting, and foraging, especially in central and western Nepal. Based on potentially suitable nesting habitat and previous work on Egyptian vulture foraging and roosting habitat, we recommend protecting forests near water sources and open areas for their long-term conservation