KATHMANDU, July 11: United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has urged concerned stakeholders on investing in young people, including teenage girls, in order to attain the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 and upgrade Nepal to the status of a middle-income country.
Issuing a press statement on the eve of World Population Day, Giulia Vallese, country representative of the UNFPA for Nepal, said that Nepal is poised to reap a demographic dividend as young people constitute the largest population group and it was high time that the country invested in young people, particularly teenage girl. The theme of this year's World Population Day, which marks on Monday, is "Investing in Teenage Girls."
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“How fast Nepal can graduate from a Least Developing Country category and how much the country stands to gain from the current demographic window of opportunity depends on how much is invested in the empowerment, education, life skills and health and well-being of teenagers and particularly teenage girls,” Vallesi said.
According to UNFPA, there are more than six million teenagers in Nepal, of which about half are girls -- one fourth of the country's total population.
