Peace Corps (PC) and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) signed an agreement to reestablish the Peace Corps program in Nepal amidst a program in Washington DC on Tuesday, said a statement from the US Embassy in Kathmandu on Wednesday. [break]
The PC program was suspended on September 13, 2004 soon after a Maoist attack on the American Center in Gyaneshwar, Kathmandu. Before they were evacuated on a short notice following the attack, altogether 84 PC volunteers were working in the field of health, education, nursing, information technology, business development, teaching English as a foreign language and environmental conservation.
The PC program in Nepal is one of the oldest as it began a year after then US President John F Kennedy established it in 1961.
"Just as the Peace Corps´ departure was emblematic of a dark period in Nepal´s history, its return is equally symbolic of the positive trends that now prevail," said Robert Blake, Jr., assistant secretary at the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs of the Department of State, in a statement after the announcement of the resumption of the program.
US Ambassador to Nepal Scott H. DeLisi, who is in Washington at present, said on his facebook status that the US Embassy in Kathmandu will organize a formal program in the presence of Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai and other dignitaries to re-launch the Peace Corps program in Nepal.
The first group of approximately 20 Peace Corps volunteers is arriving this summer to work in the field of agriculture and nutrition.
"The volunteers will be trained as Agriculture-Nutrition Extensionists and will work with rural communities to build local capacity in the context of President Obama´s Global Health and Feed the Future Initiatives," a statement posted on the website of the US Embassy read.
Nepal had requested with the US government last year to resume the Peace Corps program. The agreement to resume the program was reached between Nepal and the US last April.
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