exacerbated the situation. Huge disparities and inequalities continue to exist between regions and underprivileged social groups. Despite the dismal situation, Nepal has gained significant ground in alleviating poverty in the past five years, primarily due to high amounts of remittances from Nepalese who have migrated overseas; Nepal has among the highest foreign remittances in the world at US$6.6 billion, equivalent to 31.3% of the country’s GDP in 2016.7 Poverty Statistics, Nepal Metrics 1995/96 2003/04 2010/11 Population living below international poverty line (US$1.90 a day) 61.9% 46.1% 15.0% Population living below international poverty line (US$3.10 a day) 86.6% 75.5% 50.8% Population living below national poverty line 41.8% 30.9% 25.2% Source: World Bank; Nepal Central Bureau of Statistics Literacy Rate Nepal has made remarkable progress in improving its education system, increasing net primary school enrolment rates from 68.0% to 94.7% from 1991–2017.8 Government efforts such as the School Sector Development Program (SSDP) and ICT implementation through Open Learning Exchange (OLE) Nepal and Open IDEO programs have closed the gender and age gaps in education considerably – one in five elderly people are able to read and write. However, with an adult literacy rate of ~59.6%, Nepal continues to rank the lowest among key South Source: World Bank Asian countries, as the majority of youth still struggle to gain access to education, particularly at the secondary and tertiary levels. To overcome this, the government needs to devise better incentives and monitoring mechanisms to ensure the efficient implementation of its various programs. 7 Pew Research Center and World Bank, 2017 8 UNESCO 11