FCG and RVWRMP Nepal provide a very successful first experience with EU funding delegated to Finland for development cooperation

The recent evaluation by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland – Evaluation of the Finnish Development Policy Influencing in the European Union, 2022 – has given glowing recognition of the Rural Village Water Resources Management Project (RVWRMP), implemented by FCG Finnish Consulting Group. It particularly recognised the acknowledgement of the EU for the gender transformative work of RVWRMP, including work on menstrual hygiene. It also noted that the experience with RVWRMP’s innovative decentralised governance model, developed to work with local authorities following the move to a federal structure in Nepal, has been proven to be successful. The EU is now promoting that model in other projects and programmes in Nepal.

RVWRMP delegated cooperation (via a contribution of 20 million Euro) is seen very positively by the EU Delegation in Nepal and in Brussels, where an official commented ‘we feel very lucky to have Finland in Nepal’; potential replication to other countries is even recommended. (Vol II, p.12 Evaluation report: Evaluation of the Finnish Development Policy Influencing in the European Union – Ministry for Foreign Affairs (um.fi))

FCG has been able to learn from the experience in Nepal and supported the introduction of delegated funding from the EU to the education project implemented in Ukraine by FCG with MFA Finland funding.