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MP member Tergar Charity Nepal wins Equator Prize 2023

16.08.2023

Tergar Charity Nepal (TCN), a member of the Mountain Partnership, is among the winners of the 14th Equator Prize announced by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and partners. The 2023 award recognizes ten Indigenous Peoples and local communities from ten countries. The awardees will receive USD 15 000, and the opportunity to take part in a series of special virtual events associated with the UN General Assembly, SDG Summit, UN Climate Ambition Summit, the UNDP Nature for Life Hub, and COP 28 in Dubai.

The 14th Equator Prize winners, selected from a pool of over 500 nominations from 108 countries, hail from Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Brazil, Burundi, Ecuador, Guatemala, Greenland, Liberia, Nepal, the Philippines, and Zambia. Their initiatives demonstrate how innovative, nature-based solutions can enable communities to achieve their own local development goals, while building community resilience, even in a time of economic, environmental, political and public health shocks. This year's awardees join a network of 275 communities who have been recognized since 2002.

Tergar Charity Nepal is a locally-driven organization focused on improving food security and livelihood in the remote Himalayan community of Samagaun, Northern Nepal. They promote crop diversification and sustainable crop management while implementing bioclimatic passive solar greenhouses for enhanced food security. Tergar Charity Nepal also promotes women's empowerment through raising awareness and providing guidance around menstrual health and hygiene in Samagaun. They also offer a literacy class to promote education and income generation for women in the community. In partnership with a Canadian luxury tea company, TCN has shown a strong motivation to empower women, as they have successfully developed a value chain project, resulting in increased income for Samagaun women. They pick and process rose hips for the production of tea sold in Northern America. Building upon this success, TCN expanded the project in 2022, constructing 32 additional greenhouses in Samagaun and 15 in the neighbouring village of Samdo. Tergar Charity Nepal joined the Mountain Partnership in March 2022.

This year's Equator Prize winners also highlight the theme of the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples: "Indigenous Youth as Agents of Change for Self-determination." Four winners are youth-led initiatives, all are committed to promoting intergenerational equity within their communities, and most work towards accelerating the creation of protected and conserved areas to safeguard nature and accelerate progress on the 30×30 goals. At a time when we are facing unprecedented planetary crises, it is crucial to shed light on the essential contributions of environmental stewardship carried out by Indigenous Peoples and local communities, including those of Indigenous youth.

News by UNDP

Photo: ©Chris Steele-Perkins/Magnum Photos for FAO