Kathmandu, October 28

Jeevan Bikas Samaj, an organisation based in eastern Nepal, has bagged AGFund International Prize 2017 worth $ 300,000 for its outstanding performance in the education sector.

The JBS stood first in the category of ‘organisations working at the national level’ out of total 76 participating organisations around the world. The award was provided by ‘The Arab Gulf Programme for Development’,  which was established in 1980 and has been providing awards in various categories to developing countries for their role in meeting 2030 Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations. The award was provided on October 17 in Geneva.

JBS chair Yogendra Mandal said they would  add additional money equivalent to the prize money to create a fund, which would be used to provide an annual award to organisations, people and journalists working in the field of education. “We have decided that the award money will be utilised on projects that will support the government to meet their SDG goals.”

The JBS primarily works for reduction of poverty in the country for which it has extended support for the enhancement of education and vocational trainings. Established in 1997 with the aim of making Nepal poverty-free, JBS works in six districts — Sindhuli, Udayapur, Dhankuta, Sunsari, Morand, Jhapa and Ilam. It works with community schools to improve the quality of education

JBS also claimed that  it has provided support to around 200,000 households in the six districts.

The prize awarding body AGFUND consists of six council countries — the UAE, Kingdom of Bahrain, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, State of Qatar, Sultanate of Oman and the State of Kuwait.