Nepal COVID-19 Impact Assessment Report

The Government of Nepal announced a nationwide lockdown starting March 24, 2020 to curb the spread of the pandemic. Continuity of WASH services is crucial in the fight against the pandemic. USAID's Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Finance (WASH-FIN) project undertook a rapid assessment of ten utilities to identify and assess the possible impacts on water utilities in terms of providing, maintaining, and ensuring the continuity of WASH services during the pandemic. The main objective of the assessment is to develop an initial understanding of the repercussions from COVID-19 on water utilities. The rapid assessment study was conducted three months from the date of lockdown imposed in Nepal. As such, water utilities had not faced a critical crisis point but were beginning to encounter challenges and anticipating more significant impact in service delivery should the crisis continue. The results of the assessment are expected to be useful to the sector in calibrating approaches to support business continuity, financial management, enhance good governance, and resilient service provision.