The Nation · Foreign aid · Bilateral
United States (USAID)
संयुक्त राज्य अमेरिका (USAID)
Major bilateral grant donor for 70+ years — programmes suspended February 2025.
Active portfolio
—
Latest annual
USD 150M
US FY 2023
Modality
Grants
since 1951
Sectors funded
5
active areas
How the relationship works
USAID was historically Nepal's largest bilateral grant donor (around USD 100-200 million annually pre-2025) concentrated in health, governance, food security, education, and climate resilience. The US administration's January-February 2025 freeze on USAID programming has stopped active disbursement; some bridge funding for life-saving health activities was permitted on a case-by-case basis. The structural void this leaves — particularly in Nepal's health-system non-salary recurrent costs — is the largest unfunded gap in the 2026-2028 aid landscape.
The short version
America used to be one of the biggest givers of aid to Nepal. In early 2025 the US government suspended USAID, so this money has stopped. Programmes for health and child nutrition were hit the hardest.
Sectors funded
Notable projects
Suaahara — nutrition and health systems
2011–2024 (suspended)
Health-system financing reform
suspended
Karnali Water Activity
suspended
Hariyo Ban — forests and climate
historical
What to watch
- ·Successor funding — World Bank, EU, FCDO and Global Fund are partially backfilling USAID-vacated health and governance activities. Coverage is incomplete.
- ·Political signal — the suspension reset the bilateral aid hierarchy; ADB, WB, China, India, JICA now anchor the field uncontested.
Sources · cited verbatim
US Agency for International Development (via Internet Archive) — Nepal — country page, archived January 2025 (programmes suspended Feb 2025)
Open release checked 2025-01-20Ministry of Finance Nepal — IECCD — Development Cooperation Report — bilateral grants
Open release checked 2024-12-15
More bilateral donors
Active
Republic of India
Longest-running bilateral partner. Power, petroleum and connectivity define the modern relationship.
Active
Japan (JICA)
Long-term, deeply concessional partner — quietly the most consistent bilateral donor.
Scaling up
People's Republic of China
Strategically scaling. Pokhara airport loan and BRI MoU define the current arc.