Australia Awards South and West Asia

Marking the 50th year of Australia’s bilateral relationship with Nepal and commemorating the first Annual General Meeting of the Association of Nepalese Alumni from Australia (ANAA), the Australian Ambassador H.E. Ms Susan Grace, hosted a Welcome Ceremony in the honour of all the members of ANAA and its newly elected Executive Committee members.

Welcoming the Alumni members and congratulating its newly elected Executive Committee, H.E. Susan Grace, said that the Australian Government was committed to supporting and cultivating its relationship with ANAA and added that she was glad that Australia’s aid program was able to support ANAA’s strengthening over the last four months.

Australia has supported ANAA to increase its membership base, develop and maintain a database of its members, develop and support ANAA networking forums, assisted with the amendment of ANAA’s constitution to make it inclusive and democratic, and more importantly help ANAA to develop a long-term vision and plan for its growth and development.

H.E. Susan Grace believes the ANAA will be instrumental in helping the Alumni deepen their experience and maintain their connection to Australia over the long run and also be instrumental in effectively maximising the development outcomes of the many Scholarship Programs being supported by the Australian Government. She also noted that the Alumni members individually and collectively bring with them a lot of knowledge, skill and experience. She urged the ANAA members to creatively explore the possibilities and avenues to effectively use their knowledge and experience for nation building.

Through scholarships program, Australia continues to deliver on its objective to assist developing countries reduce poverty and achieve sustainable development. In Nepal, since 1995, the Australian Government has provided more than 300 scholarships.