Parsa District covers 1,353 km of Nepal’s Central Region, and its elevation ranges from 122 to 925 meters above sea level. Parsa District comprises 82 Village Development Committees (VDCs) and one sub-metropolitan municipality: its District Headquarters (DHQ) – Birgunj. Some 23% of people in the rural parts of Central Terai live below the poverty line (as compared to 27% overall in rural Nepal). Parsa is well-connected to Kathmandu via the Tribhuvan Highway, part of a busy trade route network between China, Nepal and India, via the East-West Mahendra highway. An airport in Simara connects the area to Kathmandu by only a fifteen minute flight. Parsa’s population counted over six hundred thousand people in 2011, 48% of whom women. As a result of the armed conflict, 101 people lost their lives in Parsa, five men disappeared and 15 people were injured. A Local Peace Committee was established in Parsa in 2009, comprising 23 members. Of the 32 national parties represented in the Constituent Assembly (CA), only 21 are present in Parsa and were part of the now dissolved All Party Mechanism of the District Development Committee (DDC). In mid-May 2013, the total number of people registred to vote in parsa reached 241,987. Parsa has over 60 Police Posts staffed by over a thousand officers altogether, and a dedicated Women and Children Service Centre in headquarters which provides specialised services in cases related to human trafficking, rape, or polygamy. The District Bar Association, composed of 13 members including two women, provides a common platform to 164 privately practicing lawyers in the district, of which five women and one Dalit. The District Court has a judge and social worker trained in juvenile justice procedures, but no such lawyer or psychologist. Gender-based violence and discriminatory practices are embedded in everyday life, thwarting social, economic, cultural and political opportunities for large portions of the population, particularly where multiple factors apply, as for Madheshi, Muslim, or Dalit women in the district. It is not uncommon in Parsa for well-off or high caste people to allege that poorer members of other castes practice witchcraft and treat them inhumanely on that basis. Despite the legal prohibition of bonded labour, these practices still persist in some of Nepal’s districts. The literacy rate among those aged five and above in Parsa is 56%, ten percentage points below the national rate. Most schools in the district are run by School Management Committees (SMCs). The poverty incidence at ilaka level in 2004 was relatively low, below 33% across all VDCs in Parsa. Birgunj-Raxaul is the country’s busiest border crossing, with 61% of international trade flow. A good share of Nepal’s industries (agro-products, cement and steel) are located along the Birgunj-Pathlaiya corridor in Parsa and Bara districts. Parsa has the second highest contraceptive prevalence rate of all districts in the country and well above the national target (two-thirds) for 2015. Parsa is among the districts with highest concentration of key populations at risk for HIV. Parsa is among the districts with highest prevalence of anemia and underweight among women of reproductive age. The total area under cultivation in Parsa was 54,406ha in 2009/10, or 72% of its total and over 99% of its cultivable territory; close to half of cultivated land is irrigated (26,060ha). Their overflow during monsoon causes river bank cutting and inundation which results in temporary displacement of local population and in loss of crops. 39 VDCs are highly
vulnerable to monsoon flood in the district. Birgunj Sub-Metropolitan City is vulnerable to earthquakes, and fires, epidemics and cold waves are other significant hazards in the district.
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Publisher:
UNRCHCO
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(2013
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Type / Script:
Bulletin or Poster
in English
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Keywords:
GEOSPATIAL INFORMATION MANAGEMENT, GEOGRAPHY, DEMOGRAPHY, CLIMATOLOGY, HEALTH INFORMATION, HEALTH STATISTICS, SOCIAL INFORMATION, GOVERNMENT INFORMATION, EDUCATIONAL INFORMATION, AGRICULTURAL INFORMATION, RULE OF LAW, PROTECTION, EQUITY, SOCIAL INCLUSION, EDUCATION, SOCIAL PROTECTION, EMPLOYMENT, MIGRATION, HEALTH, SANITATION, NUTRITION, FOOD SECURITY, AGRICULTURE, ENVIRONMENT, HUMANITARIAN SITUATION, GEOGRAPHY
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Thematic Group:
UNRCHCO (UNRCO)
:
UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator Office (UN Resident Coordinator Office)
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Thesaurus:
15.05.00
- Documentation, Library And Information Sciences And Reference Works
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Reference Link:
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