Kathmandu: Most of the international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) are found to be running most of their programs and projects only in the Kathmandu Valley, rather than in the under-served remote and rural districts of the country.

The Development Cooperation Report 2020, unveiled by the Ministry of Finance (MoF) last week shows that 86 INGOs operating in Nepal mobilized their assistance in 35 valley-focused projects, the largest of all, in 2019/20. These INGOs operated only four projects in Manang district.

The INGOs spent a total of US $ 132.80 million (Rs 15.80 billion) in the last fiscal year, which was around 39 percent less than the amount of $ 215 million (Rs 25.58 billion) in the previous fiscal year, according to the MoF.

INGOs spend a large chunk of their budgets on administrative costs. According to a study report of 2019 prepared by the Social Welfare Council (SWC), the body regulating the INGOs in the country, many INGOs have been spending heavy amounts on staff salary, stationery, transportation and logistics while they spend only nominal amounts in the targeted areas.

As per a guideline of the SWC, the administrative costs of INGOs should not exceed 20 percent of the total project cost. However, the administrative costs of many INGOs cross over 25 percent.

Of the expenses by the INGOs in the last fiscal year, the major focus was on health-related projects. The INGOs spent $ 41.8 million (Rs 4.97 billion) in the country’s health sector. With a spending of $ 21.4 million, Save the Children topped the lists of INGOs in 2019/20, according to the MoF.