The federal Democratic Republic of Nepal is a landlocked country in the Himalayan Region with the Tibetan Region of the People’s Republic of China to the North and India to the South, West and East. Its length is approximately 885 K.M from west to east and has a maximum width of 245 K.M

(Mean width 197 K.M) covering an area of 147181 sq K.M the Country has a mountainous belt to the north covering 35% of the total land area, the flat and highly cultivated Tarai in the South which amounts to 23% of land area and the Central hills in the middle which is 42% of the land area. Administratively the country is divided into 7 Provinces, 77 Districts, 6 metro cities, 11 sub-metro cities, 276 Municipalities, 460 rural Municipalities. Provinces are the first subdivision of the country. Each province is further subdivided into districts, and each district into municipalities and rural municipalities.

The World Health Organization in cooperation with Nepal Government (NG) in 1980/81 carried out the most comprehensive blindness survey undertaken in any country until now. In 116 villages and wards all over Nepal, nearly 40000 persons were given an eye examination and many ancillary
studies were performed.

reasons NORAD chose to have Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) take over the project from WHO. This was effected from November 1st 1985, based on an agreement with the Social Welfare Council and Nepal Netra Jyoti Sangh. The project was extended to Rapti Zone in 1986, where a new hospital was inaugurated in early 1986. Similar projects later started in most of the Zones of Nepal, funded by foreign NGOs under the umbrella of Nepal Netra Jyoti Sangh. Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) had started to support Eye Health Program establishing the Eye Hospitals at Geta, Dhangadhi -Kailali in 1985 and later in Tulshipur-Dang in 1986.

In 1996 a dialogue was held between NCA & NABP (Norwegian Association of the Blind and Partially Sighted) investigating the possibilities of NABP taking over the NCA’s role as a funding partner to the Rapti Eye Hospital, Dang to deliver eye health service in Rapti Zone covering five districts (Dang, Rukum, Rolpa, Salyan and Rukum) NABP showed interest not only in maintaining the previous eye care activities at the Hospital but also in expanding activities in the field of Training/Rehabilitation of blind and partially sighted. NABP took over the role of the NCA as a founding partner to Rapti Eye Hospital, Dang from 1st January 1998 to 2011 and extended its
support to Eye Health Program II, Lamahi from 2012.