May 31,2023
The USAID Clean Air is a five-year initiative being implemented to improve air quality in Kathmandu Valley approaching national ambient air quality standards leading to improved health and educational outcomes. The activity is being carried out by One to Watch in a consortium led by FHI 360 with Asian Institute of Technology, Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC), Environment and Public Health Organization (ENPHO).
One to Watch is leading the private sector component of USAID Clean Air and implementing the Business Accelerator for Clean Air, a customized business development support program to ten enterprises working to reduce air pollution emissions and exposure in Kathmandu valley. The program is designed to enhance the private sector’s capacity across different domains of business development, operations, and scaling in their pursuit of addressing air pollution issues.
As part of USAID Clean Air, One to Watch hosted the launch event of the Business Accelerator for Clean Air where the selected companies were introduced to the private sector stakeholders. The event commenced with a welcome remark from the Mr. Bhushan Tuladhar, Chief of Party of USAID Clean Air followed by remarks from Dr. Kimberly Waller, Deputy Director of Health Office at United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Nepal, Dr. Indu Bikram Joshi, Joint Secretary at Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and Mr. Janak Khatri, Spokesperson of Changunarayan Municipality.
Mr. Anupam Man Chhantyal, Program Manager for Clean Air, gave a short presentation about the Business Accelerator for Clean Air touching on the overall process of how the cohort companies were selected for the accelerator program. Following the presentation about the program, the cohort companies briefly presented about their businesses and the targets they have set to achieve through the program in pursuit of reducing air pollution in Kathmandu valley.
For closing remarks, Mr. Suman Joshi, Managing Director at One to Watch, expressed his appreciation towards USAID Nepal for their support and highlighted how the accelerator program can catalyze the growth of enterprises that will not only contribute to reducing air pollution but also drive economic development and create new opportunities. The event was attended by representatives from USAID/Nepal, Government of Nepal, key stakeholders of Nepal’s enterprise development ecosystem including representatives from development partners, development financial institutions, financial institutions, associations and the private sector.
The event was also covered in the media:
Business 360: https://b360nepal.com/10-companies-selected-for-usaid-clean-air-programme/
