FINLIT Nepal

Prakash founded FINLIT Nepal to ensure that underserved communities have access to financial education and services. FINLIT Nepal has directly impacted 180,000 people across 48 districts in Nepal, teaching them how to manage their finances and helping them to access banking services that were otherwise inaccessible. FINLIT Nepal has hosted 5,000 workshops in rural communities where few people participate in formal banking systems. According to the Global Findex database for 2017, only 45% of adults in Nepal have access to banking systems1 .

FINLIT Nepal trainers provide workshop attendees with introductory piggy banks to get them accustomed to long term saving and to discourage bad spending habits. This allows attendees to put into action the principles they learn during the workshop. Trainers then return to each community after a month to count the saved funds and help people deposit their savings into a formal bank account. FINLIT Nepal also helps people to use their newly established bank accounts to plan for future business costs, with the goal of supporting them to become self-sufficient in generating an income. This allows people to purchase materials like farming tools, and plant their own food.

FINLIT Nepal also works with banks to help them design banking products that would suit people living in rural communities. One such product was a child friendly bank account to help children better manage their finances. FINTLIT Nepal also hosts workshops at schools to teach students about financial literacy, and how to open up a banking account. In two months FINLIT Nepal was able to reach 1,700 students, with 1,300 of these students going on to open a child bank account. FINLIT Nepal also educates economic migrants about how to manage their finances when working abroad. Many Nepalese people leave the country in search for jobs, with economic migrants making up 10% of the total population2. However, remittances can be lost or mismanaged due to lack of information, so FINLIT Nepal informs workers about the best channels for sending money home. The organisation also works with these people to encourage them to start their own businesses in Nepal to help support the domestic economy internally rather than working abroad. Prakash’s One Young World experience has encouraged him to think more about the long term sustainability of his work and about how to better align the aims of FINLIT Nepal to the UN sustainability agenda.