In addition to providing advice through the partnerships with our investee businesses, we also advise projects in Nepal and Ethiopia leveraging the broad expertise of our volunteer network across Europe, US and Asia. Such advisory projects include:

Off-Grid Solar Heat and Power

Village solar power

The Dolma Development Fund has advised various VDCs (Village Development Communities) on the implementation of solar for both water heat and power. For many villages without electricity, a simple light bulb in a house can have a revolutionary effect on lifestyles, not to mention the ability for children to study.

Micro and Large-Scale Hydro-Power

Micro hydro power

The Nepalese Himalayas holds the source of much of the water cascading down to the rest of South Asia including India and Bangladesh. The Dolma Development Fund has advised on the provision of micro-hydro installations for small, mountain communities, as well as major plants that are so necessary to solve Nepal’s acute power shortages. During dryer seasons, Kathmandu suffers power cuts of 16 hours per day making the ordinary functions of business, education and healthcare extremely challenging and expensive.

The opportunity for Nepal in this area is enormous. It has the flow capacity, with the right political and regulatory stability, to provide clean energy not only for its own needs, but to much of India’s growing economy. This could drastically lower the carbon emissions of India while becoming a foundation of Nepal’s economy. The dream of Nepal becoming the Saudi Arabia of hydro power remains elusive due to political instability, but the Dolma Development Fund is active in advising on a regulatory climate that could attract the large-scale foreign investment required.

Safe Motherhood NGO

A mother in Bridim village - © David Cayless

Nepal is making great progress in the health targets of the UN’s Millennium Development Goals for 2015. One area that has an enormous impact on the health of rural communities is safe motherhood – the provision of healthcare and health education to new mothers both before and immediately after birth. The impact on infant mortality and family health statistics is immense thanks to the work of many NGOs around the world.

The Dolma Development Fund supports and advises the Sustainable Community Development Centre (SCDC) NGO with operations in the Rasuwa district of Nepal, who are rolling out safe motherhood programmes to the rural poor of the region.