Australian Ambassador to Nepal Peter Budd bid farewell to recipients of the Australia Awards Scholarships for 2019. Altogether 29 scholars, including 13 government officials, will travel to Australia to commence post graduate level study at Australian universities.

This year’s Scholarships recipients include 17 females and 12 males. Three of the Scholarships recipients are persons with disability. These scholars will be studying a variety of courses under six priority sectors. Three will be enrolled in Education, seven Economic Development, two will pursue degrees in Gender Inclusion and Disability, eight in Governance, six in Health and three in Water Resource Management.

All the priority sectors, where there is a recognized need for skilled workforce, were chosen in close consultation with the relevant stakeholders in the Government of Nepal. For 2019, the Australian Government offered 3,186 Australia Awards scholarships, fellowships and short courses to individuals from over 55 developing countries with an aim to transfer high quality knowledge, skills and best-practice methodologies to equip them to directly contribute to both their workplaces and to the future development of their countries.

Addressing the ceremony, Foreign Secretary Shanker Das Bairagi noted that six decades of partnerships between the Government of Nepal and the Government of Australia has been fruitful and evolving gradually. He stated that Australia has been the reliable development partner in the field of energy, education, livestock and forest management.

While expressing thanks to the Government of Australia for providing Australian Awards Scholarships to Nepali nationals, he congratulated all the scholarship recipients. He expressed his belief that they will play a key role in Nepal's development upon their return.

Bairagi also highlighted the contribution of Nepali diaspora in further strengthening Nepal-Australia relations. He shared his conviction that both the countries will continue to work closely in regional and multilateral forums. Ambassador Budd congratulated the Australia Awards recipients on their successful attainment of an Australian Awards Scholarship and reminded them that they were selected to participate in Australia Awards for their potential to make significant contributions to the development of Nepal. He said ‘the high-quality Australian education that you will access, will assist you in positively supporting the future growth of Nepal’.

Australia Awards are prestigious international scholarships, fellowships and short courses funded by the Australian Government. They offer the next generation of global leaders an opportunity to undertake study, research and professional development in Australia.

The Australia Awards program is integral to Australia’s development cooperation program both in Nepal and across the region. It is a long-standing program with over 950 development focused scholarships awarded in Nepal since the 1960s. The next round of Australia Awards Scholarships will be announced in February 2019.