Food insecurity is a complex problem, influenced by economic, political, climatic, and market dynamics. The COVID-19 pandemic illustrates how this complexity extends beyond mere food access, impacting nutritional quality, cognitive development, and education outcomes, particularly among vulnerable populations. This research explores factors contributing to household food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic, aiming to identify pathways connecting different facets of the pandemic, food insecurity, and coping measures. It compares network structures across stages of pandemics in Nepal, utilizing network analysis to reveal the dynamic interrelationships. This study utilizes data from a multi-wave high-frequency phone survey on household food insecurity conducted during the pandemic. Currently, the research is in the data acquisition phase.

Nepal experienced a decade-long armed conflict between 1996 to 2006. The conflict had enduring impacts on Nepal’s socioeconomic development. Previous studies documented the immediate effects on educational attainment but are limited to assessing the impact on cognitive outcomes. In this study, I envisage estimating the second-generation effects on children’s language and numeracy skills using the parent’s birth cohort and their relative exposure to conflict as a source of random exposure. I focus on exploring the potential application of the difference-in-difference approach to estimate the effects. I am preparing the dataset by combining data from multiple sources, such as administrative data on armed conflict, household survey data and GIS data from satellite imagery.

Female Community Health Volunteers (FCHVs) program in Nepal started in the late 1980s. However, a critical evidence gap remains regarding the long-term health effects of FCHVs. While existing studies primarily focus on short-term outcomes, this study seeks to address this gap by estimating the causal impact of FCHVs on child health and educational outcomes. The FCHVs program was rolled out nationwide in a blanket approach, and the selection of FCHVs was non-random. Thus, I intend to use a quasi-experimental approach to estimate the program’s impact. More specifically, the study uses physical and social distance to FCHVs as an instrumental variable for child health outcomes. The study is currently at the stage of piloting where I am engaged in testing the relevance of instrumental variable approach by conducting a field survey among 250 households. The study will be upscaled in a nationally representative sample based on the preliminary result of the pilot study.

In Far-Western Nepal, the cultural practice of Chaupadi exposes adolescent girls and women to a week of menstrual exile in animal sheds, posing significant health risks. This study focuses on the intersection of cultural practices and health vulnerabilities, specifically investigating the impact of menstrual exile on domestic violence against women. Given the ethical and cultural challenges that preclude randomization, we employed propensity score matching using data from the 2019 Nepal Multi-Indicator Cluster Survey. Results reveal a statistically significant increase in intimate partner violence and violence by mothers-in-law among women who undergo menstrual exile. These findings underscore the importance of culturally sensitive approaches within health systems to address and prevent women’s vulnerability to domestic violence in regions where such practices persist.