Press Release
Her Royal Highness Princess Astrid, the younger sister of King of the Belgians, is visiting Nepal on 19-25 January 2020. During her stay, she is scheduled to pay a courtesy call on the Rt. Hon. Bidya Devi Bhandari, President of Nepal. She will have separate meetings with the Hon. Ishwar Pokhrel, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence, Hon. Pradeep Kumar Gyawali, Minister for Foreign Affairs, and Hon. Bhanu Bhakta Dhakal, Minister for Health and Population
Princess Astrid will also be visiting Kailai, Nawalparasi and Chitawan districts. In Kailali, she will join the opening ceremony of a new Tuberculosis Centre and meet with the leprosy and tuberculosis affected people. She will visit the Midpoint Hospital at Nawalparasi, which is provincial reference center for MDR tuberculosis and leprosy.
These facilities have been supported by the Damien Foundation, a Belgium-based NGO with Princess as the honorary chairperson. She has also been active in anti-landmine campaign as the Special Envoy for the Ottawa Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction.
This visit will contribute to further strengthening the bilateral relations and expanding the areas of cooperation between Nepal and Belgium.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Kathmandu
16 January 2020