Christians say if Nepal is to develop, it has to focus of on reducing unemployment, improving education and stamping out caste discrimination, corruption, poverty.

These views were revealed in a report released on Sunday that summarized the findings from 27 seminars and  six trainings courses held during the year by Protestants.

All these events were part of a campaign by Protestants called A Christian commitment for building a new Nepal.

“ We felt Christians  and churches  should now be committed to wider national social development, said Pastor Lokmani Dhakal, national coordinator of the campaign.

He said all the year’s events had a strong turnout and hundreds of areas where Christians could help bring about change were discussed such as women’s rights and drug abuse.

“However, unemployment, caste discrimination, corruption, poverty and education,” appeared at the top of the list, he said.

“This was an exceptional exercise carried out by many Churches who felt it would further Christians’ national identity,” said  Pastor Bishu Khanal, a prominent journalist.

“It also revealed that churches need to be more united if Christians are going to bring about social change on a national scale,” he added.

There are an estimated one and a half million Christians in Nepal, with Catholics numbering around 7,000.