BHUTAN TODAY The New Perspective

By Chimi Wangmo Samtse, one of the worst coronavirus-hit districts in the country, is seeing a glimmer of hope in the past few days. With no positive cases from the community since Thursday last week, the lockdown in Samtse Throm has been relaxed from Friday this week. The district has been under lockdown since Monday last week after a woman …

Prime Minister responds in equal measures By Tandin Wangchuk In the wake of the government proposing a ‘mix-and-match’ vaccine approach for the second jab, the Opposition Party, Druk Phuensum Tshogpa, has asked the government to clarify on this approach given that the WHO has still not approved of this method of inoculation. DPT said the Government should clarify the doubts …

Staff Reporter In a worrying development with the onset of the summer monsoons, a 45-year-old official from the Department of Forestry died after falling into the Phochhu while he was patrolling the river in a boat in Punakha. Police said the incident occurred at around noon on Friday below Tsekha village under Toedwang Gewog in Punakha. Sources said the deceased …

By Phurpa Wangmo In 2020, UNICEF together with its partners and donors continued to accelerate its efforts to sustain the progress made thus far and support the Government’s preparedness and response to COVID-19 to ensure that no child gets left behind in the country’s response efforts. By November last year, 9,258 babies were delivered at health facilities and 10,396 pregnant …

In Bhutan, SNV’s efforts to support women masons reveal that they are faced multiple challenges over the past decade By Tandin Wangchuk It is often stated that well-intentioned approaches to promote rural women’s entrepreneurship in the WASH sector can inadvertently marginalise them if these fail to recognise and act on gendered barriers to women’s economic empowerment. SNV and partners are …