Nepal, March 26 -- The end of USAID's operations in Nepal in 2025 marked more than a funding gap. It exposed a deeper structural weakness in how Nepal connects talent to markets.

At the outset, two possibilities became clear. Either a dangerous vacuum would emerge, deepening uncertainty and fragmentation. Or something new and more adaptive could begin to take shape and fill that space. Nepal today appears to be somewhere in between.

For decades, the United States was, for many Nepalis, synonymous with development assistance. That legacy mattered. But with the shutdown of USAID's foreign aid operations in 2025, a system that had supported public, private and civic initiatives disappeared almost overnight. The shock was immediate.

This m...