National Health Education Information Communication Center, affiliated with the Ministry of Health, in partnership with the US Agency for International Development’s Health Communication Capacity Collaborative, announced the winners of the Smart Dampati (Smart Couple) Facebook contest this week. Ten other winners were also picked through a lucky draw at the event. 

Since its inception on Valentine’s Day this year, the Smart Dampati campaign, with an aim to promoting smart family planning among young couples, had received more than 2,400 photo submissions from across the country. The Smart Dampati contest was supported on various social networking sites by Nepali celebrities such as Arjun Ghimire, Kumar Kattel, Rakshya Shrestha, Malvika Subba, Jems Pradhan, Shiva Pariyar and Sugam Pokharel.

According to the Nepal Demographic and Health Survey 2011, over 56 percent of women of reproductive age are under age 30, but their family planning practices lag behind the national average.  In an attempt to overcome this gap, the national Pariwar Niyojan Smart Banchha Jeewan Campaign has been raising awareness to adopt the family planning methods. 

Nepali celebrities such as Arjun Ghimire,   Malvika Subba, Jems Pradhan and Sugam Pokharel supported the event