Social Support and DRR

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Goal
Promote women in Western Nepal so that they can contribute to good governance and inclusive development. 

Duration
June 2018 to July 2020 

Location
Birendranagar Municipality 

Beneficiaries Outreach
There are 462 members, including 45 male adults, 251 female adults, 94 young girls and 72 young boys. Of the 462 beneficiaries, 2 women and 1 man are disabled persons. 

Funding Partner 

Implementing Partner
Australian NGO Cooperation Program 

The Situation (Background)
In the patriarchal society of Nepal, women usually subordinate to men in virtually all walks of life. The indispensable contribution women make to the economy also goes largely unnoticed, as their traditional role is often taken for granted. In addition, about 28% of Nepalese women are exposed to sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). 

Approach (Strategies)
Women and girls should therefore learn to counterbalance unequal power relations and gender stereotypes, so that they have the same development and relationship opportunities as male members of the community.  

The aim of the project is to promote the role of women and to motivate them to become involved in social issues. In this process, leadership development and critical engagement with the local government are promoted. 

Given that many women have a very limited freedom of choice and socio-economic and political participation permits, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed to strengthen women’s rights, empower women and promote gender equality.  

Achievements 

• 114 people were trained in gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) tools. 
• Participants, including 86 women, were educated about the seasonal calendar, the workload analysis, the mobility analysis and the resource and benefit analysis. 
• 41 parishioners received training on GESI instruments. 
• 114 women from cooperatives and communities learned important measures on equality between women and men and social inclusion. 
• The workload analysis showed men how important but also stressful the work of many women is. This caused many men to help with housework. 
• 41 parishioners, including 29 women and 12 men, were trained on GESI. They pledged to provide funds for strengthening the role of women  for the coming financial year. 
• 9 members of the Board, various committees and subcommittees drafted guidelines for improving the empowerment and employment of women, Dalit and people with disabilities to be implemented in the Cooperative. 
• 2 Human rights defenders raised awareness of gender-based violence, discrimination and other social issues and helped victims reach justice in coordination with local authorities. At least 3 cases of domestic violence have been resolved and women are generally encouraged to fight for more justice. 
• The stakeholder can now easily access information about the POWER project from the published IEC material, which helps to maintain transparency. 

Click here for the publication of the POWER project…

Goal
To contribute to the holistic growth of children by introducing courses that address the development of infants, as well as by improving access to safe drinking water and the nutrition and income situation of families. 

Duration
May 2017 to May 2020 

Location
Jajarkot, Bheri Municipality 

Beneficiaries Outreach
1,933 women participants, 153 children in early childhood development centres and in total 1,730 child participants benefiting from water and sanitation improvement activities. 

Funding Partner 

Implementing Partner
Kinder Missionswerk,  ECCA (Environmental Camps for Conservation Awareness) 

The Situation (Background)
Jajarkot is located in the west of Nepal, is characterized by a hilly landscape and belongs to one of the most remote areas of Nepal. Good road connection exists only up to the main administrative location. Also, in the area of power supply and telephone connection Jajarkot is laggard. 

Approach (Strategies)
The project supports children and their families by providing knowledge about the purchase and cultivation of nutritious food and vegetables. In addition, children at the ECDC (Early Childhood Development Center) are guaranteed play, fun, education and safety, which play an important part in child development. 

In children’s clubs, children have the opportunity to organize their own activities and learn about clean water, hygiene and nutrition. 

For women in this community, monthly meetings are held to raise awareness of thrifty and effective households, nutrition, early childhood development and child marriages. An attempt is being made to improve the livelihood of female group members by lending to women.   

Achievements 

Early Childhood Development Centre 

• Thanks to new learning materials and free lunch there are now 153 children (aged 3 to 5) enrolled in the ECDC.  
• Children can sing rhymes and recite the alphabet.   
• Children look cleaner and healthier than before, their health and hygiene are gradually improving.  
• Students get a hygienic lunch.  
• Simple and safe storage of teaching materials now possible (division into different study corners, for example math corner, English corner etc.)   
• There is now simple medical care in the ECDC. 

Child Club 

• The kids club has been able to organize regular activities themselves. These include monthly meetings, the publication of the “Wall Magazine” and the organization of various competitions. 
• The participants of a training camp were informed about the importance of the children’s club for the improvement of the school environment. Other training sessions educated about club management, the role and responsibility of senior management, clean water, hygiene, children’s rights and nutrition.   
• Nine kids clubs are now fully functional 
• Painting competitions, folk song competitions and speech competitions were organized 
• 47 students took part in the competitions and more than 500 visitors were present 
• Participants of the project were informed about the nutritional status of Nepal and what the next steps are to improve the situation. 
• Participants of the project learned first aid techniques and various disaster preparedness techniques. 
• Participants of the project learned about human behavior and child psychology.  
• Employees were made aware of child rights and child protection policies. 

Woman groups 

• Investments were made to create jobs for women to cover their livelihood in the future.  
• The female group members have knowledge of the accounting system and policies to be followed during the financial transaction. 
• The members of the women’s group were sensitized to hygiene and child marriage. 
• 900 mango, 400 lychee, 400 lemon and 13100 cardamom seedlings were distributed to 177 members of the women’s group.  
• A street drama about violence against women, a folklore contest on women’s rights and various fun games were organized. 53 women from 7 women’s groups took part and more than 400 people attended the event. It helped to raise awareness about women’s rights and prevent violence against women. 

General 

• 140 households receive clean water and water-borne illnesses are decreasing. 
• The construction of M-ICS helped to guarantee hygienic food preparation in the households.  
• After the construction of a water reservoir in the municipality of Chilife, people now receive clean drinking water. 
• Access to a fair market increases the income of many families. 

Goal
Rehabilitation of substance users and HIV / AIDS sufferers. Socio-economic empowerment of young people 

Duration
June 2017 to May 2020 

Location
Bhaisepati, Lalitpur 

Beneficiaries Outreach
34 participants 

Funding Partner 

Implementing Partner
Salvation Nepal 

The Situation (Background)
Teenagers are particularly vulnerable to bad habits such as excessive consumption of alcohol and other drugs due to their low age. Often, this bad habit has become associated with depressive illness. 

Approach (Strategies)
For this reason, Caritas Nepal supports affected youth in the fight against their dependency and prevents them from developing such behavior through an anti-drug campaigns. 

Achievements 

• Many former patients were deployed at the aid center to look after patients as employees themselves. 
• 32 substance users were provided with a rehabilitation facility. 
• 16 rehabilitated people were reintegrated into their families. 

Goal
To encourage poor people to demand their human rights, to support the emerging democracy in Nepal and to improve the housing situation by creating sustainable livelihoods. 

Duration
April 2019 to March 2022 

Location
Saptari, Makwanpur, Kapilvastu, Dang, Gulmi, Palpa,  

Beneficiaries Outreach
Marginalized women and Children, Local Government Offices, CBO’s and cooperatives, Local NGOs, Political representatives 

Funding Partner
KZE and Misereor Germany 

Implementing Partner 

• Bal Utthan Tatha Mahila Sachetana Yuva Club (BUMCYC), Dang 
• Community Energy and Ecological Development Forum (CEEDF), Makawanpur 
• Shreepurraj Community Development Center (SCDC), Saptari 
• Poverty Elimination Center (Peace), Nepal, Kapilvastu 
• Liberation of Oppressed Development Center (LODC), Palpa 
• Social Awareness and Development Campaign (SADEC), Nepal, Gulmi 
• Creative Nepal, Makawanpur 

The Situation (Background)
Especially women and children are affected by social exclusion in the listed districts. Violence against women and child marriages are not uncommon. In addition, the lack of technical and agricultural knowledge aggravates the situation of many families. 

Approach (Strategies)
Disadvantaged women and children are therefore supported by various activities. The project though does not aim to provide as much knowledge as possible to those affected, but rather to network the members of the community with each other, in such a way that those affected benefit from each other. This will be achieved gradually through specific exchange visits, exchange and discussion activities.  

Regular social discussions and exchanges of experiences through street dramas and meetings animate female members and children’s clubs to participate socially. These activities seek to encourage each individual to assert their rights and to realize themselves in order to possibly initiate social change within the society. 

Achievements 

• The initiation of 108 women’s groups resolved cases of violence against women, child marriages and domestic violence. Two cases of domestic violence that could not be resolved by the women’s groups were resolved with the help of the ward and the police office. 
• After frequent discussions on the issue of food sovereignty, a total of 380 households reduced the use of hybrid seeds and started using local seeds. 
• 14 peasant women have begun to produce plant-based fertilizers in order to produce more tasty and competitive vegetables in an ecological way.  
• The concept of permaculture is now practiced by women’s groups. 
• 3 women’s networks in the Kapilvastu district raised concerns about food sovereignty in the community. After a positive response from the municipal administration, the groups were given a say in questions regarding the use of seeds and fertilizers. 
• 2 women’s groups from the Saptari district and 1 women’s group from the Kapilvastu district meet monthly to discuss food sovereignty and develop a plan for local rice farming and seed conservation. 
• 27 women’s groups from the Makawanpur district organized local seed exhibitions in three different locations. As part of the project, seeds from 48 different vegetable and cereal species were exhibited and shared. 
• After discussing the importance of higher education, women became members of the school administration committee to review compliance with the guidelines themselves. 
• 40 children’s clubs helped reduce the consumption of alcohol and domestic violence by raising awareness about these issues through “Wall magazines”.  
• 114 women were motivated to set up micro enterprises such as vegetable farms, grocery stores, livestock farms, tailors and small hotels. As a result, these women are now independent of their husband’s income. 
• 6 women have improved and expanded their business. 
• Within this one-year project, co-operatives increased their total savings by 44.20% and their total funds by 43.17%. 
• In this financial year 58.45% of the cooperative members borrowed from their own cooperative. 
• After mobilizing loans, members of the cooperative could increase their income by 69.89%. 

Achievements 

• In all districts, 40 children’s clubs and 40 youth clubs were founded. At least 2,400 children and young people participate in peace clubs, have benefited directly from CYEP initiatives, and participate in projects which promote children’s rights. 
• The club activities have strengthened the self-confidence of children and adolescents. The participation of women in social affairs has been increased and their freedom of choice improved in the community. 
• More than 1,467 participants from 4 selected districts have received CPP training. The participants have broadened their knowledge and awareness of child protection. After receiving the training, 16 schools immediately established a child protection committee and strongly recommended that employees use CPP methods. 
• At least 1582 students have participated directly in various events, such as street dramas, essay, poetry, debating and art competitions, organized by the target schools of each district. 
• Forty-seven young people benefited from the interactive program, which addressed unsafe labor migration, career development and employment opportunities. 
• More than 474 participants, including school teachers, SMC members, youth club members, community representatives and local leaders, received training on good governance and accountability. Participants have recognized the importance of transparency, accountability and responsibility to minimize institutional corruption. 
• 280,000 rupees were provided as fund support to 40 youth clubs. Each of the four districts received a fund of Rs. 70,000 to help young small farmers. At least 82 young people, including 28 girls and 54 boys, benefited from it. Every single young person received 7000 rupees to start a business. 
• Young people are involved in regular savings and loan activities. The current value of their business is Rs. 1403900 /-. 
• At least 37 young people have received CTEVT-certified vocational training to increase the employment rate of young people in the Dang Jajarkot districts. 
• At least 20 young people from Dang have received a three-month basic computer training. 
• At least 5 youth from Jajarkot received training in mobile maintenance and computer hardware. 
• 12 young people fom  have completed a 315-day training in the manufacture of garments.  

Goal: Increase knowledge and skills on safe migration through awareness and capacity building

Location: Lalitpur, Godawari Municipality – 5, 6 wards. 385 participants.

Period: October 2017 to March 2018

The trend of migration globally has increased significantly in the past decade. Nepal is no different to that. In the period of 1993 to 2015 more than 3.8 million (14% of the total population) work permits were issued by the Nepalese Government. This figure excludes the migrants working in India and those who have migrated illegally. Hundreds of youths migrate each day for work namely to the gulf states.

Lack of ability to pursue safe migration for work and lack of skills needed for accessing employment in foreign countries results in migrants. CN with various vocational and technical capacity building trainings is empowering youths for developing self-confidence to achieve success in their own country which is helping to decrease the number of unsafe migration.

Duration: June 2017 to September 2018

Community Based Disaster Risk Reduction (CBDRR) project was designed to uplift the local dwellers of the Raptisonari Gaupalika of Banke District. This district ranks 26th out of 75 districts in context to vulnerability to floods. On July 2016, the natural course of the river blocked by the Laxmanpur dam and Kalkala embankment constructed by the India breaching international standards, and as per the record maintained by the Kusum based flood recording center the water level in the river was up to 5.70 meters at the center. Due to which around 600 families had been displaced, one person even died. There was a significant damage to vital infrastructure such as roads, irrigation, drinking water facility, agriculture and property. In order to mitigate the risk of the disaster the project is design to Improve  the  livelihood along with building the capacity of vulnerable communities of Rapti Sonari Area.

Duration: May 2016 to July 2019

Caritas Nepal with the financial support from Caritas Germany launched a three-year project entitled“Disaster Risk Reduction Initiatives in Jumla and Mugu Districts”, in Jumla and Mugu. The overall objective of the project was to improve the resilience of vulnerable communities to future potential disasters (earthquakes and climate-induced hazards) leading to improved lives and livelihood security.

The project has been designed to improve the resilience of vulnerable communities towards potential future disasters and to increase food security by strengthening livelihoods opportunities in the communities. The primary beneficiaries of the project were conflict and disaster-affected and those who lived in disaster-prone areas, with special focus on rural poor, women, dalits and people with disabilities. The project has been implemented in four rural municipalities (Tatopani, Tila, Hima, and Kanakasundari) of Jumla; one rural municipality (Khatyad) and one municipality (Chhayanath Rara) of Mugu. The project was working with 12 cooperatives and 12 child clubs to improve the local capacities to identify and implement preventive and mitigation measures to reduce the risk of earthquake and climate-induced hazards and improve and diversify food production and livelihood options for target communities.

The project has covered 1723 HHs (60.64 % were female and 19.2% were Dalits) as the direct beneficiaries and 8334 individuals are the indirect beneficiaries.

Duration: June 2017 to May 2018

The project entitled “Institutional Capacity Building to Sustain the Impacts of Safer School Project (ICB Project) in Udayapur district of Nepal”, had been designed and implemented to ensure the sustainability of previous safer School project’s impacts. It was more like an exit strategy as a project.  The overall project objective of the project was School Disaster Management committee and a local organization are engaged in disaster management activities to increase the resilience of school and community. The strategic objective was Self-sustaining changes are realized and foundation developed for project sustainability and viability of the local organization.

The project activities had implemented in 3 municipalities (Triyuga, Chaudandigadi, and Khambu) of Udayapur district, targeting six higher secondary schools.  More than 500 participants: student, parents, teacher, School Management Committee and NGO staffs were benefitted.

ICB project engaged in a variety of activities contributing to the intended result. The project reformed schools disaster Management Committee (DMC) in all target schools. The project has contributed to improving the institutional capacity and skills of students in DRR through training, Awareness, exposure and developing guidelines and policies.

Goal: Securing survival, safety and dignity of communities

Location: Morang

Period: January 2015 to June 2018

Caritas has been working to prevent trafficking since 1995. Our focus has always been centered on preventing trafficking for forced labor and prostitution.

Since the beginning, we have been providing awareness on trafficking issues through advocacy from the local to national level. Awareness campaigns, street dramas, workshops, TOT (Training Of Trainers), empowerment and leadership trainings are being organized in different parts of Nepal reaching out to the community, particularly children and women.

Through this we have been empowering communities to pursue gender justice concerns such as gender equality, and prevent violence, abuse, exploitation and trafficking. ‘Human beings are not commodities. The value of a human being is immeasurable, human dignity needs to be protected,’ with this message, Caritas Nepal in collaboration with Prakash Saving and Credit Cooperative of Jadah, organized street drama at four places (Don Bosco Chowk, Damauriya Border, Laxminagar and Don Bosco School) of Jadah Municipality, Morang.

Approximately, around 1,500 people observed the drama entitled ‘Price of Human.’ It was an effective public awareness program on anti-trafficking with a mix of typical humor, song, slogan and simple dialogue for empowering people on gender equality and strengthening communities capacity to address gender concerns including prevention of gender violence and trafficking.

Duration: April 2016 to March 2018

Strengthening Community Resilience Program in Mahottari & Dhanusha districts is implemented by our local partner Community Development & Advocacy Forum Nepal Bardibas Mahottari , funded by Caritas Germany and Caritas Nepal. Project was designed for three years. Now, Project was completed in two year & running in third year till March 2019.

The primary problems faced by community supported under the project are climate change adaption, vegetable farming, reducing the use of pesticide,  drought tolerant  paddy seed, improved goat management, preparedness knowledge on disaster management specially on earth quake safety, degraded & reclaim land management by plantation, impact of drought in livelihood, safe drinking water & safe construction practices for irrigation management.

The strategic objective of the project was, Vulnerabilities reduced and capacities enhanced of community and individual household to make safer and resilient against hazards like soil erosion, drought, fire, flash flood and earthquake in propose area of project. The primary beneficiaries of the project were disaster vulnerable people, with special focus on rural poor, women, Dalit and people with disabilities.

In implementation phase, community people, local stakeholders & leaders are assisting in beneficiaries’ selection, staffs facilitate them in process. In this regard, most vulnerable people in terms of poverty, disaster and disadvantage females are selected.  The direct & indirect beneficiaries households proposed in project document were 3,000 & 18,184 respectively. Actual beneficiary households covered by project are 4786 and 8480. Among them the number of female is 4834.

Animation trainings instill in development workers and animators primary values and principles such as respect for human dignity and human rights, and organizing communities for common good in a democratic and inclusive manner. Once they agree on primary values and principles, the animators and development workers are to practice these values and principles themselves and promote the same through their work in the needy locations. Animation encourages development workers to respect the poor, backward and marginalized people and families and engage with them as brothers and sisters to work for change. In this way, animation process encourages local leaders and development workers to take time to understand the people and accordingly find suitable ways to rapport with them and to encourage them to work for social transformation.

Four animation trainings were conducted in the reported period (2017/18) with the financial 1 support from Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and Caritas Germany (CG).

Goal
To increase the quality of life of the Chepang community. To improve the community’s resilience to future disasters. 

Duration
August 2017 to July 2020 

Location
Ichhyakamana Rural Municipality, Chitwan 

Beneficiaries Outreach
527 Households

Funding Partner
Caritas Germany 

Implementing Partner
NRUSEC (Nepal Rural Self Resilience Champaign) 

The Situation (Background)
The Chepang are one of the most deprived indigenous groups in Nepal and are classified as “highly marginalized”. The earthquake in Nepal in 2015 and its aftershocks have contributed to further worsening the living conditions of the Chepang community in the project area. 

Approach (Strategies)
The project supports a wide range of poverty reduction, livelihood, disaster risk reduction, community mobilization and empowerment measures. In the course of this, courses are offered that address better agricultural strategies, group management and child marriages and their bad effects. In addition, hygiene campaigns and training sessions on vegetable cultivation are supported. Children are motivated to go to school regularly in order to reduce their drop-out rate.  

Achievements  

• 527 Chepang households were organized in groups and received training and support to improve their livelihoods.
• Meanwhile, 383 households produce enough vegetables with organic pesticides to feed themselves.
• 355 households have planted 1150 fruit seedlings on steep slopes of their property.
• 15 families are now working as bamboo chair makers after completing their vocational training. They sold 44 chairs, each for 500 rupees, earning 32,000 rupees on average.
• 657 female goats have given birth to a child with the help of breeding farm services. The growth rate and the weight gain of the kids increased by 50%. A total of 2,500 goats were dewormed and vaccinated, which reduced the mortality rate by 70%.
• 383 households have built a new, improved goat shed, and many more have started to clear out their old ones regularly.
• 18 households have started commercial goat farming.
• 2 households have started commercial poultry farming.
• 23 Chepang households received drinking water protection, RVT and 2 taps.
• Twice a month, groups organize a sanitation campaign to keep the environment clean.
• Fifteen women have started selling homemade bamboo chairs in the local market
• 411 households have received basic IAM training.
• 6 people received training on the castration of goats. Now there is a price difference between castrated and uncastrated goats in the market.
• 30 households received mushroom cultivation training.
• 422 families were sensitized to governmental processes and received scholarship.
• The community has independently set up a health center.