Discourse of Inlcusive Education from Dalit Perspectives in Nepal

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Price: Individual Rs. 75/-, Institutional Rs. 150/-

The opinions expressed in these articles are those of the authors and do not necessarilyrepresent the views of NEPAN.

Year 16, No. 15, August 2014

© NEPAN 2014

Editorial Board Members:Nilkamal C Shrestha (Executive)Chet Nath KanelBrahma Dhoj GurungFatik Thapa

Guest Editors: Yuba Raj Koirala and Mingma Norbu Sherpa (PhD)

Peer Reviewers:Gopal Prasad Tamang Jiwan Malla Keshav Raj Kanel (PhD)Kiran Chalise Lal Bahadur Pun Purna Bahadur Nepali (PhD)Shreeram K C

Special Contribution:Birkha Chhetri (Kranti), Dibesh Sayami

Cover Photo:Well-being Ranking, Khotang(Courtesy: BD Gurung, Rupantaran Nepal, Kathmandu)

Distrubution:Tulasi Sapkota

Press: Dreamworks Printers, Kathmandu, Nepal. Tel: 98510-05177

Published by:Nepal Participatory Action Network (NEPAN)P.O.Box 13791, Kathmandu,Dobhan Tole, Janata Sadak, Koteshwor-35,Kathmandu, NepalE-mail: [email protected]; Website: www.nepan.org.np

Peer Reviewed Journal

2 - 15 l August 2014

CONTENTS

Editorial ................................................................................................. 4

Articles

1. Functional Literacy of Children in Rural Areas in Nepal: Statusand Challenges

DHRUBA RAJ GHIMIRE ............................................................................ 5

2. Contestations in the Leadership of Social Movements: A CriticalReflection from the Tharu Movement in Nepal

MAHENDRA SAPKOTA ....................................................................... 16

3. How to Promote GESI—Responsive Participatory Development in Nepal:GeMSIP’s Approach and Lessons Learned

NORIMICHI TOYOMANE, PhD & TEJ SUNAR ................................... 27

4. Discpirse of Inlcusive Education from Dalit Perspective

SHREE PRASAD DEVKOTA & SHIBA BAGALE ................................. 39

5. Quality Education and Inclusion Issues in Community Schools of Nepal(A CASE STUDY OF A RURAL SCHOOL FROM KAVRE DISTRICT)

CHET NATH KANEL .......................................................................... 46

6. Health Impacts of Climate Change in Asia

JHABINDRA BHANDARI ........................................................................ 57

3

7. An Evaluation Study of Food and Nutrition Project, Dailekh, Nepal

NAR BIKRAM THAPA, PhD ................................................................... 62

8. Children’s Participation in Nepal: Rhetoric to Reality

BHOLA PRASAD DAHAL, PhD ................................................................. 76

9. Child Participation through Children’s Clubs: Perpetuating Exclusion andInequality in Kapilvastu and Pyuthan Districts

INDRA MANI RAI (YAMPHU) ................................................................... 90

10. Coping with Parkinson’s disease: a Real Life Experience

DEEPAK CHAPA (CHAPAGAIN) .............................................................107

Regular features

Book Review .......................................................................................111

NEPAN RC ....................................................................................... 112

Peer Review Policy ................................................................................114

Editorial Policy .......................................................................................115

Letter to the Editor ................................................................................116

4 - 15 l August 2014

EDITORIALThis is the 15th issue of the PARTICIPATION.This issue includes articles that provide us withdifferent perspectives on various issues ofdevelopment of any society, at least of Nepalisociety.Some of the articles in this issue arebased on real life experiences of authorsthemselves like how to cope with Parkinson’sdisease, their symptoms. More importantly, thisissue also includes articles with inclusivepolicies as well as participatory focus onvarious articles like Functional Literacy ofChildren in Rural Areas in Nepal: Status andChallenges and Child Participation throughchildren club respectively.

Despite presence of rules and regulations Nepalhas been facing various problems regardinggender inequality and social exclusion of certaincastes and ethnic groups, which has beencausing problems in local developmentalprocesses. Among others a GESI responsiveprograms has been developed and implementedin Nepal to eradicate those problems. This issuecovers how GESI responsive programs havebeen implemented, its problems and how to useit for participatory development in the article‘How To Promote GESI ResponsiveParticipatory Development in Nepal:GEMSIP’s Approach And Lessons’.It wouldnot be exaggeration to note here that theagendas of this issue should be given prioritynot only by development practitioners, but alsoby politicians, peoples’ representatives andpolicy makers. Hence, these agendas should bediscussed in Constituent Assembly as well.Putting another way, if constituent assemblymembers involve in raising these issues, it will

be helpful to craft a meaningful inclusiveconstitution of Nepal

The issue has 10 articles in total which werewritten by 12 authors as a contribution in a fullyvoluntarily basis. Among the 12 authors, 6 wereNEPAN members, all of them males and theother 6 were non-NEPAN-Members, all of themmales. Similarly, there were 7 peer reviewerswho were NEPAN members as well as othernon-member experts.

Like in its previous issues, this issue of‘Participation’ also includes book review, peerreview policy, editorial policy and a letter tothe editor at the end. We express our gratitudeto all those who have given their unstainedcooperation and contribution in the preparationas well as publication of the issue.

Good News: NEPAN members, old and new,always aim for developing NEPAN as aNational Participatory Development ResourceResearch Centre in future, the long-term vision,and are therefore putting lots of efforts to ensurethat this vision to be materialized. This time,NEPAN has embarked on towards its visionwith a historic decision to have its own officeor ‘NEPAN GHAR’, where NEPAN secretariatwill be permanently housed, and this was along-awaited agenda for action as desired byits members. We are able to purchase thebuilding, which covers 73.53 Sq. metres,located in Kathmandu Metropolitan City-35,Dobhan Tole, Janata Sadak, Koteshwor.

Editorial Board,PA RTICIPATION Annual Journal,

NEPAN

An additional Special (16th) Issue of Participation will be published in February 2015 on thetheme ”Participatory Monitoring & Evaluation (PME)”. Please send in your articles focusing on theabove theme by 30 November 2014. - Editorial Team, Participation Journal

5

Functional Literacy of Children in Rural

Areas in Nepal: Status and Challenges

by DHRUBA RAJ GHIMIRE

Abstract

For sound development, a child should be able to read, comprehend and write in thebasic education system, corresponding to grade and age. In the early grades, childrenbegin learning to read and gradually they should normally shift towards reading to learn.When children cannot read and comprehend well, they cannot get hold of subjects andmost likely to drop out. Without people being literate, the society can hardly come out ofvicious circle of poverty. Although number of children in schools has increased, children’slearning outcome has not improved significantly.

The main objective of the study was to assess the extent the children are acquiring basicskills corresponding to their grade and age, through measurement of their functionalliteracy; and then to discuss the results to the actors of education towards addressing theissues. The study was done with the use of Functional Literacy Assessment Tool (FLAT).Easy to administer, cost effective and efficient; FLAT is one of globally accepted tools toassess the basic skills especially children’s ability to read and comprehend. Given thistool was first time being introduced in Nepal; the secondary objective of the study was toassess effectiveness of FLAT for possible future use in monitoring and evaluation.Undertaken by Design Monitoring and Evaluations Department of World VisionInternational Nepal (WVIN), the study was led by the author.

The study results revealed that the majority of children were not found functionallyliterate. In other words, they are not acquiring basic skills according to their age andgrade, which indicate critical risk in the education quality. Through the deeper analysis,this issue was found associated with poor teaching and learning environment at schoolsand lack of opportunity to study in mother tongue. Higher drop out was observed in theareas with poor functional literacy status.

Key words: Functional literacy, reading assessment, learning outcomes, education

6 - 15 l August 2014

1. Basic Education in Nepal at a Glace

Basic education covers grade 1 to 8according to current policy of Departmentof Education (DoE). Nepal has witnessed asignificant progress in basic education overthe past decade. Approach Paper of 13th

Periodic Plan affirms that investment in theeducation sector has contributedconsiderably to eradicate illiteracy andimprove access to education. There is anencouraging achievement in girls’enrolment. According to the ApproachPaper, girls entering into school increasedfrom 15% in 2001 to 56% in 2011; grade-1intake from early childhood developmentexperience reached 54% and net enrollmentat the primary, basic and secondary levelsreached to 95%, 87% and 31% respectively.

Moreover, Nepal MillenniumDevelopment Goal (MDG) ProgressReport 2013 (2014, pg 23), states that thetransition rate of students from primary tolower secondary level has graduallyimproved, increasing to 87.3% in 2011from 83.4% in 2007. It is notable that allthese changes were possible due tointernational and national priorities oneducation. Education for All (EFA) andMDG had significant influence on policychange of the countries like Nepal. SchoolSector Reformation Plan (SSRP) of Nepal(2009-2014) emerged with goal to ensureequitable access to quality educationthrough rights based approach andpromotion of child friendly environment inschools. To achieve this, government hasadopted policy, legal and institutionalreform measures to promote equitableaccess to education to all at the primaryand secondary levels. The SSRP Evaluation2012 highlights that problems in schoolquality have been a perennial problem.

Various reports have also clearly identifieda number of gaps and challenges in meetingthe objective of Education for All. Forexample, MDG Progress Report 2013,referring to CBS 2011, mentions, “At least4.7% of primary school-aged children arestill out of school. The low primary-levelnet attendance ratio (just 67.2% for boysand 70.2% for girls) implies thatachievements in the net enrolment ratesalone are not enough”. Although there is anincrease in the enrolment rate, there are stillconcerns on attendance and learningachievements. The MDG Reporthighlighting the low quality of education,concludes, “The low quality of teaching iscorroborated by a recent assessment of thelearning achievements of fifth graders whichshows that the mean scores in Nepali,English and mathematics are below 50percent.” Country strategy of UNICEF hasalso highlighted on poor quality of educationin public school. Looking at the trend of SLCgraduate rate, it is below 50% over the past3 years. In 2014, the SLC graduate rate was43.9%; where the rate for public school is28.2% and private school is 93.1%.

Number of years spent in school is low inNepal, indicated by an average of adults: 8.1years (rural 7.5 and urban 9.6 years), whichalso shows low mean of schooling in ruralareas. UNESCO/ EFA Global MonitoringReport 2014 highlights that globally, in lowincome countries, only 14% of the poorestcomplete lower secondary school.Furthermore, Nepal Living Standards Survey2011 states that 34% of the population above6 year’s age has never got into the school,and there is a rural-urban disparity.

Nepal has witnessed increase in the numberof children in the schools, but the qualityof education in the public school is low.

7Functional Literacy of Children in Rural Areas in Nepal: Status and Challenges

Government is good at making goodpolicies but still remains weak inimplementation and quality assuranceaspect. Therefore, time has come toinstitutionalize regular assessment ormonitoring of basic skills of children toensure appropriate programming.

World Vision International Global Centre(WVI-GC) (2011) states that childrenfailing to acquire functional literacy canresult into risk of dropping out of primaryschool, without the ability to function asproductive and effective member of society.Based on the DoE flash report 2012/13,30.1% of children who enrolled in grade-1do not complete grade eight. Ministry ofEducation (MOE) (2013) states thatachievement level of the students is lowerin rural area than in urban area, which is46% and 55% respectively. UNESCO(2014, pg 18) highlights that children arenot developing basic skills in schools andstark inequalities exist. Assessment offunctional literacy can point out theproblems, which can inform thestakeholders to improve the quality and toenable children to continue study into thehigher grades.

2. Functional Literacy and Its Assessment

2.1.Functional Literacy

In a broad term, functional literacy is setof skills for reading, understanding,interpreting, writing and calculating forfunctioning well in his or her group orcommunity. In a basic education system, itis important that a child should be able toread, comprehend and write correspondingto grade and age. If a child cannot read orcomprehend, he or she will not learn.According to UNESCO (2006) definition,‘literacy is the ability to identify,

understand, interpret, create, communicateand compute using printed and writtenmaterials.’ From this definition, reading andcomprehension skills are integral part ofthe literacy. Since skill to read, write andinterpret can be easily measured orassessed, these can also be understood astangible set of skills.

Listening, speaking, reading and writingare integral part of communication skills.Reading should result into comprehensionand both skills are important for a child tobecome functionally literate. For example,if an eleven year child cannot read a storyor reads but cannot understand, the child isfunctionally illiterate; and this indicates thatthe child is unlikely to achieve learningoutcomes. Functional literacy assessmentcan tell if children can read and understand,with respect to the defined age and grade,although it cannot tell other aspects oflearning outcome. But this is important,since acquiring reading and comprehensionskill is foundation for education.

2.2. Tool to assess functional literacy:

There are various tools being used bygovernment, UN and INGOs to assess thelearning outcomes or quality of education andeach tool has its pros and cons. It cannotmeasure all aspects of quality education orlearning outcomes but can inform about these.Main benefit of using FLAT is that it is easyto administer, efficient and cost effective. Thisis suitable for formal education system forthe prescribed age group.

FLAT was developed by WVI-GC basedon the research and learning fromexperience of some other similar tools viz.Early Grade Reading Assessments (EGRA)and Annual Status of Education Report(ASER). Targeted for early grade children,

8 - 15 l August 2014

Table-1: FLAT Rating Scale and Minimum Competency

Level Minimum Competency

1. Can read nothing Reads fewer than 4 out of 5 letters

2. Can read letters Reads at least 4 out of 5 letters

3. Can read common words Reads at least 4 out of 5 words

4. Can read a paragraph Reads of 4 simple sentences with nomore than 3 mistakes

5. Can read a short story Reads story with no more than 3mistakes

6. Can read and understand a story (*) Reads story and gives correct answersto at least 2 out of 3 questions

7. Can read and understand local Reads local materials and gives correctmaterial (*) answers to at least 2 out of 3 questions

*Functional literacy is defined level 5 or above. Minimum level of functional literacy isability to read and understand a story.

EGRA is being applied by internationaleducation development community, includingUSAID/RTI, Save the Children, and Pratham,India. Department of Education (DoE) is inprocess of applying EGRA in Nepal. ASERhas been widely used in India since 2005, tomeasure the learning achievement of children,in rural communities.

The FLAT provides critical information aboutchildren’s foundational and functionalreading skills of the children of post primarystage. Targeted for 11-13 years age group,the tool helps to find out the highest level ofreading children can perform comfortably.Based on their performance, they are groupedinto seven levels. The levels and minimumcompetency defined by FLAT is as below.

3. Process and Methodology

3.1. Process

Functional Literacy Assessment wascarried out in 5 geographic areas, whichare WVIN programme areas, in fourdistricts. The assessment process involvedwide range of stakeholders in differentsteps, viz. Curriculum Development Centreof MoE, WVIN staff (DME Specialists,Education Specialist, programme staff),teachers, assessors, NGO staff and children.The key steps were:

1) Devising appropriate tool in Nepal’scontext: through referring tocurriculum, field testing with feedbacksand finalization

2) First assessment in Udayapur West (i.e.Western part of Udayapur): orientationto assessors, pilot testing withfeedbacks, refining the tool and set ofinstruction, assessment with samplechildren, result sharing with keystakeholders

3) Replication of the assessment in theother four programme areas with theabove-mentioned process

4) Compiling all the data of fiveassessments and analysis by the authorand collating these information withother baseline surveys, which were ledby WVIN DME.

5) Sharing the result with national level


stakeholders including Central ProjectAdvisory Committee of the government

6) Probing the underlying causes of thepoor functional literacy withParticipatory Rural Appraisal (PRA)tools and Focus Group Discussions(FGDs) in Kailali East.

3.2. Sampling and FLAT administration

As prescribed by FLAT, minimum samplesize of 200 for each programme area was

considered. The number of children of 11-13 years ranges from 2700 to 4600 in theprogramme area. In the 95% confidencelevel, the marginal error comes below 3.5%

A sample of 200 out of 4000 & childrenamong (MISSING WORDS HERE)Altogether, 1108 respondents were takenon the basis of proportion to populationsampling (PPS) technique. The followingtable illustrates the programme areas andsample size with gender disaggregation.

The assessment is individuallyadministered to each child and takesbetween 10-15 minutes to complete. TheFLAT is comprised of a series of tests: aletter test, a word test, a paragraph test, astory test and a functional literacy test usingan authentic text from a newspaper ornotice. Depending on the level of the child,they may complete all or some of the tasks.

1) Start with the paragraph section.

2) If the child reads the paragraph with nomore than three mistakes, present the story

3) If the child cannot read the paragraph withmore than three mistakes, present thewords. Each time the child reads a sectioncomfortably, move up to the next level

4) Keep going until you establish the highestlevel at which the child can comfortably read

5) If a child can read the story or the localmaterial and answer 2 questions he/sheis functionally literate

4. Limitations of the study

1) FLAT was applied to age group of 11-13 years children as recommended. Thefindings represent for this age group.

2) The findings cannot be generalized todistrict level since study areascompromised an area having 4-6 VDCs.

3) Expected proportion of outof-schoolchildren of the targeted age groups werenot available in the community duringthe study. This has limited to drawconclusion for out of school children.

Table-2 : Number of respondents according to gender and key characteristics of the areas

District Doti Kailali Sindhuli Udayapur

Programme areas Doti East Kailali East Kailali West Sindhuli East Udayapur West Total

VDCs 6 4 6 6 6 22

WVIN intervention new new 10 years old new new

Ecological region hill Terai Teai mid-hill mid-hill

Boys 143 102 116 105 91 557

Girls 111 122 95 98 125 551

Grand Sample 254 224 211 203 216 1108

10 - 15 l August 2014

5 Key findings and Discussions

5.1 Observation from respondents profile

Chart-1: Number of respondents according to age group in different class

Chart-1 illustrates age-wise and class-wise proportion and number in the sample. Sincethe sample was selected on proportionate to population basis, the distribution shows thatthe largest number of 11-13 years children study in grade-5.

Around 31%, 34% and 35% of the children were from 13, 12 and 11 years respectively.

5.2. Functional literacy according to grade

The table-3 and the chart-2 show apparent positive correlation between grade and levelof performance. On the overall, 28% of children are at level-5 (i.e. can understand astory) and 20% at level-6 (i.e. can understand a local reading material). All of grade-9and 87% of grade- 8 are functionally literate (i.e. at least can understand a story).

Table-3 % of respondents in different performance levels according to their gradesGrade/ Level L-0 L-1 L-2 L-3 L-4 L-5 L-6 Grade wise %

out of school 70% 10% 10% 0% 0% 10% 0% 100%

G-1 5% 2% 7% 14% 9% 19% 44% 100%

G-2 28% 21% 21% 18% 3% 10% 0% 100%

G-3 15% 24% 22% 13% 15% 8% 4% 100%

G-4 10% 13% 19% 19% 13% 18% 7% 100%

G-5 4% 4% 9% 17% 22% 32% 12% 100%

G-6 2% 5% 6% 10% 13% 43% 20% 100%

G-7 0% 1% 2% 7% 16% 36% 38% 100%

G-8 3% 0% 3% 3% 3% 37% 50% 100%

G-9 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 17% 83% 100%

Level wise % 7% 7% 10% 13% 14% 28% 20% 100%

(Source: Field study 2013/ 2014)

11

Table-5: Percentage of functionally literate according to district/ programme area

Area L-0 L-1 L-2 L-3 L-4 L-5 L-6 Total Functionally Required levelliterate % of attention

Doti 4% 11% 13% 17% 21% 20% 13% 100% 33% Critical risk

Kailali E 19% 13% 11% 13% 10% 27% 6% 100% 33% Critical risk

Kailali W 5% 3% 14% 10% 11% 33% 23% 100% 56% High risk

Sindhuli 3% 6% 6% 11% 14% 41% 18% 100% 59% High risk

Udayapur 1% 2% 7% 14% 14% 19% 42% 100% 61% High risk


Functional Literacy of Children in Rural Areas in Nepal: Status and Challenges

Chart-2: Percentage of respondents in different performance levels according to their grades

5.3. Functional Literacy according toareas and districts

From the table-5, Udayapur West has thehighest functional literacy rate (61%) andDoti East and Kailali East, the lowest (33%each). Kailali West, where WVIN’seducation project is operational for 10years, is better than Kailali East, the newprogramme area of WVIN.

Based on the household surveys by WVINin 2013 and 2014, 5-12 years children’s

enrolment rate is as follows: Doti- 80%,Kailali East-88% and Udayapur -85%.Enrolment rate of 17-18 years children isDoti- 61%, Kailali East-71% and Udayapur-70%. The difference in the enrolment ratesat the 5-12 year’s age group and 17-18 yearsbased on the available data shows a trend ofdrop out pattern in the higher ages. When thedrop out pattern is compared with thefunctional literacy, it is observed that the areashaving poorer functional literacy are havinghigher dropout rates in the higher ages.

Table- 4 shows functional literacy levels in cumulative term. Only 48% of the children arefunctionally literate (Level-5 and above). Based on the defined threshold, it is in the criticalrisk level and needs attention. The median lies in level-4. According to the defined threshold,functional literacy below 70% falls in high risk and that below 50% in critical risk.

Table-4: Percentage according to level and its cumulative

Grade/ Level L-0 L-1 L-2 L-3 L-4 L-5 L-6

Level wise % 7% 7% 10% 13% 14% 28% 20%

cumulative 100% 93% 86% 75% 62% 48% 20%

(Source: field study 2013/ 2014)

12 - 15 l August 2014

5.4. Functional literacy and gender

From the analysis, 46% (42%-52% @ 95%confidence) girls and 50% (46.5%-%53.5%@ 95% confidence) boys are functionallyliterate. The difference in girls and boys isnot much different in terms of statisticalsignificance, as the confidence rangesoverlap. Moreover, baseline surveysespecially the household surveys by WVINin these programme area, also tells thatthere are no significant gender gaps inenrollment in the basic level.

However, gender disparity goes wider thehigher levels. There is trend to send boysto expensive private schools and girls tothe public schools, based on the reports1 of

WVIN. There is also a big gap betweenurban and rural areas.

5.5. Functional Literacy and mother tongu

Many literatures affirm that mother tongueaffects the learning. UNESCO (2008, pg4) states, “Children normally require about5 to 7 years of second language (L2)learning before they can learn academicsubjects through this language exclusively”

In Kailali East, additional analysis wasdone to examine the relationship of thefunctional literacy with mother tonguesince 55% of the children had Tharu asmother tongue. The table-6 shows relationbetween performance (functional level) ofthe children and mother tongue.

Table-6: Case study of functional test according to mother tongue (in Kailali East)

Level of Reading Tharu Cumulative Nepali Cumulative No. of children

0 16% 100% 22% 100% 42

1 15% 84% 13% 78% 31

2 10% 69% 13% 65% 25

3 17% 60% 9% 52% 30

4 16% 43% 3% 44% 22

5 25% 27% 29% 40% 61

6 2% 2% 12% 12% 14

Total 100% 100% 225

(Source: field study 2014)

According to table-6, functional literacyrate of Tharu children is 27% and that ofNepali speaking children is 40%. Althoughlanguage could be one of the main factorsof this disparity, other factors like familysupport and peer influence have alsosignificant effect in learning.

In Kailali East, FGDs with teachers,

children and parents was done after theFLAT to explore why 60% of the childrenof 11-13 year’s age group cannot read andunderstand a story. One of the major causesthat came out was lack of opportunities tostudy in the mother tongue. Most of theteachers were from Nepali speakingcommunities and only a few of them would

1 Assessment and design reports of Kailali East, Doti and Udayapur


use Tharu language for the children comingfrom Tharu community. Some of thechildren expressed that they would learn veryquickly if medium were somehow in theirmother tongue as this was a barrier for them.Same expression was there from parents andteachers. A few cases where teachers used

Tharu language as well, the performance ofthe students from Tharu community wasfound better. Based on the FGDs with parentsand children from Tharu and Nepali mothertongues and teachers; it has been concludedthat absence of teaching in mother tongue iscausing slow learning to children.

5.5.1. Status of age appropriate enrolment

On the basis of the standard that a child joins grade-1 at 5 years, the children who wereassessed are expected to be in grades 6, 7 & 8 (i.e. pre-primary levels). But the chart-4below shows that they were far behind the expected grades.

Chart-4: Status of observed and expected grade


6. Conclusion

1) Only 46% of the children of age 11-13can read a story and comprehend. Inother words, the majority of the childrenare not able acquire basic skillsaccording to their age, thus indicating alevel of critical risk. A significantproportion of children of grade 5 and 7(referred in table -3) cannot read theparagraph, which means children are not

acquiring basic skills in the post primarylevel. On the other hand, the areas,where functional literacy is poor, higherdropout rate was found. Thus, inabilityto achieve basic skills is one of the primecauses for the drop out. The poorfunctional literacy indicates there areproblems associated with the quality ofteaching learning. Government has apolicy of child friendly schools topromote child centred and child friendly

14 - 15 l August 2014

teaching learning methodology, and toensure conducive learning environment,but the implementation of policy is veryweak. Children can only get the basicskills and achieve learning outcomes ifthe schools really pay attention on childfriendly concept. Child friendlyenvironment can provide children anatmosphere of learning without fear,maximizing their creativity and makingthe learning effective linking the ideaswith practice. The study has also shownthat the children from child friendlyschools have better level of functionalliteracy rate than from the other schools.

2) One major cause why children are notacquiring basic skills, as indicated bypoor functional literacy, is inadequateopportunity for children to learn inmother tongue. In this study, FGD withthe children and other stakeholders andthe comparative data provides someevidences for this. UNESCO and theorganizations working for educationrecognize that children generally requireapproximately 5- 7 years of secondlanguage learning before they caneffectively learn academic subjects in thesecond language exclusively. In Nepal’scase, where some local languages havea level of commonalities with Nepalilanguage (such as Tharu, Maithili,Bhojpuri), it will not take that time tolearn Nepali. However, the children fromnon-Nepali speaking children couldlearn quickly if medium of instructionin the classroom were the mothertongues.

3) FLAT has been proved a good tool toquickly assess whether post primarylevel children are acquiring basic skillsor not. The FLAT results, when sharedwith the schools, are accepted byschools. The reliability of the tool hasbeen confirmed by consistency checkingthrough re-assessing with approximately20% of the same children later duringFGDs. In the consistency checking 90%of the children had the same result duringFGDs. FLAT tool can be a goodmonitoring tool for District EducationOffices to improve the education. This canbe an awareness raising tool for parents,school management committees andmeans for advocacy at the local level.

4) At the central level, it is advised thatgovernment and actors in educationadopt FLAT for monitoring andevaluations. While adopting FLAT,EGRA tool is also something to beconsidered as well. EGRA deals withearly grades and FLAT with post-primary; and combination of both cangive comprehensive status of children inbasic level. Literacy boost programme,adopted by Save the Children- Nepal,seeks to improve learning outcomesthrough reading assessment, teacherstraining and community action. Asmentioned before, FLAT can be takentogether with EGRA for the readingassessment. Therefore, it isrecommended that actors in educationviz. DoE, UN agencies, INGOs need towork in collaboration in terms of sharingand applying the best practices includingselecting effective monitoring tools.


References

Central Bureau of Statistics (2002). National population and housing census 2011: National report.Kathmandu: Government of Nepal, Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS).

Department of Education (2012). Midterm evaluation report of school sector reform plan. Kathmandu:Government of Nepal. Retrieved from http://www.ncf.org.np

Department of Education (2013). Flash report 2012/13. Kathmandu: Government of Nepal. Retrieved fromhttp://www.doe.gov.np

Gove, A. and Wetterberg, A. (2011). The Early Grade Reading, Assessment: Applications and interventionsto improve basic literacy. RTI- USA.

Ministry of Education (2013). National assessment of student achievement (NASA). Kathmandu: EducationReview Office.

Nag, S.; Chiat, S.; Togerson, C., & Snowling M..J.; (2014). Education rigorous literature review: literacy,foundation learning and assessment in development countries: DFID. Retrieved from: http://r4d.dfid.gov.uk

National Planning Commission (2013). An approach paper to the thirteenth plan. Kathmandu: Governmentof Nepal, National Planning Commission (NPC).

PRATHAM-India (2013). Annual status of education report, 2013. India: PRATHAM Retrieved from http://unesdoc.unesco.org

Regmi, D. R. (2011). Multi-lingual education in Nepal: Policy and practice. Kathmandu: Retrieved fromhttp://cdltu.edu.np

Save the Children (2012). Literacy Boost Toolkit : Introduction. Kathmandu: Retrieved from http://www.savethechildren.org

UNESCO (2014). Improving the quality of mother tongue-based literacy and learning: Case studies fromAsia, Africa and South America. Bangkok: UNESCO Publishing. Retrieved from http://unesdoc.unesco.org

UNESCO (2014). Teaching and learning: Achieving quality for all (Summary). France: UNESCO Publishing.UNESCO (2014). Teaching and learning: Achieving quality for all. France: UNESCO Publishing.UNESCO/World Education Forum (2013). Education for all: Global monitoring report 2013. France:

UNESCO Publication. Retrieved from http://www.unesco.orgUNICEF (2013). Country programme action plan, 2013-2017: Between government of Nepal and UNICEF.

Kathmandu: Author.United Nations Country Teams of Nepal (2013). Millennium development goals: Progress report 2013.

Kathmandu: Author.Word Education Forum (2000). The Dakar Framework for Action: Education for All, Meeting our

Commitments. France: UNESCO.World Vision International (2013). Functional literacy assessment tool field guide. Retrieved from <http://

www.wvi.orgWorld Vision International Nepal (2013). Child well-being report 2013.Kathmandu: WVIN (Unpublished).World Vision International Nepal (2013). Baseline surveys reports: Doti West, Kailali East and Udapur

West. WVIN (unpublished) Retrieved from www.wvcentral.orgWorld Vision International Nepal (2014). Assessment and design reports: Morang and Sunsari ADP. WVIN

(Unpublished).

(The author is Design, Monitoring & Evaluations Manager at World Vision International, Nepal)

Email: [email protected]

16 - 15 l August 2014

Contestations in the Leadership of

Social Movements: A Critical

Reflection from the Tharu Movement

in Nepal

by MAHENDRA SAPKOTA

Abstract

Globally, social movements and protest activities in contemporary societies have been acommon phenomenon, and Nepal remains no exception to this. They are becomingintermediary power to challenge the State-led political mainstream and developmentaffairs. With a long history, Tharu movement is a part of such movement discourses inNepal. The leadership, however, has not been dealt in detail for scholarly research andacademic analysis. The leadership claims to be the real representative of the people, butempirically there is a huge gap in between the people’s expectations and the moralityand sacrifice of the leaders. In this context, the present paper analyses the contestationsin the leadership of Tharu movement from a broader perspective of social movements. Itis hereby argued that the leadership was becoming degenerated and elite-centric at thebest in representing the poor people’s grievances. With a social constructivist epistemologyand a qualitative methodological approach, the study was conducted in 2013 in Dangdistrict of western Nepal.

Key words: Social movement; Tharu movement; leadership; identity

1. The study context

Social movement (SM) is a mode of socialmobilization that can be organized ascollective behavior for or against any kindsof social change in the societies. Leadershipconstitutes an important dynamics of SMstudies (Tilly, 2004; Tarrow, 2011). Theleaders play a key role in inspiring

commitments, mobilization of resources,utilization of opportunities and fightingagainst the constraints, framing demandsand leading the outcomes. However, anumber of scholars realize that leadershipin SMs has still to be theorized andcontextualized (Aminzade, Jack &Elizabeth, 2001; Barker, 2001; Habermas,

17

1987; Morris, 2000). Some of them (e.g.Harvey, 2005) argue that the SM attributesare more structured and rigid in the contextof globalisation. They persistently focus oninstitutional and strategic framework of themovement. Contesting this rigid andstructural approach, some researchers (e.g.Diani, 2000) also argue for post-structuralframework of SM. According thisperspective, SMs are loosely organized andthey may change their objectives, evenshifting from on one type of movement toanother. All these debates and issues alsoring true in Nepal with a rapid emergenceof different kinds of SMs and non-Stateactors in the country (Manandhar, 2011;Sapkota, 2012; Sapkota, 2014a).

With this outset, the present paper analysescontestation in leadership taking a casestudy of Tharu movement (TM). Themovement claims to represent one of thelargest indigenous ethnic groups, theTharus, living abundantly in the Terairegion of Nepal. Theoretically speaking,there is a continuum between linearity andnon-linearity in the TM leadership. Afterthe People’s Movement 2006, thiscontinuum has been complicated with theemerging gaps between theory vs. practice,agency vs. structure, opportunities vs.constraints, and central leadership vs. localleadership. Further, the leadership ofmovement has been increasingly contestedin the emerging debates regarding thedrafting of Constitution and State-restructuring process (Sapkota, 2014a).Among other factors, the Terai region ofNepal has been much fluid to prop differentkinds of regional and ethnic protests, wherethe Tharus have claimed for their regional

autonomy and ethnic rights. However, therole of leadership in the TM has been inquestion – the question of ideological andempirical – to justify their legitimacy andauthorship to lead and represent the people.In this context, this paper seeks the answerof following key research question:

“How has the TM been subject to itscontestation in the leadership?”

2. Methodology

The present article is basically a researchpaper, taking the SM leadership as a keyanalytical question from the view point ofTM. The study site was selectedpurposively; the Dang district, a district ofNepal’s mid-western region. Historically,the region boosts a strong background ofTM and peasant’s resistances (Regmi,2011). According to the National Census(2011), total population of Dang district is5,52,583 constituting more than one thirdof Tharu1 followed by other castes likeChettri, Magar and a few Madhesi (CBS,2012). Thus, historical legacy and presentdemographic-geographic setting of theDang depicts the rationality of selection ofstudy site. Following a qualitativemethodological approach, a dozen of in-depth interviews, half dozen of focusedgroup discussions and some incidentalobservations were conducted to dig out themicro-level issues of the leadership2.Methodologically, the research has situatedin a logical contestation of the conventionalapproach of leadership, what the presentstudy has conceptualized as “degenerationof movement leadership”. The paper wasdesigned to be socially constructive in itsepistemology.

1There is a heterogeneous setting of Tharu community, culturally and geographically. The Tharus of Dang are popularly known as ‘Dangaura’.2The researcher had classified research participants as being representative of three distinct groups: a) general people (women, wage laborand farmer, in particular); b) the State actors (the government authorities or bodies) and; c) the non-State actors (the civil society and theTM activists).

Contestations in the Leadership of Social Movements: A Critical Reflection from the Tharu Movement in Nepal

18 - 15 l August 2014

3. Discussion and analysis

In recent years in Nepal and the beyond,the changing mode of leadership, formationof public sphere and collective identity andadoption of new strategies, etc. are beingimportant aspects within the SM studies.This study perceived the leadership asstrategic and ideological decision-makers(or a system of decision making) who claimto organize and to represent the Tharupeople and inspire them for participation.Following this, the term ‘leadership’ hasbeen used as an institutional metaphor todenote the leaders in a holistic way. As apart of this discourse, the following werethe main dimensions of the TM leadershipin Nepal:

i) Leaders, followers/actors and

opponent’s dimension

It is generally agreed that leadershipdepends on the correlation of leaders,followers and opponents. Some authors(Edlemann, 2005; Little 1985) argue thatit is the leadership qualities that reflect thecumulative nature of these attributes. In thecontext of TM, this correlation is somehowcomplex and unique too. Historically, TMwas virtually represented by Tharu WelfareSociety (TWS). Established in 1949, thesociety involved in the welfare affairsrather than in the movement activities. Inthis context, existing constituency ormembership of TWS was converted intothe local leaders of the TM. The leadershipappealed Tharu people to participateactively in the movement. In Dang district,there was a kind of compulsory appealingsystem (jhara) where the village heads(aguwas) called for participation, while theresearcher also observed some kind ofspontaneous and conscious participation ofpeople. The participants, in turn, became

‘followers’, and with this, leadershipcreated different line networks andsearched for common ground of all thepartner organizations, from a ward toVillage Development Committee (VDC),from that VDC to district, and district tonational context.

But, the leadership of the TWS lost theirlegitimacy with the rapidly changingpolitical and social scenarios in the country.Moreover, they were divided andfragmented. There was quite contradictionand lack of consistency in their perceptions.Nationally, the anti-Madhes sentiment wasbecoming popular among the Tharus,though there were only a few Madhesipeople in the district (more in Deukhuriregion) and the sentiment was not so muchantagonistic and erratic as was beingadvocated in Kathmandu-based leaders andmedia. Consequently, this crisis led to theformation of Tharuhat Joint StruggleCommittee (TJSC) in 2009 which starteda regressive campaign to mobilize anumber of movement organisations andgroups nationally and locally. The TJSCsought to change the conventionalleadership mode encouraging more activeand widespread involvement of membersand networks. The number of movementparticipants gradually increased and theperiods of demonstration were extendedaccordingly (for example, in Dang 49 dayswere called the ‘bandas’ during 2011-2013). The coverage of the movement alsowidened from the Ghorahi and Tulsipur tothe village levels. Lamahi bazar was oneof such emerging epicenter of themovement, where many people fromnearby VDCs (e.g. Lalmatiya, Satbairya,Sishaniya, etc.) used to come andparticipate. In focused group discussions,the researcher came to know that hundreds

19

of people got injured and four peoplebecame ‘Tharuhat martyr’. The leaders alsoreformulated the agendas of the movementinvolving various political and economicclaims, such as revenue collection atLamahi bazar, declaration of Tharuhat Statein Tulsipur, etc.

All these things reflected some implicationsfor the relationship between leadership andparticipant’s representation making a widerpublic face of the movement. Thecomposition of the class, caste, gender,educational attainment and regionalbelongingness all seemed to be crucial inthe representation in the movement. Mostof the leaders were found to be from theupper class, urban-centric, comparativelyhigh educational attainment and male-biased. The well-being ranking3 of the topleaders found to belong upper ranking, i.e.having more valued land, additionalincome sources and food secured. The mostof the leaders in study areas have their ownhome and businesses in renowned townsand market centers, e.g. Ghorahi, Tulsipurand Lamahi. Though the massiveparticipation of the women was reported,there were no women in the top threeleadership positions of the district levelcommittees either of the TWS or of TJSC.It was almost grabbed by males, who werealso the members or leaders of other localinstitutions, such as co-operatives, usergroups, and Tharu cultural groups. Womenwere just given the leadership of lesspowerful saving groups (compulsoryprovision), induced by local NGOs and co-operatives. There were two women-led co-operatives initiated by TWS in ChailahiVDC, which had about 2,050 women

members in total. In a study, Sapkota(2014b) has also highlighted the role ofthese co-operatives from a perspective ofpoverty reduction and economicempowerment of women in the region.

Unlike in the conventional movements,there was a less (and, decreasing) room forpatron-client relationship in the leadershipof TM. There were various causes behindthis. It was because of the politicalunwillingness in young generation andadditional income sources of the leadershiphouseholds. They did not like to take anyrisk or loss from the movement in one handand the benefit of the movement ultimatelywent to the families/relatives of the leadersirrespective their participation or sacrificein the movement.

On the other hand, the most of the followerswere from lower well-being ranking,inhabitant of the rural remote areas (thoughthe demonstrations were massive in theemerging towns with road and marketnetwork). These people possessedcomparatively low education rank, andhaving less valued landholding, they alsosuffered from tenancy issues, foodinsecurity and seasonal or dependentincome sources. The followers were lessaccessed to the leadership positions of themovement organisations and other power-based institutions. In initial days of a longstrike in 2013, there were small mobs andthe followers were inactive and less violent.In the latter days, however, their activenessand participation gradually increased (evenbecame violent in some places, particularlyin Lamahi and Sisahaniya) and the mobsturned into larger demonstrations. The role

3 Based on the in-depth interviews and focused group discussion, the well-being ranking was established by the researcher. Well-being, here,has been perceived as multi-dimensional issue involving both material (e.g. income, landholding, food security, etc.) as well as non-material(e.g. social identity, prestige, participation, etc.) issues.


20 - 15 l August 2014

of movement participants graduallymodified into ‘movement actors’ from the‘movement followers’. However, manypeople from the domain of followers thinkthat the movement leaders andorganizations could not lead them to theend of the TM. This was what some of theresearch participants also criticized theleadership to be unable in fulfilling andbinding commitments for the sake of theirfollowers and supporters. For example, oneof their counter-claims was as:

“You are asking me about the leaders? Letme ask about us: what did we get fromthem? What did they give us? Weparticipated day and night in the Lamahibazar, but the top leaders enjoyed atKathmandu. And the result is nil.”(Personal communication, September 5,2013)

ii) Innovative dimension: Moral and

ideological

The nature of leadership is extensivelyqualified by the role of creativity, innovationand networks in SMs (Hollstein, 2010). TM,by nature seems to be rooted with the pursuitwith new political identities and culturalpatterns, ranging from day to day problemsto long-term emancipation. To move suchpursuit, people are easily dreamed out bythe leadership; and the dream ofemancipation is more convincing. In Dang,the Tharu people were expressing differentkinds of economic burdens (poverty,unemployment and low wage), political-social exclusion, and land and tenancy issues– being the crucial factors for theirbackwardness. These issues along with theshifting occupation, emerging expectations

and growing awareness among the Tharuswere materialized by the movementleadership. The leaders accommodated themas being the ‘true granter’ of theemancipation of the poor Tharu people. Assuch, in a recent interview (personalcommunication, December 13, 2013) oneof the district-level Tharu leaders said:

“We [leaders] can eradicate all the evilsfrom the society; the exclusion against theTharus. We are committed for the people’semancipation through the Tharuhat…TheTharuhat will guarantee the emancipationof all the Tharus”.

The Tharu leaders were also expected tobe weighting of different qualities, such asability to inspire, activate and empower anddecisiveness. Some people also expecteda kind of military qualities, authoritariancommand and violent mobilization fromtheir leadership. The Tharuhat brigade4 wasalso practiced in western Nepal, includingDang, though it could not run for long term.By contrast with these expectations ofpeople, the Tharu leaders followed mereelectoral policies, i.e. appealing, attractingand casting out votes in electoral contests.This led to a shifting of movementdiscourse into a political (party) discourse;for example, formation of Tharuhat TeraiParty Nepal in 2012. Some scholars (e.g.Sarvahari & Jha, 2013) also argue that thiskind of transformation of the TM is notirrational. However, it could lose the charmof SMs to represent and mobilise the peoplebecause it is evident (in many Asian andLatin American countries) that the SMs arethe better alternatives to the political partiesin bringing social changes in the societies.The shifting of a SM into a political party

4Tharuhat brigade was a kind of non-military reserved force of youths organized to support the Tharuhat movement, particularly in the westernTerai districts including Dang. The number of total members in this brigade was about 20, 000 (however, the statistics is debated).

21

and its participation into election is indeeda crucial research issue in future.

There is a problem, therefore, withtheoretical approaches regarding onclaimed assumptions and perceivedoutcomes. Like other movements, TMleadership explored their movementpropagandas with a greater degree ofmorality. They were thought to be ‘moralicon’ and ‘true emancipator’ of the Tharupeople. But empirically, they were heavilycriticised to be largely deviated fromobedience, loyalty, solidarity, sacrifice andcollective welfare.

The agendas of Tharuhat autonomy andethnic identity were documented, and wall-painting was also common everywhere.However, there were contradictory ideas ofthe leaders. They expressed different viewsin different contexts (e.g. with theresearcher in interview and FGD; and withpublic in their writings, speech and mediainterviews). Meanwhile, when the TM wasat its peak in 2012, some of the Tharuleaders of Dang made a common alliancewith a Madhesi alliance of movement.Later on in 2013, they went for anotherMadhes-based party. This created a hugecontradiction in the TM leadership. Aftersome months, they returned back in the TMand claimed to be the central leaders. TheTharuhat autonomous council which had astrong background in Dang got also splitinto different factions. Meanwhile, somemembers of the TJSC also claimed that thecommittee was just a puppet of majorpolitical parties, including the Maoists,Nepali Congress and Unified MarxistsLeninists. In turn, the followers becamedepressed with their leadership, and theyaccused the leaders to be corrupted, selfish,authoritarian opportunist and money-

centric. Some of the participants werefeeling guilty and regretful for theirparticipation in the movement. When theresearcher met with some people who gotinjured in the movement, they were almostregretting their sacrifice, and now theybecame ashamed. They thought that theyhad been just used in the movement andnow thrown away. Even some local leadersalso expressed their pessimism about thefuture of TM, and they were moreunsatisfied with the top (central) leaders ofthe movement. In a personal conversation(November 20, 2013), the researcher gotwondered with a lamentation expressed byone of the research participants that:

“I also participated in the movement, andgave a full time in the strike, but what did Iget? Nothing…the central leaders becameselfish and saleable in the market (lilami).There is no value of local leaders and localpeople! No!!”

iii) Dimension of public sphere and

identity formation

The public sphere of SM can be perceivedsimply as the ‘totality of the audience’ ofthe movement (Singha Roy, 2010). In thecontext of TM in Nepal, the public sphereincludes the Tharu people (actors) inparticular and the other people (spectators)in general. Whether and how the leadershipinteracts with public sphere is one of thebasic issues of SM, bridging the gapbetween the leaders and followers.

However, the nexus between TM andpublic sphere within the frontiers ofdevelopment has been very complex in theDang. In terms of the both processes, thelocal community as a whole constituted thepublic sphere of any kinds – Tharu and non-Tharu. This was gradually undergone into


22 - 15 l August 2014

the process of modernization andurbanization, expansion of media andinformation services, improving means oftransportation. In particular, the Maoist’sarmed insurgency (1996-2006) and thePeople’s movement 2006 have playedcrucial role in this transformation. Thoughsome development indicators (e.g. literacy,fertility, private sector and market) haveimproved significantly in the last decade, thetransformation could not easily reach to thebottom of the society. The researchparticipants were revealing great contest inexisting inequality and unemployment. Thedevelopment was suffered by state-biasedorientation, creating an advantageous poolfor the local elites. The power structurewithin the Tharu community was highlyunequal, lagging the majority of the women,small farmers, wage labour sat behind. Theywere just treated as electoral equipment forthe survival of electoral democracy in theregion.

With this dynamics, a critical mass ofpeople was gradually emerging along withthe contemporary development affairs.Like other SMs in the country (ethnicmovements, in particular), TM leadershipgrabbed such a mass into its sphere andappealed for a collective protest.Participants started to be organized andlocal networks were developed up to theward (village) level. There were altogether12 types of such networking organizationsin the district, including TWS, TJSC, youthassociation, Tharu brigades, and so on.Tharu identity formation was a commonthrust of the movement, and almost allresearch participants revealed it as the mainagenda of the movement. Some of theNepalese scholars termed it in differentways: the identity politics, the identity

formation, agitation politics, oppositionalpolitics, etc. (Baral, 2012; Sapkota, 2014c).However, the interesting fact is that theidentity in the context of TM has neitherbeen well-defined nor described. Thoughthe formation of identity is highlycontextual, the identity claimed by the TMleadership was also being contradicted withwhat the identity claimed by the localpeople. Broadly speaking, the formation of(politics of) identity has been coupled witha number of issues, which the researcherdiscussed in the following sections:

iv) The identity formation within the

Tharu community

It was purely a caste and ethnicity-basedsolidarity. In this kind, Tharu we-feelingwas common and the Tharu bondage wasa must. There was honor and proud ofTharu culture and economy including theanimalist religion, arts (wood, grass andmud), historical Tharuhat autonomy (thedynasty of King Dangisharan), agriculturaloccupation and indigenous knowledgesystem (regarding farming, elephantdomestication and treatment of malaria andtyphoid). Virtually, there seemed a kind ofcommon understanding of the TM; itsleadership, agendas and strategies. Thereexisted a functional unity for the sake ofTharu identity. This kind of unity, however,largely ignored the internal contractionwithin the Tharu community, i.e. powerstructure, elitism, feudalism, exploitation,landlordism, and problems of landlessnessand tenancy, etc. Sociologically, thisconstruction of the movement was guidedby ethnocentrism; feeling of difference andsuperiority than the other castes or ethnicgroups. According to this claim, the TMwas an ethnic movement, organized by andfor the Tharu indigenous group.

23

v) The identity formation inside and

outside the Tharu community

It was class-based solidarity, where certaingroups having similar kinds of social statusand economic characteristics tended tounite for their common welfare. Politicallyit happened in two ways:

At first, the dynamics of leadership andidentity formation was “from the below”.The disadvantaged sections of the Tharucommunity feel deprived and marginalizedthemselves and their consciousness leadsthem to be organized for their well-beingand emancipation. This kind of solidaritydeveloped among the Tharu poor anddisadvantaged people, and the solidaritygradually shifted to search the poor anddisadvantaged people of other communitiesor caste/ethnic groups. There was nonegation of Tharu indigenousity (cultural);rather it was an extension of causalitybehind the Tharu indigenousness. Inparticular, poor farmers, wage labors,unemployed youths and landless peopleformed this kind of collective identity. Inthe public demonstrations, many peoplefrom other communities also supported,some participated and injured too. Themovements of kamaiya5 and kamalari6 landright movement could be the goodexamples for this collective identity.However, the role of NGOs in themovement was essentially contested. Theofficials of some local NGOs, particularlybasic education society (BASE) andFriends of Needy Children (FNC) claimedthat they really advocate the issues ofkamaiyas and kamalaries (rehabilitation

and resettlement). When the researchertriangulated this claim at the local level,most of the research participants said thatthey were being helped by such NGOs. Oneof ex-kamalari blamed that:

“It is the FNC who is helping us to liberatefrom our slavery. The Tharu leaders andmovements do not know our problem at all,but they [NGOs] do it. The FNC has alsoprovided us some technical training; so thatnow we [some kamalaries] have opened ownbeauty parlor in Ghorahi”. (Personalcommunication, December 3, 2013)

This was an irony to the movementleadership (as well as to the local leadersof the major political parties), who werebeing turned off about such issuesaddressing as movement agendas. If theleadership does not work even equal orgreater than a NGO or NGO officials, whatdoes it indicate other than frustration andincapability of the leaders. Some of theresearch participants also blamed NGOs tobe a puppet of the donors and the leadersto be the puppet of such NGOs in turn7. Italso indicates the decrease of movementleadership authority. Many people, whowere neither the Tharus nor the movementactivists, were still contributing in theliberation of kamaiyas and kamalaries (seealso Sapkota, 2014b). In the Deukhuriregion of the district, there were somecommon networks of TM includingfarmers and wage labors, where manydalits, wage labors, farmers and poorpeople participated actively. In this way,these type of collective identities wereconditioned from bottom to up and initiated

5Kamaiya is a kind of bonded labour system practiced in mid-western and far-western regions of Nepal. Though the Government of Nepalreleased 18,291kamaiyas from their bondage on 17 July 2002, the issue of rehabilitation is still unresolved.6Kamalari is a female bondage system, practiced in the mid-western and far-western Terai region of Nepal, particularly in Tharu community.Kamalari movement was started from Dang district and then expanded to other districts. Recently in 2013, the system has been outlawed bythe Government of Nepal, though there are some hidden practices in some places. Kamalari movement is still ongoing.7 See also Sapkota (2012) for the role of international donor agencies in fuelling the TM.


24 - 15 l August 2014

from the below of the social structure.Strategically, it was more progressive(sometimes radical), but less organized in nature.

Second, there was another kind of alliancebetween the upper elites of the TMorganizations and groups – the dynamics“from the top”. Some of them grabbed themovement leadership, some remained incivil societies, and some remain totallyinactive in the movement. Most of theseelites were politicians, bureaucrats, richfarmers, businesspersons, and peoplehaving larger landholding size. Theirunorganized alliance gradually shifted insearching of the co-ordination with theelites of the other communities or caste/ethnic groups. It was seen in theorganizational form where the leadershipwas picked up by these elites. The leadersand members of the different power-basedinstitutions of society (including local co-operatives, political parties and civilsocieties, and chambers of commerce – inGhorahi, Tulsipur, Bhaluwang and Lamahi)tried to make such a collective identity infavor of their economic and social interests.This kind of collective identity wascounter-progressive and hegemonic innature, which virtually talked about thesocial change, but did not want to lose theprivileges of elites as a result of themovement. It also wanted to prevent themovement going in the hand of deprivedsections of society, the poor and ruralTharus. Thus, this kind of collectiveidentity did not help to change the powerstructure of society in essence; rather thewhole attempt was paid in the maintenanceof the status-quo.

vi) Uneven power distribution andstructure of leadership

In social movement discourse, discourse of

power claims is for a basic ideology as wella strategy. However, the discourse isbasically concerned with the power structureof the society, and which is ultimatelyreflected into the leadership itself. In thecontext of the TM, power dynamics withinthe leadership is less debated, however.When the researcher did leadership analysisfrom the Venn diagramming it was clear thatthe influence of local leaders in local politicsand development affairs were significantlyhigh; they often lived in comparatively moreexcessive areas; the leaders occupied the keypositions in different groups andorganisations; and the distance of the homesof leaders and the main settlement in thevillages was comparatively high because oftheir preference to live in the nearby townsand market centres. The patron-clientleadership, however, in the TM was rarelyobserved except some cases in the ChailahiVDC of Dang. Further, the well-beingranking of leaders also revealed the samemessage regarding the unequal powersharing. The ideal images of the Tharuleaders – the true emancipator (muktidata)and people’s representative (jana-pratinidhi)- were being eroded in the villages and thepeople perceived them as a very selfish,money-centric and opportunistic.

On the other hand, when the researcher sawthis kind of uneven power structure withinthe contemporary leaders of TM– theresearcher got wondered at first. Historically,most of the Tharu leaders were also fromthe upper class groups; comparativelyhaving sound economic, political, social andagricultural (particular land-holding) status.A few of them entered into the Panchayatregime and assisted the king-led movementfor many times. While on the other side,particularly in the Dang, most of the Tharuleaders involved in communist party and

25

they led peasant’s movements in thedifferent parts of the region.

Further, in recent years, there was agrowing tension between the political party(movement) and social/ethnic movement.most of the research participants did notknow about the difference, rather theyperceived the political parties as moretested and the TM was yet to be tested.Contesting this, the activists of themovement argued that the movement wasthe alternative solution of the politicalparties who failed to address the ethnicrights of the Tharus and demands of self-governance. According to this claim,political parties and social movements werejust two competitive and not supportivesocial phenomena of the society. Theactivists of political parties (even non-Tharus) put the same arguments. Ironically,some of the Tharu leaders who claimed in2012 the political parties as the ‘hinderingfactor’ of emancipation established aTharu-based political party in 2013. Thisadded another contestation in the boundaryline of political parties and socialmovements. But while this researcher waswith the local poor people and women theydid focus on the structure of the leadershipagain. They claimed that the leadership wasnow being shifted from political parties tothe TM. No newness and alternation wasbeing developed. Both kind of leadershiphad failed to address the local people’sgrievances. Rather, they belonged to therich class and worked with vested intereststo collect the power themselves andextended the vote-banks. Thus, here theresearcher argue that the elites of societiesare being created, recycled and repeated inthe name of leadership of social movementsin general and of the TM in particular.

4. Conclusion

Theoretical implication of leadership seemedto be very critical in the TM which has beenconditioned by ideology, strategies,organization and people’s mobilization.Indeed, TM is one of the ancient SMs ofNepal and the leadership constitutes a majorpart of it. However the structure of leadershiphas different dimensions including thecontinuum of leaders and followers,innovative dynamics and formation of publicsphere and collective identity.

With this, there is a kind of shift in the modeand structure of the TM. The follower andleaders linkage became weak, the innovativenature of the leadership was also poor andthe morality became questionable. On theother hand, ideological conflict transformedthe movement into a mere ‘strategic’ affairof the leadership, rather than making theleaders as true ‘emancipator ’ of thegrassroots people. The identity seemed tobe a vague and fluid agenda, being grippedonly in the domain of “caste and ethnicity”of the Tharus. The day to day problems ofpeople were gradually losing their gravityto be the agenda of the movement. Inconsequence, previously neglected issuesand constituencies — relating to identity,gender, race, landlessness, wage, bondagelabour— have come into the public sphere,but still less articulated in the upperleadership. The leaders were eitherreplicating the elite formation or they servedmerely to maintain the social relations infavour of the elites. Indeed, this has createda ‘degeneration of the leadership’ – a kindof crisis in the leadership - preventing theTM to be more progressive andrepresentative. In the movement discourseof Nepal and beyond, it further recalls thedebate of movement ‘from the below versusthe movement from ‘the above’.


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Press.Harvey, D. (2005). From globalization to the new imperialism. In R.P. Appelbaum & W. I. Robinson (Eds.),

Critical globalization studies (pp. 91-100). New York: Routledge.Hollstein, B. (2010). Contribution of qualitative approaches to network studies. In J. P. Scott (Ed.), The sage

handbook of social network analysis (pp.1-24). London: Sage Publication Ltd.Little, G. (1985). Political Ensembles: A Psychosocial Approach to Politics and Leadership. Oxford and

New York: Oxford University Press.Morris, A. D. (2000). Reflections on Social Movement Theory: Criticisms and Proposals. Contemporary

Sociology, 29, pp. 445-454.Regmi, M. C. (2011). Thatched Huts and Stucco Palaces: Peasants and Landlords in 19th Century Nepal.

Reprinted [1978]. New Delhi: Adroit Publishers.Sapkota, M. (2012). Contested Role of Donor Agencies and Regional Actors: A Perspective of Tharu Ethnic

Movement in Nepal (in German language). Sudasien, Zeitschirft des sudasienburo e. 3-4/2012,V. 32,72-74.

Sapkota, M. (2014b). Dynamics of Social Movement and Poverty Reduction in Nepal. In S. S. Aneel, T. H.Uzma, N. Imarana (Eds.), Sustainable development in south Asia: Shaping the future (pp. 397-418).Lahore, Pakistan: Niaz Ahmad, Sang-e-Meel Publications.

Sapkota, M. (2014a). Emerging Ethnic Movements and Contested Rural Development in Nepal. In: SharmaSR, Upreti, B.R., Manandhar, P., and Sapkota, M. (eds). Contested Development in Nepal: Experiencesand Reflections (pp. 77-104). Kathmandu: School of Arts, Kathmandu University and Nepal Centre forContemporary Research (NCCR).

Sapkota, M. (2014c). Contested Identity politics in Nepal: Implications from the Tharu Movement. IOSRJournal of Humanities and Social Sciences (IOSR-JHSS), Vol. 9, Issue 7, Ver. I, July 2014 (pp. 16-25).Available at: http://www.iosrjournals.org/iosr-jhss/pages/19(7)Version-1.html

Sarvahari, K. & Jha, N. (2013). Destiny and direction of Tharuhat movement (in Nepali). In R. Maharjan(Ed.), Madhesh Study (pp. 107-149). Kathmandu: Nepal Madhesh Foundation (NEMAF).

SinghaRoy, D. K. (2010). Changing trajectory of SMs in India: towards a holistic analytical perspectives. InD. K. SinghaRoy (Ed.), Dissentive voices and transformative actions – SMs in a globalized world (pp.135-188). New Delhi: Manohar Publishers and Distributors.

Tarrow, S. G. (2011). Power in movement: SMs and contentious politics. Cambridge: CUP.Tilly, C. (2004). Social Movements, 1768–2004. Boulder, Colorado, USA: Paradigm Publishers. ISBN 1-

59451-043-1.

(The author is a PhD fellow of a collaborative research project between Kathmandu University, NCCR

North-South and University of Zurich, Switzerland.)


27

How to Promote GESI—Responsive

Participatory Development in Nepal:

GeMSIP’s Approach and Lessons

Learned

by NORIMICHI TOYOMANE, PhD & TEJ SUNAR

Abstract

The Government of Nepal (GoN) has long striven to promote gender equality and socialinclusion (GESI). However, their impact remains minimal particularly in local bodiesbecause they are hardly implemented at the local levels. In response to this issue, theJapan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) decided to implement the GenderMainstreaming and Social Inclusion Project (GeMSIP) jointly with the Government ofNepal, in cooperation with the then Ministry of Local Development (MoLD; currentlyMinistry of Federal Affairs and Local Development- ‘MoFALD’) and the Ministry ofWomen, Children and Social Welfare (MoWCSW). GeMSIP was implemented for fiveyears from January 2009 to February 2014. Its overall goal was to have GESI-responsiveprograms developed and implemented in Nepal. In most parts of Nepal, reality is suchthat women and socially excluded groups like Dalits and Adibasi/Janajati rarely participatein the planning process and, consequently, fail to receive their due benefits in the form oflocal projects. GeMSIP’s Pilot Project attempted to change this situation by supportingthe people to take part in the process and follow the proper procedure described in theofficial guidelines. GeMSIP has proved that “practice” can change this situation. Peoplelearn something by doing it. “Learning by doing” is thus GeMSIP’s principle and motto.

As it turned out, this principle worked. Facilitation by others is necessary not only forilliterate women or poor Dalits but also for elite males who have dominated the localdevelopment process over the years. Community-based special facilitation worked well.The lesson is this: if you want to “develop” someone’s capacity, don’t try to train him orher in the classroom; just give him or her chance to use his or her capacity in the realworld where problems abound. He or she will learn things by doing it. And it is“developing” his or her capacity. Its achievements, however are modest, have some

Project Experience

28 - 15 l August 2014

lessons for us to learn. It is hoped that the lessons learned from this article can illuminatesome of the problems that ordinary and underprivileged people of Nepal face today.

Key words: Social exclusion/inclusion, gender mainstreaming, local governance, GESI-responsive monitoring, community facilitation, block grant.

1. Social Exclusion in Nepal

Social exclusion is a deep-rooted problemof Nepal. It is closely related to prevalentdisparities between castes, ethnic groups,regions and genders (ADB, 2010). Toeradicate unjust disparities, theGovernment of Nepal has long striven topromote gender equality and socialinclusion (GESI). A number of policies andguidelines have since been developed andadopted at the central level (Tamang, 2014).However, their impact remains minimalparticularly in local bodies because they arehardly implemented at the local levels.

This problem is evident in localdevelopment processes where, typically, asmall number of elite, mostly high-castemen dominate the process while mostwomen, low-caste people and poorresidents remain excluded without anyknowledge of the process itself. As a result,allocation of local budget (in the form oflocal projects) is neither democratic nortransparent.

Gender equality and social inclusion areconcepts that have value only when theyare put into practice. As far as they belongonly to written documents, this deep-rootedproblem of social exclusion will persist inthe daily life of most Nepalese people forlong time.

2. GeMSIP and its Working Approach

It was against this backdrop that theGovernment of Nepal in 2007 officiallyrequested to the Japanese Government a

project on gender mainstreaming and socialinclusion. In response to this request, theJapan International Cooperation Agency(JICA) decided to implement the GenderMainstreaming and Social InclusionProject (GeMSIP) jointly with theGovernment of Nepal, in cooperation withthe then Ministry of Local Development(MoLD; currently Ministry of FederalAffairs and Local Development-‘MoFALD’) and the Ministry of Women,Children and Social Welfare (MoWCSW).GeMSIP was implemented for five yearsfrom January 2009 to February 2014.

Its overall goal was to have GESI-responsive programs developed andimplemented in Nepal. To this end, itselected two districts, Syangja and Morang,as target districts and implemented variousactivities to promote GESI at the nationaland district levels. The Pilot Project wasimplemented in 24 selected VDCs andMunicipalities in Syangja and Morang.The Pilot Project aimed at making the localbody’s annual development, planningprocess and budget allocation fullyresponsive to gender and social inclusion.Specifically, GeMSIP facilitated each stepof the local planning process. First, byforming or reforming the IntegratedPlanning Committee (IPC) of VDC and theWard Citizen Forums (WCFs) establishedrecently under Local Governance &Community Development Program(LGCDP). Second, by assisting IPC andWCF members together with ordinary

29

citizens, women and excluded groups inparticular, to follow the official planningprocess in a gender-responsive and sociallyinclusive way as stipulated in thegovernment’s guidelines (Khanal, 2012).

In most parts of Nepal, reality is such thatwomen and socially excluded groups likeDalits and Adibasi/Janajati rarelyparticipate in the planning process and,consequently, fail to receive their duebenefits in the form of local projects (DFID& World Bank, 2008). GeMSIP’s PilotProject attempted to change this situationby supporting the people to take part in theplanning process and follow the properprocedure as described in the officialguidelines.

Its results were significant. In the pilotVDCs and Municipalities, people no longerhesitated to attend community meetings orvoice their opinions. Community peoplenow care for the most disadvantagedgroups in their own neighborhood. Theplanning process has become totallytransparent and no one would object to theselected projects. People in the pilot VDCsand Municipalities, both ordinary citizensand government officials, are committed tofollow the proper planning process as theylearned through the Pilot Project even aftertermination of the GeMSIP. At the sametime, DDCs of Syangja and Morang haveexpressed their intension to disseminate theGeMSIP method of local planning to otherVDCs and Municipalities as a modelreplicate.

However, it should be noted, that GeMSIPdid not do something “new” in the PilotProject (GEMSIP, 2014a). All what

GeMSIP facilitated was to encouragepeople strictly follow the official guidelinesand provisions. Nepal already had laws,regulations, guidelines, institutions andsocial mobilization systems in place tomainstream gender and social inclusion.Only the problem is that they do notfunction as properly as intended. GeMSIPtherefore focused its attention simply onhow to make people familiar with theofficial provisions and willing to pursuethem. This is basically all that GeMSIPperformed.

3. Central Problems and GeMSIP’s

Efforts

The official procedure of local planning isnot always followed by VDCs orMunicipalities. This is exactly the primaryreason why gender equality and socialinclusion could not mainstream to theextent that the Nepalese government strivedto achieve. We can identify four majorproblems associated with the entire processof local bodies by observing the commonpractice of annual planning. Theseproblems drastically hindered theimplementation of GESI-relatedprovisions.

3.1 Problems with Decision-makingProcess

The Local Self-Governance Act of 1999stipulates that the local body should makedecisions on the basis of the majority rule.1

In accordance with this provision, the LocalSelf-Governance Regulation of 1999specifies four methods to be used to take avote:2

(a) By asking each member to express his/

1 For instance, see Article 24 for the Village Council and the Village Development Committee.2 Article 19 for the Village Council and Article 40 for the Village Development Committee. The same provision applies to both.

How to Promote GESI—Responsive Participatory Development in Nepal: GeMSIP’s Approach and Lessons Learned

30 - 15 l August 2014

her vote verbally in his/her respectiveturn;

(b) By asking to raise hands for andagainst the resolution;

(c) By grouping the members in twogroups, persons voting for resolutionin one group and the persons votingagainst the resolution in the other; and,

(d) in cases wherever the above threemethods are not appropriate, secretballot was used.

However, in reality, these provisions wererarely practiced. In Nepal, the decision-making method preferred by most of thepeople, irrespective of administrativelevels, is consensus building. In meetings,they continue discussion until they reach a“consensus” and decide on that consensus.They seldom take an explicit vote eitherby asking all the participants to expresstheir opinions verbally [method (a)] orasking them to raise hands [method (b)] orasking them to caste a secret ballot [method(d)].

As far as the meetings are duly attendedby all stakeholders and the discussion isopen and democratic, consensus reachedin such a meeting can be regarded as alegitimate decision of that meeting. InNepal, however, such a justifiableconsensus is rare. It is common in anymeeting that “consensus” is in factsomeone’s personal opinion imposed onothers. A very familiar scene in rural Nepalis that a few elite men speak in a very loud,even intimidating voice, and practicallycoerce others to accept their opinion orproposal. “Consensus” building as the

most popular method for decision-makingin Nepal can be highly undemocratic and,in many cases, it is the fact. GeMSIPtackled this problem by introducing a fewobjective but simple methods to be used inlocal meetings (GEMSIP, 2014b). Theyare: consensus building method, approvalvoting method, rank voting method, pair-wise ranking method, and matrix method.3

3.2 Problems with InformationDissemination

The official guidelines are mindful of theneed of information disseminationparticularly to backward and excludedcommunities (This sentence is difficult tounderstand).4Despite directives to thateffect, little or no information reachesordinary women and people in excludedgroups or isolated settlements. Many suchpeople have been customarily excludedfrom public meetings and, consequently, donot know how local budget is allocated orhow they can benefit from the budget.Traditionally, women are not supposed toattend public meetings. Poor people ofdisadvantaged groups, being illiterate andbusy to earn their living, have noknowledge of or interest in government’sgovernance process. On the other hand,elite males do not bother themselves toinvolve such people in the local planningprocess.

If democratic planning process is to prevail,all relevant information about the processshould be shared by everyone. However,in practice the majority of people lack eventhe minimum level of necessaryinformation to participate in the process.

3 For details, see GeMSIP’s Resource Book on Gender Mainstreaming and Social Inclusion (2013).4 For instance, see MoLD, 2011, Village Development Plan and Budget Formulation Guide 2011, Section 4.2, Item 4: “Information and detailsabout the estimated resources that can be available for village development plan, and basis and priority of project selection needs to be widelydisseminated through people’s representatives of different wards, ward citizen’s forum, social mobilizers, and media targeting the concernedward committee, settlement/tole and community. While disseminating such information, the settlements of backward and excluded communityneed to be targeted.”

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3.3 Problems with Facilitation

It is obvious that most people need someforms of facilitation from someone just totake part in the local planning process. Tobegin with, someone should tell them whenand where a Ward mass meeting will beheld. Since they have never attended sucha meeting, someone should urge them tocome. Since no one has the experience ofconducting effective and democraticdiscussion in a public meeting, someonemust guide the meeting to achieve itsobjectives (GEMSIP, 2014b). In fact thereare already people working in VDCs andMunicipalities in order to help local peoplewith certain activities. Some are paid staffsand some are volunteers. Most notableones are LGCDP Social Mobilizers, withone being assigned to each and every VDCand some selected Wards of Municipalities.WCO also keeps a legion of SocialWorkers, who work as volunteers mainlyto facilitate women’s cooperatives. Districtoffices of line ministries and DDCs mayemploy and deploy their own SocialMobilizers specifically to implement someprograms or projects.

The problem here is that those SocialMobilizers and Social Workers are notassigned to facilitate the local planningprocess per se. Even LGCDP SocialMobilizers cannot devote themselves solelyto this type of facilitation (their mainresponsibility in practice is to establish andmanage the Citizen Awareness Center andconduct bi-weekly REFLECT classes at theCenter). Thus, in most cases, practicallyno one can take care of the people who havebeen excluded from the planning processand of the series of meetings at Ward and

VDC/Municipality levels. MoFALDseems acutely aware of this problem whenone of its official guidelines stipulates that:

Local Social Mobilizers, Facilitators, staff ofsectoral offices/service centers and externalexperts, having experience in local goodgovernance, social mobilization and planningprocess, should provide necessary facilitationin order to make Village DevelopmentPlanning process participatory, inclusive,transparent and effective and also increaseinvolvement and ownership of localcommunity and civil society.5

This provision, however, does not seem soeffective in the real world. On the one hand,as can easily be understood, the male elitewill not readily give up their vestedinterests without undergoing a due processof awareness raising and practice. This isa tough job for “part-time” “unauthorized”facilitators to undertake. On the other hand,a large number of women and people fromexcluded groups will remain unattended bysuch “part-time” facilitators.

To make the local planning process trulyparticipatory, inclusive, transparent andeffective, “full-time” and “authorized”facilitators are indispensable, who willfacilitate all the steps and meetings of thelocal planning process at least for someyears. Considering the fact that one VDChas nine Wards, and that each Ward goesthrough the process from Ward massmeeting to proposal prioritization to projectimplementation, one can understand howmuch facilitation is required to make thishappen. LGCDP deploys one SocialMobilizer in each VDC and this is in itself ahuge step forward. However, the problem

5 MoLD, 2011, Village Development Plan and Budget Formulation Guide 2011, Section 7.1, Item (h).6 In its new policy, LGCDP is now mobilizing Community Facilitators as well where one Social Mobilizer is not enough to take care of the wholeVDC.


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remains largely unsolved. GeMSIP’s partialanswer to this problem was to deploy twoFacilitators per VDC who would concentrateon the facilitation of the VDC planningprocess. This strategy has worked.6

3.4 Problems with Monitoring

Monitoring of the projects is necessary fortwo reasons. One is that the project’sstakeholders have to know the progress ofeach project. If some problems are found,they need to take remedial actionimmediately. The other reason is that,particularly in Nepal, some projects arenever implemented and their funds aresiphoned into someone’s pocket. Suchprojects may be called “ghost” projects.On-site monitoring is necessary to detect“ghost” projects and eliminate them.Unfortunately, such “ghost” projects are notexceptions in rural areas. In Nepal,however, monitoring is rarely conducted.As a result, “ghost” projects are rampantand VDCs/Municipalities are in the darkabout projects’ progress until the very lastmoment.

The lack of monitoring in local bodies isdue to mainly to two reasons. One isinsufficient personnel to conductmonitoring. At DDC and Municipality,officers are few and key officers areinvariably burdened with multiple duties.At VDC, Secretary is the only official totake care of the whole administration.None of them have time to spend onmonitoring, which often necessitates on-site visits. The second reason is lack ofbudget. According to Nepalese customs,mobilizing officers and members of local-level organizations requires some expensesas allowances. Local bodies cannotallocate budget on such “inessential”expenses although they expect for it. Given

these constraints, there is no reason orincentive for them to conduct monitoringof local projects.

GeMSIP circumvented this difficultysimply by “enticing” enthusiastic andserious stakeholders to join in themonitoring facilitated by GeMSIPFacilitators. GeMSIP also developed amonitoring checklist easy to use and askedthe monitors to try it in the field. Thosewho for the first time took part in themonitoring came to realize how importantmonitoring was and got accustomed to thisnovel practice soon. This is howmonitoring took rooting in the Pilot VDCsand Municipalities and in the two districts’GESI Implementation Committees.

4. GeMSIP’s Framework for Gender

Mainstreaming and Social Inclusion

To overcome the four central problemsinherent in the local planning process,GeMSIP in its Pilot Project conducted aseries of activities that are stipulated in theguidelines but they were rarely practiced.They can be summarized as a frameworkas shown in Figure 1.

· Understanding GESI: To enhancepeople’s understanding about GESI issuesand concepts as a first step, GeMSIPconducted social resource mapping, GESIaudit, GESI analysis and training/workshop at grassroots, and in VDCs andDDCs levels. It also conducted trainingon GESI-responsive planning,implementation and monitoring.

· Making organizations gender-balancedand socially inclusive: The second step isto make local organizations equallyrepresented by men and women of varioussocial groups. GeMSIP encouraged andfacilitated people to form or reform local

33

organizations such as User Groups, WardCitizen Forums and Integrated PlanningCommittees to ensure equal representationof women and disadvantaged groups in thelocal structures.

· Conducting local development withgender equality and social inclusion:GeMSIP provided people withopportunity to practice democratic andinclusive participatory developmentprocess by offering block grant tofinance small projects. In this wholeprocess, GeMSIP technically supportedand facilitated local people to ensure:information sharing by women and

excluded groups, their activeparticipation, special consideration ofdeprived groups, providing specialfacilitation to them, adoption ofdemocratic and GESI-responsivedecision making methods, anddemocratic and GESI-responsive projectselection, implementation andmonitoring. In this way, GeMSIP urgedpeople to check if that benefits reach towomen and excluded groups.

· Strong GESI-responsive monitoringsystem: To promote GESI in thedevelopment process, monitoring is animportant aspect. GeMSIP supported

Figure 1: GeMSIP’s Framework for Gender Mainstreaming and Social Inclusion (source: GEMSIP, 2014b)


34 - 15 l August 2014

people to develop a GESI-responsivemonitoring plan, monitoring capacityand monitoring checklists. It alsosupported them to develop reportingmechanism and feedback system.

· Strong support system: Technicalfacilitation is an indispensable element forthe whole process above. In the presentstructure, however, such support is weakor nonexistent. GeMSIP created a strongsupport system for backstopping localpeople. Support was given from center todistrict, from district to VDCs, from VDCsto Wards, from Wards to community andfrom one community to another.

This framework for gender mainstreamingand social inclusion proved practical.GeMSIP was thus admired by all levels ofstakeholders, particularly by people atgrassroots and local bodies.

5. Lessons to be Learned from GeMSIP

5.1 Key Elements for Social Change:Practice and Facilitation

In Section 3 above, four central problems wereidentified that are inherent in the local planningprocess as practiced in local bodies of Nepal.They were problems with decision making,information dissemination, facilitation andmonitoring. However, they are basically of“technical” nature. In promoting GESI, it is ofcourse necessary to address these “technical”problems but more fundamental and realchallenge is to change people’s mindset orattitude about gender and social exclusion.Social change is the ultimate problem we arefaced with and it is hard to achieve. But it is notimpossible. GeMSIP has taught us that if weaim at social change in Nepal, there are twokey elements that play the pivotal role: practiceand facilitation. Both are indispensableparticularly in the Nepalese context.

5.2 Practice Alone Can Change Something

GeMSIP intended to bring about social changeparticularly in VDCs’ annual planning process.The annual planning process is one of the mostimportant aspects of local governance becauselocal body’s budget is allocated through thatprocess. While there are countless needs inany local body, its budget is limited and howto allocate it naturally becomes a subject ofkeen concern to many local residents.However, as reality goes, some groups ofpeople are customarily excluded from thisprocess: women, Dalit and other excludedgroups, extremely poor families, people withdisability, residents of remote isolatedsettlements, etc. Such people have been barredfrom participating in the planning process and,as a result, receiving some social benefit theydeserve. If this situation is to be changed, thequestion here is how?

GeMSIP has proved that “practice” canchange this situation. To be more precise,“practice” alone can do it. It is not that thegovernment of Nepal has been ignorant ofthis situation or problem. On the contrary,it has been highly vocal and explicit to bangender, caste or ethnicity-baseddiscrimination in the constitution. It hasbeen promoting participatory and GESI-responsive activities under many projectsand programs. A number of governmentguidelines, notably those prepared byMoFALD, are also mindful of the situationand delineate various measures to cope withit. In spite of those provisions andundertakings, the reality, particularly in ruralNepal has little change over the years. Thisexactly was the reason why GeMSIP wasnecessitated.

How can we bring about social change inrural Nepal where people are deeply

35

constrained by traditions, cultures, religiousbeliefs, economic status, and so on?GeMSIP’s answer is simple: “practice”alone can bring about social change. Forpeople to grow out of such old or traditionalperceptions and to become able to acceptnew modes of thinking, they have to firstattend a public meeting, join democraticdiscussion, express their own views, takepart in the equitable decision making, andaccept the decision made there. All groupsof residents need to be present there andget accustomed to the new way of decisionmaking. Only by repeating this practicemany times, they can grow out of theirdiscriminatory mental mold.

GeMSIP brought about a number of socialchanges but they did not happen fromclassroom lectures or by people’s readingpolicies and guidelines. They took placebecause people actually practiced the differentway of doing things and convinced that theyworked better than their accustomed methods.The changes were based on their learning andreal life experiences. People learn things betterby doing it. “Learning by doing” is thusGeMSIP’s principle and motto and isapplicable.

5.3 Ordinary People Need Help

Another thing GeMSIP has proved is thatordinary people need someone’s facilitationat least for sometime at the beginning tochange their perception and behavior.GeMSIP has employed facilitators for thispurpose. Social Mobilizers employed byother projects or agencies also work for thesame purpose. What GeMSIP has provedis that those people (whatever the title) areabsolutely essential to materialize socialchange in Nepal.

Facilitation by others is necessary not only

for illiterate women or poor Dalits but alsofor elite males who have dominated the localdevelopment process over the years. Withoutcomplete change in their perception andattitude, there will be no social change thatcan last and take root in the community. Thisrequires a considerable level of facilitationand practice to accomplish social change.

6. How GeMSIP Provided

Opportunity to Practice and

Necessary Facilitation

6.1 Principle of Free Choice/NoImposition

When one wants to change something, oneis tempted to impose some new rules ordirectives on people. If people obey thenew rules, it appears that they haveinstantly changed. Such a change,however, is superficial and can never betrusted as a true behavioral change.

Behavioral or attitudinal change must bespontaneous if it is truly to be effective.Therefore GeMSIP avoided to impose newrules or directives from top and waited forpeople for self realization to changeinternally. This is the principle of freechoice or no imposition GeMSIP upheld.This principle is best illustrated by theblock grant GeMSIP provided to its PilotVDCs and Municipalities.

6.2 Block Grant and Its Condition

GeMSIP provided the Pilot VDCs andmunicipalities with a block grant to be usedfor development projects. The amount wasRs 500,000 per year per VDC/Municipality.The recipient VDCs and Municipalities werefree to spend this money on whatever projectsthey like as far as their formulation,prioritization, selection and implementationwere gender responsive and sociallyinclusive. This was the only condition


36 - 15 l August 2014

pertaining to the block grant. ThoughNepalese government adopts the targetbudget scheme (10% for women, 10% forchildren, 15% for disadvantaged groups),GeMSIP did not apply such a constraint (rule)to the block grant. It chose that way becauseof the principle of free choice/no imposition.

People in the Pilot VDCs andMunicipalities invariably reacted to thisprovision with great interest andenthusiasm. Since their normal budget istoo little to satisfy all local needs, theynaturally welcomed GeMSIP’s additionalfunds even though their amount wasmodest. They were also pleased that theycould spend the money on basicinfrastructure (drinking water schemes,roads, clinics, etc.) as well if they thoughtits priority to be truly high.

However, they soon realized that GeMSIP’sonly condition was not so easy to meet.Some elite men kept ignoring theprescribed procedure: in one VDC, an eliteman tried to force the IPC to accept hispersonal project proposals at IPC’sselection meeting, as he always did in thepast. After a quarrel, IPC members rejectedhis demand on the ground that it did notfollow the proper procedure. This incidenttaught both the elite man and IPC membersa lesson: no one can be above the rule. Formany women and people of excludedgroups, there used to be no point in takingpart in the local planning process (even ifthey knew about it) because they knew theirproposals would never be selected forimplementation. This conventional viewquickly turned around when they realizedthat under GeMSIP their proposals wouldhave a real chance to get chosen owing tothe democratic process facilitated byGeMSIP. Their enthusiasm naturally

increased. In this way many of them havebecome serious participants in thecommunity meetings and planning process.

All these “awakenings” were owing to theblock grant, with only one conditionattached. Free choice apparentlyencouraged people to get interested in theplanning process, and their involvementthen opened a totally new horizon to themand taught them various practical lessonson various occasions.

6.3 Community-Based Special Facilitation

Even if we assigned Facilitators to facilitatepeople, one problem remained thatFacilitators were never enough to help allneedy people in the community. In fact,during the first cycle of Pilot Project, it wasacutely realized that even two Facilitatorswho were assigned to one VDC could nottake care of all people who needed theirfacilitation. To cope with this limitation,GeMSIP started a new scheme ofcommunity-based special facilitation.Under this scheme, GeMSIP mobilizedfollowing local people as volunteers to helpthose who were the most deprived peoplein the community:

- IPC members- WCF members- User Groups- Youth/Child Club- Women/Dalit/PWD networks- Local political leaders- LGCDP Social Mobilizers, etc.

GeMSIP Facilitators were basically there toassist these local volunteers to provide specialfacilitation to the target people. This wasbased on a consideration of sustainability.

The volunteers first disseminated informationabout VDC planning process and schedule to

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call local residents to attend a Ward mass meetingto learn more about details. Before the meetingthey reviewed information from Social ResourceMapping and figured out the target people.During the meeting they conducted simple GESIanalysis and specified the target groups. If thesepeople attended the meeting, they paid specialattention to them and helped them to understandmeeting procedures and results, and facilitatedthem to participate meaningfully.

If the target people did not attend themeeting, they discussed how they woulddeliver necessary information to them.Some of them visited the residence of thetarget people. They informed the peopleabout the meeting results and nextschedule. Some of them even heldmeetings for the target groups near theirresidences to convey necessary informationrelated to VDC planning process.

The volunteers also facilitated the targetpeople to identify their own needs usinginformation from Social Resource Mappingand GESI analysis and interacting with themand other stakeholders before the Ward massmeeting. Gradually through this process, thetarget people realized their real problems andneeds. In the process of needs identification,they also facilitated the target people to findavailable resources and supported them todevelop their own proposals if necessary.They assisted them to fill up proposal formats,too. In addition, they informed them of thesubmission deadline, criteria and procedureof proposal selection.

Once proposals of target groups wereselected, they further supported theirimplementation of the projects. For example,they assisted them to make a detailedoperational plan and division of works amongthem. They also taught them how to keepbooks, get proper receipts and prepare the

financial report to be submitted. Community-based special facilitation worked well. Owingto this scheme, some highly marginalizedgroups for the first time participated in theplanning process and even received funds toimplement their own projects.

7. Conclusion: ‘People Do Have Capacity;

They Only Lack Opportunity to Use It’

We are tempted to think that ordinary people,particularly those in disadvantaged andexcluded groups, do not have capacity toparticipate in the local development process,let alone lead it. In Nepal, where manyadults remain illiterate, this observation maysound true. However, as GeMSIP has amplyproved, it is wrong perception. People dohave capacity. Even ordinary housewivesor Dalit people who have never attended aVDC-level meeting or led a User Groupsuccessfully completed GeMSIP-fundedprojects in time. This clearly indicates thatit is not that people lack capacity but thatpeople did not have a chance to apply theircapacity in the real world. They only lackedopportunity to use their capacity to its fullextent. The lesson we learned is that: if youwant to “develop” someone’s capacity, don’ttry to train him or her in the classroom; justgive him/her a chance to use his or hercapacity in the real world where problemsabound. He/she will learn through practiceand experience and ultimately that will helpto develop his/her capacity.

GeMSIP ended in January 2014 after fiveyears of implementation. Its goal wasambitious. Its achievements, however weremodest, had some lessons for us to learn.It is hoped that the lessons learned fromthis article can illuminate some of theproblems that ordinary and underprivilegedpeople of Nepal face today.


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Acknowledgements

We would like to express our sincere thanksto the GEMSIP team, particularly ChetNath Kanel, Ram Achal Yadav, UmakalaSharma, Bhagawati Sharma Bhandari,Thanapati Neupane, Dadhi Raj Aryal, DalBahadur BK, Saroj Kumar Gautam,Sangita Rana, Rama Raut, Toshiko

Hamano, Yoko Komatsubara, MasamiWatanabe, Michiko Tsurumine. Equally,we are indebted to JICA team, MoFALDteam, MoWCSW team and DDCs ofMorang and Syangja. We are also thankfulto International Development Center ofJapan Inc. (IDCJ) and InternationalDevelopment Associates Ltd. (IDeA).

References:

Asian Development Bank (2010). Overview of gender equality and social inclusion in Nepal. Kathmandu:ADB Nepal Resident Mission.

DFID and the World Bank (2008). Unequal citizens: Gender, caste and ethnic exclusion in Nepal. Kathmandu:DFID Nepal and the World Bank Nepal Office.

GEMSIP (2014a). GeMSIP’s Resource Book on Gender Mainstreaming and Social Inclusion. JICA/MoFALD/MoWCSW/ IDCJ/IDeA.

GEMSIP (2014b). Project Completion Report. JICA/MoFALD/MoWCSW/ IDCJ/IDeA.Government of Nepal (1999). Local Self-Governance Act, 1999. Kathmandu.Government of Nepal (1999). Local Self-Governance Regulation, 1999. Kathmandu.Khanal, G. K. (2012). Ward Citizens’ Forum in local good governance: Information booklet on Ward Citizens’

Forum. Kathmandu: MIREST.Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development (MoFALD) (2013). Local bodies resource mobilization

and management operation guidelines 2069. Kathmandu.MoFALD (2013). Local Governance and Community Development Program Phase II Program Document

(draft). Kathmandu: MOFALD/LGCDP.Ministry of Local Development (MoLD) (2009). VDC grant implementation guidelines 2065 (first draft).

Kathmandu.MoLD (2010). Gender equality and social inclusion policy.MoLD (2011). Gender equality and social inclusion policy (English translation).MoLD (2011). Guideline on project operation through User’s Committee.MoLD (2011). VDC social mobilization guideline 2068.MoLD (2011). Village Development Committee social mobilization guideline BS 2068.MoLD (2011). Village development plan and budget formulation guide.Pandy, B. (2011). Women’s property right movement and achievement of the 11th amendment of civil code.

Kathmandu.Tamang, R.S. (2014). Sthaniya starmaa Laisasaasa sawaalmaa ajha dherai garna baanki chha (There is a lot

to do at local level on GESI issues). Sahabhagita quarterly (48th issue; BS 2071 Jestha; pp. 38-39), NepalParticipatory Action Network, Kathmandu, Nepal.

Toyomane, N.M. & Sunar, T. (2014). Laingik samanata tatha samajik samabesikaran-uttardayee sthaniyavikasko dhancha: GeMSIP ko anubhav (GESI-responsive local development model: GeMSIP’sExperiences). Sahabhagita quarterly (48th issue; BS 2071 Jestha; pp. 11-14), Nepal Participatory ActionNetwork, Kathmandu, Nepal.

(Dr. Toyomane is the former Team Leader of JICA/GeMSIP and Mr. Sunar is former National

Coordinator of the same project. At present Dr. Toyomane works in Japan and Mr. Sunar is associated

with UNDP’s- Rule of Law Project.)

E-mails: [email protected] ; [email protected]

39

Discourse of Inlcusive Education from

Dalit Perspectives in Nepal

by SHREE PRASAD DEVKOTA & SHIBA BAGALE

Abstract

This paper presents the necessity of social inclusion for the socially excluded anddisadvantaged groups, focusing on dalits’ education. It highlights the present educationalsystem policies, barriers and the ways out of dalits. Social inclusion is one of the multidimensional concepts which have diverse impact in the field of development. It alsodiffers in the mainstream of education. The exclusion of dalits were found acceleratingby the traditional school pedagogical practices of banking concept, class based bigdisparity between high caste groups and dalits, and prevailing denationalization of schoolsystem of Nepal. Though there are policies, different plans and scholarship facilities,Dalits are still backward in the mainstream of education.

Key words: Dalit, inclusion, exclusion, poverty, livelihood, gender, educational rights.

1. Introduction

The concept of ‘social exclusion’ originatedin France. It was formally stated in Frenchsocial policy in the 1970’s and early 1980’s(Pierson, 2002). It was applied to describementally and physically disabled, the aged,abused children, single parents, marginal,asocial person, misfits and people whowere excluded from the employment basedsocial security system. The issue of socialexclusion/inclusion in Nepal was first

raised during the Maoist insurgency after2000. It is to be noted that among the 40-point Maoist demands, 11 were related tosocial inclusion (Gurung, 2005) butformally addressed in the InterimConstitution of Nepal 2007. Crucialindicators of social exclusion are theilliterate population from historically,socially and economically discriminatedgroups such as castes, schedule tribes andwomen (Salam, 2004).

40 - 15 l August 2014

With the concept of social exclusion thevoices on inclusion is raised. The conceptwas developed in the World Conference onSpecial Needs Education held inSalamanka, Spain in 1994 (CERID, 2006).The objective of inclusive program is toeducate all types of children withoutmaking any discrimination. The childrenwho are excluded from education shouldbe included in education. Inclusiveeducation aims to ensure that all childrenhave access to an appropriate, relevant,affordable and effective education withintheir community. Inclusion refers todiscrimination- free environment andprocess (DOE, 2007).

Dalits in Nepal are historically statevictimized disadvantaged communitieswho have been excluded from themainstream national development due tothe caste system and extreme Hinduism forcenturies. According to the constitution ofNepal (1990) Article 11(4), untouchabilityhas been made punishable. But still Dalitsare taken as a marginalized, discriminatedand untouchable (CERID, 1998). They facethe most severe forms of socialdiscrimination and undergo the inhumanetreatment of untouchability (Lawati, 2006,p. 98). Caste based discrimination is aglobal human rights issue. The majority ofDalits are present in South Asia. In Nepal,the total population of dalit is 37, 10,575which is 14.01% of total headcount ofNepal (CBS, 2011). The enrollment rate ofdalit in education is 18.7 %, janajatis is36.7% and national total rate 84.7% inprimary level (Flash Report, 2069). Thisalso shows dalit has lower enrollment rateamong other socially excluded group ofNepal. Causes of social exclusion,economically poor, parents’ illiteracy arethe main reasons of low enrollment of Dalit

children in formal education. Thecontinuation of discrimination reproducestheir existing life style and inherits to newgeneration also giving continuity on whattheir parents did. As a result, this situationhas led Dalit as a more marginalized andexcluded group of Nepalese society.

Max Weber extends Marxist theory inregards to caste stating that those peoplewith wealth, power and social prestige canbecome higher caste and those without cangradually become low caste (Koirala, n.d.as cited in Kisan, 2005, p. 8). Dalits havelittle or no access to justice and crimesagainst them are often committed withimpunity. Dalits are taken as amarginalized, discriminated anduntouchable (CERID, 1998). Their livingstandard is also very low. The per capitaincome of Dalit is 39 US dollar ascompared to 240 US dollar, national percapita income (Bk, 2005), which is also oneof the barriers to enroll them in education.As a result, the Dalit children are enforcedto involving labor work rather than goingto school.

Similarly Social and cultural factors areidentified another key factors in dalitchildren’s education. Children from lowcaste groups like Dalit are less likely tohave the kinds of social connections whichoffered inspiration, information and furtheropportunities. They have relatively highaspiration but they often lack awareness onwhat to do. Because of their socio-culturalbackground, they have differentexperiences of schooling than theircounterparts, and they think schooling ascontrolling and forceful. They are reluctantto have experience cooperative relationshipwith teachers and friends. As a result theyfeel less in control of their learning at

41

school than other students and graduallythey lack confidence and drop-out school.

Not only that, poor communication due tolanguage problem is also counted as oneof the reasons for school drop-out by theethnic and Dalit children. From the verybeginning of the schooling, these childrenare failing to develop reading, writing,speaking and listening skills limit in accessto the curriculum.

2. Government Policy Provisions in

Favor of Dalit Education

Nepal government has the plans andpolicies to uplift the educationalachievement of the socially excludedgroup. Among them there are some specificpolicies for the dalit students. Dalit BikasSamiti is an organization, which has beenadvocating and promoting Dalit educationsince a long time. This organizationprovides NRs. 1500 for 10+2, NRs. 2000for Bachelor and Master degree student andNRs. 4000 for Technical student, Pradhan,(2006). Similarly, Nepal government hasalso provided Dalit scholarship to thestudents who are studying in school level.Each students of primary and secondarylevel gets NRs. 500. It is categorized bythe school to which the scholarship shouldbe given. Also High Level NationalEducation Commission 2055 (1999) alsofocuses on education to Dalits. Lessawareness on importance of education,untouchability, extreme poverty, lack ofskill and leadership, are the problems. Tocurb it, awareness on untouchability insociety is needed and special quotas forDalits education are recommended.

And School Sector Reform Plan (SSRP)2009-2015 also focused on basic education(9-12 years’ age). It includes: free education

provision which includes cost-free servicesfor admission, text books, tuition andexaminations, special attention will be paidto Karnali zone, Dalits and person withdisabilities. The scholarship amountentitled varies to different types ofvulnerability of the students (SSRP MoE,p. 15), such as; all Dalit students receiveNRs 350 a year. So it can be remarked thatsome interventions have motivated andpromoted education in Dalit community inNepal. And the three-year InterimConstitution of Nepal also madecommitment to ensure education for allpeople. However, if we analyzed the budgetallocation of the Nepalese government ineducation for the last seven years, it isnearly 15% of total national budget. 85%of the total allocated budget in educationgoes on teacher’s salary and the remaining15 % is insufficient for stationary. But wehave insufficient infrastructure, teachernumber, teacher training and teachingmaterials, then how can we achieve thetarget of education for all by 2015. So wecan analyzed that allocated educationbudget is only sufficient for teacher’ssalary. In such a situation, how the sociallyexcluded and marginalised group’s childrenare able to access schooling withoutgovernment’s support. This is a seriousissue to address the need of the children ofDalit people.

3. Reasons behind Dalits Education

Education is the right of all the children,and inclusive education aims to ensure thatall children have access to an appropriate,relevant, affordable and effective educationwithin their community. But Dalits are stillnot in the mainstream of development andare deprived from the light of education.The reasons behind the problem areanalyzed below:

Discourse of Inlcusive Education from Dalit Perspectives in Nepal

42 - 15 l August 2014

Education itself has not a problem but thesystem in which it revolves has a problem.Alasdair MacIntyre, 1987 (as cited in Wain,2008) said that modern educational systemshave failed to carry out outstanding task ofharmonizing the tension between theacculturation and individuation of thestudents. He further described that thetension as an ideological one, between rightand left with the right militating for the truthand the left for freedom; the compromisewould be to separate the two processes intodifferent life stages and institutions.

While examining the problem of educationof Dalit children in Nepal, it has multifoldeffects. Some constitute within the familyand some in community, and some are ofcourse by in the state. We can summarizethe problems in the following points;

Location: Dalit family is often located atundeveloped areas of Nepal and distancebetween their location and the schoolmakes difficult to access school.Sometimes location of school in particularcommunity also makes difficult for Dalitchildren’s education.

Poverty: It is the prime factor of problemin Dalit education. Parents are unable topay fees of their children. As result,children are compelled to drop-out schooland engage in various types of child laboursto support their family.

Livelihood: Livelihood pattern of the ruralareas of Dalit family of the country affectsin child education. People in rural hillyareas have been involved in subsistencelevel of farming that is not enough for ayear. Seasonally, they have to have alternateemployment in distance. So on that time, achild becomes out of supervision by thefather or head of the family, and sometimes

a child may have to substitute the role offather. That makes a child irregular in hi/her school. Similarly in mountain areas,people used to migrate seasonally in searchof food for their cattle. At that time childrenhave to accompany their elders. Likewise,in Terai, a boy in his teenage drops schooland works to support his family.

Gender-Based Discrimination: Unequalpower relation in the family and traditionalsocial norms and values cause lowerpriority to specially girls and women ofDalit in education.

Caste-Based Discrimination: Caste basediscrimination is strongly recognized in Nepalthat has excluded Dalits from educational aswell as socio-economic opportunities.

Ethnicity and Religion: Children fromethnic minorities and religious minorities(Muslim) from Dalit family are alsodeprived from the education in Nepal.

Disadvantaged Family: Poor families ofDalit community have variouscharacteristics of vulnerability, frequentmigration, family breakdown, diseaseaffection, scarcity and also trafficking. Inthese circumstances a child grows withoutproper care and protection. These childrenare extremely disadvantage fromeducational opportunity.

Unequal Schools and Services: Besidesdrawbacks in Dalit family and community,there are some other dimensions that hinderaccess of Dalit children in education. Oneis uneven distribution of schoolsthroughout the country. Another is schoolwith poorer human, physical and financialresources and degrading managementcapacity. Most of rural schools are runningin absence of sufficient teachers with poorquality of service.

43

Lack of Road and Transport: Due to littledevelopment efforts in hills and mountains,roads and transport systems are still farbehind to use for school children.

Delay in Service: Dalit students do not gettheir freely distributed reading materials intime in rural areas of the country.

Lack of Commitment: Universal primaryeducation in Nepal can be possible onlyafter strong commitment by allstakeholders. Commitment has to be madeby teachers for their dedication and sincereresponsibility in their task of teachingincluding positive learning environment todeprived Dalit children.

4. Conclusion

Child education and deprivation havecrucial relationship because impact ofdeprivation is manifested on later inadulthood. A child with deprivation ineducation means fewer or weakerqualifications and skills, which in turn canaffect his/her future employment andearnings, health and social well-being andfinally affects nation as a whole.

So importance of inclusive educationcannot be denied, as one of the mainpurposes of school programs issocialization. Positive learningenvironment and adoptive strategies helpDalit children to access from deprivedgroups. When placed inclusive setting inschool, non deprived children are found tobe accepting of children from deprivedgroups. However, inclusion strategyimplies more than just placing deprivedchildren in the classroom with their peers.The success of inclusive program dependson professional implementation ofdevelopment programs which may base onage-group, individual, cultural, caste-wise

appropriateness, and also able to providesupport they needed. Inclusion today is notmerely to get access to those who are outof the educational system. Inclusion is alsoconcerned of children in school whoseneeds are not being met, the teachers in theschools, the legal system, the culture andthe education system itself.

Singh (2011) illustrates the principles ofequality of opportunity and non-discrimination in the field of education hasbeen developed into international normsthrough a series of international instrumentby the UNESCO.

However, many international conventionshave been held and instruments have beenimplemented for equal opportunity ineducation in Nepal. But still exclusion isprevalent. Watkins (2009) argues that theexcluded are excluded because the schoolsare not inclusive. Schools are not welcomingdiversity as an opportunity, they seedifferences as problems to be handled byspecial education. Therefore for broad anddramatic changes, reorganization,reformulation, and re-conceptualization of theNepalese educational system are required.Only then the excluded finally are included.

Besides, evidences have found that schoolsand teachers are key players onmaterialization of inclusive strategy ineducation. School and teachers have beeneffective in addressing the needs of childrenaffected by deprivation. It can be addressedthrough three broad approaches; schoolteam approach, classroom approach andteacher’s approach,

School Team Approach: The approachaims to create and maintain positiveattitudes to learn among all categories ofstudents including most vulnerable and


44 - 15 l August 2014

deprived. School should create positive self-esteem by promoting mutual respect andvalue for the contribution of all students.Emphasize should be given for engagementof parents effectively to support vulnerableand deprived students. If required outsidesupport should be sought.

Classroom Approach: Teachers are moreresponsible in classroom activities to helpstudents particularly deprived ones. Soteachers can do wide range of help including;

a) Create and support to needy students thatenabled teachers to provide greaterindividual attention

b) Create positive learning environments,

c) Use specific assessment for learning,

d) Provide emotional and social support,

e) Listen voice and respond effectively,

f) Enrich the curriculum through studysupport and extra-curricular activities

g) Encourage them for leadership activityin classroom

Teachers’ Approach: Dedicated teacherscan play catalyst role for inclusiveeducation. They require support fromparents for the improvement of theirchildren’s education. Children’s educationcan be improved through the regular

interaction between teachers and parentseven though parents are illiterate. Teachersare the vehicle to provide new strategiesand methods to inform parents and engagethem in their children’s learning andbehavioral change.

Deprived and vulnerable children may lackaccess to resources like reading books,magazines, and other necessary materials,for that, teachers can handle their problemseffectively. Besides that teachers canmanage especial out-of-school-programsand extra curriculum activities fordisadvantaged or deprived children forbetter exposure in education. In some casesteachers, schools and community leadersare already working, to narrow down thegap between students from deprivedbackgrounds and raise achievement for all.There are also many sources of support onwhich schools can draw if they need to.Multiple agencies were found to be helpfulin supporting to children and families livingwith deprivation. Not only that, initiativesbased on multi-agency teams working tosupport schools, families and children alsohave a positive impact on students’attainment, attendance, behavior and wellbeing. It also led to improve parentingskills, parents’ access to services and linksbetween the home and school.

References

Beall, J. & Piron, L.H. (2005).DFID social exclusion review. N.P.: LSE/ ODI. Retrieved from http://www.eldis.org/vfile/upload/1/document/0708/DOC18457.pdf

Bhattachan, K., TejSunar and YashokantiBhattachan (2008).Nepalamajatiya bhedavawa . Dalit NGOFederation: Kathmandu.

Bishwakarma, G. (2005). The high school educational status of Dalit in Nepal: Fromexclusion to success story. University of Joensuu, Finland: Department ofSociology and Social Policy, Department of Social Science and Regional StudiesBishwkarma, B &Bishwakarma, L. S. (2006).Reservation modality for dalit community in Nepal: Research

report 2061. Dalit NGO Federation: Kathmandu.Bourdieu Pierre and WacquantLoic J.D. (1992).An Invitation to Reflexive Sociology. Cambridge: Polity

Press.CBS. (2011). Nepal Population and Housing Census. Kathmandu: NPCS. CERID. (2003). Effectiveness of

Incentive/Scholarship Programmes for Girls and

45

Disadvantaged. Kathmandu: CERID.CERID. (2003). Situation of inclusive classroom in Nepal. Kathmandu: CERID.Department of Education. (2007) Toolkit for Inclusive Education and Child Friendly School. Sanothimi

Bhaktapur: Inclusive Education Section.Government of Nepal. (2009). School sector reform plan. Kathmandu: Author.Government of Nepal. (2012). Flash I report 2069. Kathmandu: Author.Gurung, H. (2005). Social Demography of Nepal: Census 2001, Kathmandu: Himal Books.JUP (2001). Dalit in Nepal and alternative report for WCAR-2001. JUCN, Kathmandu Nepal.Kisan, Y.B. (2005). The Nepali dalit social movement. Kathmandu: Legal Rights Protection Society Nepal.Lawati, M. (2006).Towards a democratic Nepal: Inclusive political institutions for a multicultural society.

New Delhi: Sage Publications.National Planning Commission (2002).The tenth plan. Kathmandu: Author.Pande, B.D. (2006). Education and human development. In Nepal: Readings in human development. UNDP,

Kathmandu, Nepal.Pierson, J. (2002). Tackling Social Exclusion. London: Routledge.Pradhan, R. (2006). Understanding social exclusion and inclusion in the Nepalese context: Some preliminary

remarks. Retrieved from http://magarstudiescenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Pradhan-Understandng-Social-Inclusion-and-Exclusion.pdf

(The authors are currently pursuing their Mphil in Development Studies from Kathmandu University)

E-mails: [email protected] & [email protected]

's

co-publication from

NEPAN for the last 18

years "SAHABHAGITA" a

national Nepali magazine

on Participatory

Development Process.

"EVERY ISSUE IS SPECIAL ISSUE"- NEPAN SECRETARIAT


46 - 15 l August 2014

Quality Education and Inclusion Issues

in Community Schools of Nepal

(A CASE STUDY OF A RURAL SCHOOL FROM

KAVRE DISTRICT)

by CHET NATH KANEL

Abstract

Nepal has been struggling to achieve quality education in the country since a long. TheNepalese education, as in other countries, has been managed through two institutions,that is government and private institutions. Improving quality in both types of schoolshas been a critical concern in Nepalese education system. Taking SLC result as anindicator, the quality issue in the government-run (community) schools is more seriousthan that of one in the private schools. This paper has made an attempt to map out someof the critical areas of educational review from pragmatist perspectives with a real casefrom a government-run secondary school in Kavrepalanchok district, Central Nepal.Methodologies adopted for this study included literature review, field observations aswell as checklist-based discussions with the school management personnel, head-teacherand other teaching staff. Similarly, brief interactive group interviews were also held withthe School Management Committee (SMC) members, Parent- teacher Association (PTA)members as well as the students of secondary level. The study has considered four majorareas of concern while analyzing the quality aspects, including- curriculum, pedagogicalprocess, assessment system and the governance/management system. The findings suggestthat if active participation of students and parents are sought in school management andits governance, quality enhancement is possible. Similarly, transparency of SMC, closecoordination & collaboration among the teachers, and also seeking students’ activeparticipation through ‘child club’ approach are the key practical learnings to be sharedfrom Saraswoti Secondary School.

The study also indicates that with some concerted efforts of local stakeholders, schooleducation could be made inclusive from gender and caste perspectives, and discriminatorybehaviors against Dalits could also be reduced with their active involvement in day-to-

47

day school activities. With focused care on the poor and disadvantaged girls and boys,absenteeism can also be reduced significantly.

Key words: Education, gender, social inclusion, Dalit, community school, qualityeducation, absenteeism

1. Introduction

Nepalese education system has beenadopting various policies and focusedprograms since the introduction of plannededucational development schemes for thelast six decades (Sharma, 2014). However,the issue of ‘quality education’ is still anunsolved ‘mystery’. Many marginalizedand disadvantaged children are still out ofschool, they have high drop-out rates, lowachievements and poor adaptability ofNepalese educational system; and, manysocieties are deprived of education (Dahal,2014a); and, to address the problem ofdeprivation in education, Nepal has a lotto do (Bhattarai, 2009).

Education and schooling are integral partsof the society as famous educationist- JohnDewey defined, ‘education as a tri-polarprocess between a child, teacher and thesociety’. However, Nepalese educationistshave failed to properly understand andanalyze such ‘crux’ from sociologicalperspectives. It is obvious that unless weunderstand the sociology of educationbetter, we cannot handle the educationaldiscipline better (Hamilton, 1990; Shah,2011). Equally, clear understanding of thefoundations of education such as social,cultural, philosophical, historical,cognitive, psychological and political isvital and immense. Education/ schoolingis directly allied with the well-being status,bureaucratic decisions and other numeroussocial and cultural factors, therefore, it

needs to be critically analyzed (Hunter,1994). While observing and analyzing thequality issues in this article I willparticularly look at the four dimensions ofeducation system: i) curriculum, ii)pedagogical process, iii) assessmentsystem, and iv) governance &management. In the same manner, qualityof education is assessed from fourelements, i.e. 4A’s considerations(Availability, Accessibility, Acceptabilityand Adaptability) in ensuring ‘Educationfor All’ is much more important (Dahal,2014b), thus, I have also made effort torelate these issues wherever possible.

Before starting the study and going to thefield for observations and interactions, I hadput some questions in my mind, for whichI was much influenced by the School SectorReform Program (SSRP, 2008/09- 2015/16) document and it’s Mid-term EvaluationReport (2012). The pertinent questionswere: How inclusive are the SchoolManagement Committee (SMC) & ParentTeacher Association (PTA) and— mostimportantly— the teaching team? How thelocal stakeholders understand the issue of‘quality education?’ Is the slogan of‘Education for All’ is in reality or justrhetoric in local case? I have also made aneffort to provide a brief list of prescriptionsfor future implications, particularlyfocusing on the local issues of schoolmanagement and quality enhancementwhich could be worth replicating for otherplaces as well.

Quality Education and Inclusion Issues in Community Schools of Nepal (A CASE STUDY OF A RURAL SCHOOL FROM KAVRE DISTRICT)

48 - 15 l August 2014

2. Objectives

The objectives of this case-study were to:

· understand the local reality of the qualityof education, inclusiveness in the schoolsystem and the local understanding ofthe national motto of ‘Education for All’;

· map out some of the critical issuesassociated with the success and failuresof school management and educationalquality assurance; and,

· explore measures for furtherimprovements and strengthening theoverall ‘school education system’.

3. Methodology

While carrying out this short case-study,qualitative research approach was adopted.Most prominently, interactions anddiscussions with the teachers, students aswell as parents’ representatives were made.The study also used literature reviewmethod for secondary sources ofinformation related to school educationsystem in Nepal— particularly the Ministryof Education’s School Sector ReformProgram (SSRP) documents. Similarly,observation of school records & wall-displays maintained by the schoolmanagement were also made. In addition,my own experiences of managing anddirecting secondary schools in Kathmandufor about a decade have also been reflectedin the contexts where appropriate. Thefield-visit to the school (located atBadalgaun, Ward No. 6 of Kavre VDC ofKavrepalanchok district) was made in themonth of June 2014.

4. The School: a brief glance

Saraswoti Secondary School (SSS) is aCommunity School supported by thegovernment, located at Badalgaun, Kavre

VDC-6 (which is an adjoining VDC ofDhulikhel municipality, the districtheadquarters of Kavrepalanchok). Theschool was established in BS 2037 first as aPrimary school; it was then promoted inlower secondary school in BS 2053and, laterconverted into Secondary School (ECD toclass 10) in BS 2064. So far, it has appearedsix times in the SLC examinations.

At present there are a total of 261 students,of which 46.4% (121) are boys and 53.6%(140) are girls. The School has a total of17 staff; out of which 11 are males and 6are females. There is not any Dalit teacherat present. Out of 17 teachers, 9 are fromthe ‘relief (raahat) quota’.

The school building, which is a RCCbuilding, has sufficient rooms for classes forthe present number of students, including abig meeting hall at the top; however, roomsfor staff and extra curricular activities/libraryetc. are inadequate. There are separate toiletsfor boys and girls with tap-water system. Theschool has abundant land (mainly forest land)property, but there is no good play-ground atpresent; there is no kitchen garden as well.The School has uniform dress system to allstudents and teachers. Students also use tie.Poor and marginalized students are supportedby the school for such uniforms and theirstationeries (Dalit students get such supportsfrom the government—annually Rs. 400 to500: as scholarship).

The School does not charge any regularfees, but as an annual charge of around Rs.700 to 800. According to the PTA Chair,“This was agreed by the parents to maintainthe quality of the school”. There is a special“24-point Code of Conduct” or “DisciplineCodes” (Aachar samhita) (printed leaflet)for the students. This is made available to

49

every student/ parent and there is amandatory system to sign by the studentand his/her parent.

The 9-member SMC has been formed (thelatest committee was formed in Magh, 2069under the chairpersonship of Mr. SadhuramBadal, the former VDC Chairperson).Consequently, a 9-member PTA has alsobeen constituted as guided by the EducationAct, BS 2028 (and Education Regulation,BS 2059; 7th amendment). The PTA ischaired by a male member. Similarly, theSchool has established a child club, led bya girl student, which is active for supporting& running various curricular and extra-curricular activities.

There is a small library, with mat-sittingsystem, with some (4,000) books and dailynewspapers in a room, but it does not have

adequate space for reading. Likewise, thereis a very small Science Lab, which hassome chemicals and equipments; but thespace is extremely difficult to carry-outpractical works in the lab.

Extra coaching classes, year-the-roundhave also been arranged especially for thestudents of Class-10 in order to make themwell prepared for SLC examination. Thishas been a regular practice for the last fewyears as the School experienced that verygood results could be achieved throughenhanced efforts. The school first appearedin the SLC examination in the year BS 2065and achieved 100 % results. Likewise, inthe year BS 2066 it was 84%, in 2067 itwas 100%, in 2068 it was 86%, and in 2069it was again 100%. On an average, the SLCgraduate rate of 5 years is 94% (see Table1 for details).

Table 1: A summary table of last 5 SLC batches

BS 2065 BS 2066 BS 2067 BS 2068 BS 2069

Total appeared 22 31 30 28 31

Total passed 22 (100%) 26 (84%) 30 (100%) 24 (86%) 31 (100%)

Average of 5 years 94%

Boys passed 9 15 19 9 15

Girls passed 13 16 11 15 16

Dalit passed 1 (boy) 2 (boys) 5(3 boys, 2 girls) 3 (girls) 1 (girl)

Note: Final results of BS 2070 batch are yet to be received as some of the students have to reappear incompartmental tests in August 2014. 100% result is expected for this year. 32 students had appeared in theSLC 2070.

Source: School Records, 13 June 2014

5. Key educational issues and local

perspectives

Education- as ‘rights’ & currentsituation

Nepal’s Interim Constitution (Article 17)has given high emphasis on the rights of

education and culture to every people ofthe country irrespective of gender, caste,class, region or whatsoever. Equally, theMDG (2000-2015), under the goal‘Achieving Universal Primary Education’has envisioned that all boys and girlscomplete a full course of primary


50 - 15 l August 2014

schooling. In the same manner, the Ministryof Education, under its SSRP (2008/09-2015/16), has targeted to enroll 100%children in the schools by 2015. It has alsotargeted to support thousands of schools forinfrastructure development, teachers’professional development (TPD),scholarships for marginalized sections ofthe communities, and, provisions of varioustypes of technical/vocational education,and literary programs (SSRP, 2008/09).

According to CBS (2011), there is still a biggap in literacy rates between male and female.As per 2011 census, out of total 65.9 % ofliteracy rate, males have 75.1%, but, femaleshave only 57.4%. Karnali and Far WesternDevelopment Regions are extremely laggingbehind in education and overall humandevelopment (Bhattarai, 2009; Shahi, 2012).Similarly, according to Department ofEducation (DoE), in the community schools,there is disparity in the male and femaleteachers’ ratio. At primary level there are37.8% female teachers, however, it is just20.6% at lower secondary level and, 13.8%at secondary level (DEO, 2013).

Curriculum and pedagogy

There have always been debates over theissues- whether education is an individualor collective right; whether it is driven bythe choices of rational actors of the strugglebetween rival classes; whether its role is tofoster the moral faculties or stunt them inorder to produce docile workers; whetherit offers the chance for social equalizationor reproducing the inequalities of the classsystem (Hunter, 1994; Dahal 2014b).Visualizing all these aspects, making thelocal educational system more relevant,introduction of education curricula as perlocal choice/ local perspective is veryimportant. However, making such curricula

by the communities is almost impossibledue to several reasons. Despite the fact,local needs could be incorporated throughvarious (extra)-curricular plans andactivities on regular basis. Those effortsshould also be considered as an integral partof the ‘curricular’ activities. In this context,the SSS has made its efforts to ‘regularize’some of the (extra)-curricular activities asdepicted in Box- 1.

Box-1: ECA Programs run by theschool

· School sanitation and wastemanagement (weekly)

· Wall-magazine publication (bi-monthly)

· Awareness campaigns (includingdoor-to-door) for school enrollments

· New session students welcomeprogram (annual)

· Child club reformation (annual) andmobilization

· Health and nutrition (anti-wormmedicines) campaign (week-long/twice a year)

· Art competition, Essay competition,Oratory competition, Quiz contests

· Poetry writing competitions

· Drama (public cultural show) againsthuman/girls trafficking

(Abstracted by the author from theschool calendar, BS 2071)

“Our teachers teach on the basis of lesson-plans prepared in advance, and they arealso encouraged to use different teachingmaterials as far as possible; and, during ourstaff meetings, we also discuss about theteaching methods to be adopted in theclass-rooms”, claims the head-teacher.

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SSS teachers are using different methodsfor teaching including, lecture, discussion,class-work, group project, practical, fieldvisits, games, etc. There are usually 4periods in a day; the 3 sessions are longsessions of 90 minutes each and 1 sessionshort is only45 minutes. Everyday, oneteacher needs to take 4 sessions. Even thehead-teacher takes one to two classes eachday (Social Sciences). Grade teaching up-to class 3 is practiced at SSS. And, fromthe last year, English subject has also beenintroduced in classes 1 to 3. For this,government curriculum has been adopted.“English teaching in classes 1, 2 and 3 wasin high demand of the parents, so weintroduced it from last year”, says Mr.Uddhav Badal, a senior teacher.

Similarly, SSS provides computer classesfrom class 6 onwards. There are at present9 computers in the School. There is nointernet service, however.

Absenteeism- no problem!

In rural areas of Nepal, we still have veryhigh absenteeism of the students. As DorBahadur Bist (1991) claimed, “The reasonthat a considerable number of children do notattend school is that they form a major portionof the economic workforce/ agriculture”.

Similarly, other factors are also responsiblefor high absenteeism, including- distanceof the school, accessibility, status and roleof parents, infrastructural facilities (class-room, bench/desk, toilets, etc.), teachers’skills and behavior, and so on. However,in the case of this SSS, according to thehead-teacher Mr. Ramesh Kaji KojuShrestha, “there is no problem ofabsenteeism”. This is perhaps due to highrealization of the importance of educationto their parents.

Participatory management and subject-wise committees

The school has formed different types ofsubject committees (also called‘Department’) to regularly communicate,coordinate and execute the curricular aswell as extra curricular activities. “Webelieve in participatory management”, saysthe head-teacher.

The school so far has formed 7 committeesto deal with different subjects namely: i)Nepali Department, ii) EnglishDepartment, iii) Science and HealthDepartment, iv) Mathematics Department,v) Occupation, Social and PopulationDepartment, vi) Optional SubjectsDepartment, and vii) Grade Teaching andEarly Child Education Department. Out of7 departments, only one department is ledby a female teacher (Grade Teaching andEarly Child Education Department). Thisshows that the participation of femaleteachers in higher positions is lacking.

“We regularly organize our PTA meetingsevery month and collect their feedbacks toteachers, parents and SMC on concernedissues of school management andgovernance, teaching process and parents’roles, which have been very useful tomaintain and enhance our quality”, lamentsMr. Krishna Prasad Sharma, Chairpersonof the PTA. The SMC also holds monthlymeetings and entertains the issues andconcerns raised by teachers, PTA and theChild Club. “We have also tried to maintaintransparency in everything, which hasmade comfort to everybody here”, claimsthe head-teacher. An internal auditingsystem is maintained by the PTA.

Students’ Assessment system

Generally, daily monitoring of students is


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done by the class teacher and other subject-teachers. The school, as suggested bySSRP, has adopted the system ofcontinuous monitoring and examinations ofevery student by developing printedProgress Report Card (PRC). There are 3examinations in each educational year: firstterminal, second terminal and final exams.The PRC, which is issued to every student,contains major parts such as: columns formarks (full marks, pass-marks, obtainedmarks) for every subject and terms; positionin the class, percent, total attendance days,class-teacher’s sign, parent’s sign,examination coordinator’s sign and finallythe head-teacher’s sign with date.

Waste-basket placed in the school premise,Photo: author, June, 2014

Introduction of the PRC system indicatesthat the school has made a good effort inensuring the continuous assessment system(CAS) and also parents will haveopportunity to see their son/daughter’sprogress regularly. “We regularly organizeparents-teachers meeting programs; for thiswe have already distributed our SchoolCalendar showing the ‘dates’ ofinteractions/ meetings of the parents ofconcerned classes”, briefs the head-teacher.

Inclusive child club and its leaders

The school has been practicing child clubapproach in enhancing children’sparticipation & carrying out variouscurricular as well as extra-curricularactivities. “This approach has been veryhelpful to enhance children’s participationin all types of activities in the school”, saysMr. Ashok KC, the focal teacher of theChild Club. He further claimed, “Afterforming the Child Club, the students havebeen very active, especially in schoolsanitation initiatives (see photo) and SchoolWall Magazine publication”.

The present Executive Committee of theClub consists of 10 members, which is ledby a girl student. There are 6 boys and 4girls in the committee. And, interestingly,this club is very inclusive from caste/ethnicity perspectives as well. Out of 10members, 4 are Brahmin/ Chhetri, 2 areGiri/Puri, 2 are Dalits and 2 are Janajati(Figure 1 and 2).

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Community participation with genderand social inclusion perspectives

Every society has diverse types of societalconstituents. All development efforts aremuch influenced by the participation andnon-participation of the localcommunities—which are segregated indifferent stratifications (Chambers, 2012).They include: gender/ sexual orientation,caste/race, ethnicity, origin, economicclass, age, physical condition etc. Genderroles vary from culture to culture. However,in this case-study, I have been more focusedon gender and Dalit perspectives.

Reflecting gender issues in education anddevelopment, Malla (2011) notes that“education is perceived as the aggregate ofall the processes by which a persondevelops abilities, attitudes, and forms ofbehavior with practical values to the societyin which she/he lives”. Similarly, if webelieve in a sentence reflected in the 1990World Conference on ‘Education for All(EFA)’ it convinces us as it notes,“education as the single most importantfactor in the struggle against poverty,protecting the rights of women with greater

opportunities”. Likewise, the World Bankstudy (1993) has concluded stating,“Education of girls is one of the mostrewarding investments” (cited in Malla,2011, p. 123). Similarly, according toDepartment of Education (DEO, 2013),there is significant disparity in the male andfemale teachers’ ratio in the communityschools. In the case of SSS, nevertheless,there is good participation of girl studentsin the enrollments and class-room, and, alsoin the child-club. Likewise, female teacherratio and female representation in the PTAare also appreciative. However, femaleinclusion in the SMC is very unsatisfactoryas there is only 11% representation ofwomen members (Table 2).

According to the head-teacher, the numberof Dalit children is increasing year by year.There are 8.8% Dalit students at present. Alocal parent says, “gender-baseddiscriminations in the village are decreasingin the last 10-15 years”. According to Mr.Gokul Mijar, a Class- 10 student,“discriminations on Dalits have alsogradually been decreasing from the schoolsand from the communities” (see his voicein Box-2).

Table 2: School staff, SMC and PTA, Advisory Board structure from gender

perspectives

Total Male Female

Staff 17 11 (64.7%) 6 (35.3%)

SMC 9 8 (89%) 1 (11%)

PTA 9 5 (55.5%) 4 (44.5%)

Advisory Board 3 3 (100%) 0

SMC: School Management Committee; PTA: Parents - Teachers’ Association

Source: School Records/wall displays, 13 June 2014


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Suggested by different literatures, there areseveral issues of schooling and educationlinked to gender roles. For example, evenin America, the problems that girlsencounter in the educational systemgenerally reflect their socialization fordependence rather than assertiveness. Thus,the girl-child exposed to such a deeplyentrenched gender-biased culture is forcedto put aside her priorities, needs andinterests (Awasthi, 2004).

Equally, ethnicity (Janajati/ Aadibasi)issues have also crucial roles in Nepaleseeducation as they occupy almost 37% ofthe total population (CBS, 2011). Ineducation, more Dalits are deprived fromeducation than other ethnic communities.We have to do a lot to meet the envisionedtargets in different plans, programs andcommitments, including the SSRP.

Quality education and key concern

Progress and prosperity of thedisadvantaged groups/minorities depend onquality education (Sharma, 2014).However, getting education only up toprimary/basic or even secondary level doesnot help much. They have to beoccupational or professional in any one ofthe disciplines. For this, SLC result hasbeen a key indicator (also called “iron-gate”; but I do not like this term) of anysecondary school’s quality measurement.In this context, Wagley (2014) states, “thegovernment-run secondary schools havevery poor performances in SLC exams, thisis a serious problem”. However, in case ofSaraswoti School’s SLC results, Wagley’sstatement could be untrue as this hasachieved 84% to 100% success results inthe last 5 years. This must be considered avery good result in the rural parts of Nepal.The exemplary results of Saraswoti School

Box- 2: ‘I don’t feel any

discrimination in the school’

“I am Gokul Mijar (a ‘Dalit’ student).I am now studying in Class 10 inSaraswoti Secondary School. I havebeen studying here from the beginningof my schooling. My village is about20 minutes’ walk from here. I haveheard that discriminations against Dalits(‘untouchability’) are still very seriousin many schools in Kavre district andin other parts of Nepal. But we Dalitstudents, here in this school, have notfaced any problem of untouchability orany other types of discriminations.

Actually, we don’t feel any differentbehavior in the school. Our friends, ourteachers and other staff behave equallyto us. We sit on the same benches, weshare our food items (tiffin) with otherclass-friends too, we use the same watertaps and bottles/jugs, and we shake ourhands with everyone in the class-room/school. Thus we feel equal in all typesof behaviors. Therefore, in the school,we feel like we are not Dalits. However,there is still some discrimination in ourcommunity/ neighbors. I hope in thenext few years such practices will alsodeminish as the educational level of thevillage is going up rapidly. So I believethat we must have education toeliminate all types of unfairness fromour villages and communities.”

(Interview and photo by: the author,13 June 2014)

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need to be promoted not only in Kavredistrict but also all over the country.

According to the head-teacher, all theteachers of this school have enrolled theirkids in this school. This is also a goodpractice as we have very regularly readingin the newspapers that many teachers in thegovernment schools send their children toprivate English (boarding) schools. It showsthat the teachers are committed towards andconfident in the ‘quality’ of the School.

6. Conclusion and implications

The school has made considerable effortsin achieving quality education despitenumerous hurdles. Efforts in establishing alltypes of school units/ committees and alsoattention towards making them inclusive isone good indicator of effective managementand governance of the School. The SLCresults of the last 5 years have also provedthat the school is one of the modelgovernment schools in Kavrepalanchokdistrict. The total female students’ proportionin the School (53%) is also praiseworthy.However, this has put a question whetherall the boys in the village are studying hereor they have been sent to nearby ‘boarding’school(s)? This is because suchdiscriminatory practices are still verycommon in the rural parts of Nepal.

Equally, SMC’s and PTA’s roles wereappreciated by the teachers. However, thenumber of female representative in suchcommittees is unsatisfactory. The femaleteacher’s ratio is still low as compared tonational average (39%). Lack of sufficientflat-land for the school is a big hurdle indeveloping play-ground and otherinfrastructures (spacious rooms) for theschool. The Child-Club approach in boostingextra curricular activities in the school isworth learning for other schools too.

In overall, the school is making good effortsin achieving quality education throughadoption of national curriculum, timelymanagement of text-books and students’stationeries, applying the participatoryteaching (pedagogical) methods, carryingout continuous assessment system (throughprogress monitoring card). Equally, activeinvolvement of local parents through SMCand PTA in the management process is alsoin line with the Education Act, Regulationand also in line with the SSRP. The schoolhas undoubtedly contributed achieving theSSRP targets at micro level with fullownership.

Saraswoti School has been working hardto enhance the ‘4A’ principles ofeducational quality assurance throughavailability of the institution from ECD toSLC (in the future, 10+2 is alreadyplanned), which will obviously helpachieving the targets of enhancingaccessibility, acceptability, andadaptability. Local parents’ fullcommitment for the overall developmentof the school was seen looking at the historyand developmental activities currentlyongoing in the school premises.

The school should work more on theinfrastructure development along with aneye on the inclusive perspectives in theteaching staff, SMC and PTA. Dalitparticipation in such mechanisms is totallylacking. Thus, considering the localpopulation of Dalits (about 10%), a fairproportion of Dalits in the teaching staff,SMC and PTA need to be considered.Because, such oppressed groups need morevoices & choices to attain educational anddevelopmental goals (Freire, 2005).School-community linkages with somevisible actions (e.g. regular interactions;


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awareness campaigns against localmalpractices, superstitions; plantation,sapling distribution, health camps,publications, joint sports activities,establishment of different scholarships andawards, etc.) are to be strengthened. Thepublication of School Calendar anddistributing to each household in the(catchment) villages is a praiseworthy task.This should be continued in the future toowith cost-recovery plans for itssustainability.

Localizing the national curricula is the needof present hour. Considering the highprospects of tourism and agriculture inKavrepalanchok district and surroundings,the school should make a plan to introduce“tourism/hospitality” and “agriculture/animal science” courses in the secondary-level and (in the future) in the highersecondary level in order to developoccupational and middle-level professionalpersons for the district/nation.

References

Awasthi, L. D. (2004). Exploring monolingual school practices in multilingual Nepal. An unpublished Doctoralthesis, Danish University of Education, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Bhattarai, T. (2009). Education as trade: Reflecting the case of Nepal. Paper presented as a part of examinationfor the course “Education in relation to Society and Culture”, Master of Educational Studies, 2008/2009, HIVA/ KUL.

Bist, D. B. (1991). Fatalism and development: Nepal’s struggle for modernization. Delhi: Orient Longman.Chambers, R. (2012). Provocations for development. UK: Practical Action Publishing Ltd.Dahal, B. P. (2014a). Nepali balbalikako sikshako adhikar: kati bastavik, kati dharrawadi? (Educational

rights of Nepalese children: reality or rhetoric?” (in Nepali). Sahabhagita Quarterly National Magazize.17 (3/4: Full Issue No. 48, pp. 15-17). Nepal Participatory Action Network (NEPAN), Kathmandu.

Dahal, B. P. (2014b). Fundamentals of education. Unpublished Lecture Notes. February- June, 2014,Kathmandu University- School of Education (KUSOED), Balkumari, Kathmandu.

DoE (2013). Flash Report- 2013. Department of Education, Sanothimi, Bhaktapur, Nepal.DoP (2005). Dictionary of philosophy (DoP), 2nd Ed., London: Penguin Books.GoN (BS 2063). Nepal ko Antarim Sambidhan (Nepal’s Interim Constitution). Kathmandu : Government of

Nepal, Kanun Kitab Byabastha Samiti.Freire, P. (2005). Pedagogy of the oppressed. 30th edition, New York: Continnum.Hamilton, D. (1990). Learning about education: An unfinished curriculum. Philadelphia: Open University

Press.Hunter, I. (1994). Rethinking the school: subjectivity, bureaucracy, criticism. Australia: Allen and Unwin

Pty Ltd.Malla, M. B. (2011). Political socialization of women in Nepal. New Delhi: Adroit Publishers.Saha, L. J. (2011). Sociology of education: A reference handbook. New York: SAGE Publications.Shahi, B. (2012). Karnali samasya hoina (Karnali is a not a problem). Gorkhapatra National Daily, 8th April

2012.Sharma, S. R. (2014). Siksha: Nepali sandarva (Education in Nepalese contexts) (in Nepali). Dhulikhel,

Kavre: Nirmala Dhungel.UNDP (2000). The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs: 2000-2015). Kathmandu: United Nations

Development Program.Wagley, M. P. (2014). Kasari suddhranchha sarkari siksha? (How can we improve public education in Nepal?).

Kantipur Daily, 11 July 2014.

(The author is Life Member of NEPAN and a PhD Scholar in Development Studies at Kathmandu University)

Email : [email protected]

57

Health Impacts of Climate

Change in Asia

by JHABINDRA BHANDARI

Abstract

Global environmental change, including climate change, is expected to exacerbate therisks and vulnerabilities inherent to the multi-stress or context of urban systems. Indeed,climate change will aggravate existing urban challenges and likely to add layers of riskthat will continue to threaten urban well-being and growth mainly in South Asia regionwhere poor people are most at risk. In particular, environmental consequences of climatechange, such as extreme heat waves, rising sea-levels, changes in precipitation resultingin flooding and droughts, and degraded air quality, affect directly and indirectly thephysical, social, and psychological health of humans. Climate change can be a driver ofdisease driven migration, as well as exacerbate health effects resulting from the releaseof toxic air pollutants in vulnerable populations. Only practical and evidence informedadaption strategies can help mitigate the health impacts of climate change at large.

Key words: Climate change, adaptation, health impacts, urbanization, environmental change

1. Introduction

In the recent years, climate change has beenan increasing concern for sustainablehuman development. It is now no longeran issue for the distant future. It is evidentthat climate change has already started itsvisibility and will continue to make it strongpresence in the earth. In this context, thereis no doubt that like many developingcountries, particularly the poorest people

of South Asia region are most at risk. Asexperienced for the last few years, theimpacts of higher temperatures, morevariable precipitation, more extremeweather events, and sea level rise are feltin South Asia and will continue to intensify(ADB et al. 2011). More worryingly, thesechanges are already having major impactson the economic performance of SouthAsian countries and on the lives and

58 - 15 l August 2014

livelihoods of millions of poor people.

The world’s future population growth ispredicted to take place in cities and theirurban landscapes – the UN estimates aglobal increase from the current 2.9 billionurban residents to an overwhelming fivebillion by 2030. A human healthperspective on climate change on humanhealth report (2010) revealed that most ofthis growth will occur in developingcountries in Africa and Asia, mainly insmall and medium sized cities rather thanmega-cities. As engines of economicgrowth, cities offer many opportunities, butat the same time they also present manychallenges, such as poverty, pollution anddisease. These challenges are exacerbatedby the impacts of climate change, whichare already being felt by communitiesaround the world.

The effects of urbanization and climate changeare converging in dangerous ways which threatento have unprecedented negative impacts uponquality of life, and economic and socialdevelopment (ACCRN et al. 2011). At the sametime, the concentration of human capital,infrastructure, industry and culture in cities, hasthe potential to make cities a force for social andeconomic good, and drive innovation in both theeffort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, as wellas developing strategies for communities andsystems to adapt to the impacts of climate change.

The consequences of recent environmentalchanges are numerous as they mainlyinclude decreased water availability andwater quality in many arid and semiaridregions, an increased risk of floods anddroughts in many regions, reduction inwater regulation in mountain habitats,decreases in reliability of hydropower andbiomass production, increased incidence ofwaterborne diseases such as malaria,

dengue, and cholera, increased damagesand deaths caused by extreme weatherevents, decreased agricultural productivity,adverse impacts on fisheries, adverseeffects on many ecological systems.

As a result of these changes, climate changewould have profound impacts ondevelopment and consequently, it couldhamper the achievement of many of theMillennium Development Goals (MDGs),including those on poverty eradication, childmortality, malaria, and other diseases, andenvironmental sustainability(Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Changeet al. 2001). This will also lead to economicshocks. In addition, the impacts of climatechange will exacerbate existing social andenvironmental problems and lead tomigration within and across national borders.

More significantly, climate change will affectthe health of urban populations. Over theyears, it is being experienced that there are arange of environmental hazards whichparticularly affect populations where thecurrent burden of climate-sensitive diseaseis high — such as the urban poor in low- andmiddle-income countries. Understanding thecurrent impact of weather and climatevariability on the health of urban populations,it is important to examine the future impactson livelihoods and generate scientificevidences on how the temperature, rainfalland extreme events impact on human health.

2. Objectives

As a matter of fact, the climate change andits profound impacts on human health arestill not realized by policy makers, plannersand other relevant stakeholders. Neither thenational health or development policies areexplicitly addressing this in their strategiesand plans. One of the reasons for this mightbe lack of data and solid evidences on

59

health impacts of climate change in SouthAsia region in particular. Therefore, theobjectives of this review are:

· to systematically document existingliterature on climate change and itspotential impacts on human health

· to provide a synthesis of existingevidences on health impacts of climatechange and potential approaches toadaption and mitigation

3. Methods

The methods for assessing the risks ofclimate change are undergoingdevelopment, and there is a need to shiftthe focus from global and regional to localstudies. This paper is a systematic reviewof relevant literature, articles, reports andpolicies related to climate change and itspotential impacts on health. Thus, the dataand all references presented in this paperare from secondary sources.

4. Results

There are now increasing evidences thatsectoral approaches to climate changeimpact assessments often ignore the effectson health. There is a need to better describethe risks to health from extreme weatherevents as well as improve the effectivenessof public health interventions. Improvingthe resilience of cities to climate changealso requires improvements in the urbaninfrastructure, but such improvements maynot be achieved quickly enough to avoidan increased burden of disease due to globalclimate. Some of the important dimensionsof health impacts of climate change aresummarized below:

a) Climate change as global threat tohuman health

In May 2009, Costello et al. (2009) called

climate change “the biggest global healththreat of the 21st century.” It further notedthat the “epidemiological outcome ofclimate change on disease patternsworldwide will be profound, especially indeveloping countries, where existingvulnerabilities to poor health remain.” It isprojected that several negative healthimpactswill be exacerbated as a result ofclimate change in Asia and the Pacific.

A first, and perhaps most immediate,pathway through which climate changemay affect health is water. Adequate andclean water resources are vulnerable toclimate change stress, and the lack of theseheightens the risk of diarrhea and cholerain rural and urban areas.

Greater rainfall, combined with warmertemperatures, is likely to make provisionof clean water and adequate sanitation morecomplex and costly, and expand the vectorsfor water borne communicable diseases,including malaria and dengue fever. Forexample, by 2080, approximately 6 billionpeople may be at risk of contracting denguefever as a consequence of climate change,2.5 billion more than if climate were toremain unchanged (Hales et al. 2002).

A second pathway, independent of water-related issues, is temperature increases. Theurban population in developing countriesis rapidly increasing, and is often combinedwith poor housing and living conditions.

b) Impacts on nutrition and food security

Evidences reveals that agriculture isextremely vulnerable to climate change.Higher temperatures eventually reduceyields of desirable crops, whileencouraging weed and pest proliferation.Changes in precipitation patterns increase

Health Impacts of Climate Change in Asia

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the likelihood of short-run crop failures andlong-run production declines. Althoughthere will be gains in some crops in someregions of the world, the overall impactsof climate change on agriculture areexpected to be negative. In turn, this mayhave adverse impacts on nutrition and foodsecurity (ADB 2011).

Estimates reveal that climate change isexpected to boost the number ofmalnourished children by 2050. Morespecifically, in East Asia, instead of 2.3million malnourished children in 2050—which is projected in the case of no changein the climate—this number is projected toreach between 4.9 million to 5.3 millionwith climate change.

In South Asia, instead of 52.3 millionmalnourished children in 2050 underprevailing climate conditions, predictionsindicate that between 57.2 million and 58.2million will be malnourished due to climatechange (ADB 2009a). In a recent report, itwas estimate that calorie availability in2050 may not only be lower than in the no-climate-change scenario, but that it mayactually decline relative to 2000 levelsthroughout the developing world (IFPRI2009). Finally, a fourth pathway is extremeweather events and heat waves (e.g.,droughts, storms, rainfalls), which areexpected to become more severe and/ormore frequent. Over the period 1960–2007,the number of people around the worldaffected by droughts, floods, storms, andextreme temperatures has increased

c) Lacking data and evidence

The data and information on climaticevents and health impacts in both soft andhard forms are limited, which pose thecrucial problem and challenge for health

planning in Nepal. If available, the data iseither limited or generated for specificproject purposes and therefore coverlimited areas. There exist limited stationsfor recording data on weather, hydrological,and environmental phenomena.Unfortunately, these are limited only tomajor urban areas.

There is a lack of solid and reliableinformation and analysis relating climaticevents and human health. In 2009, theGovernment of Nepal adopted climatechange–related policies and adaptationprograms in the context of its NationalAdaptation Programme of Action (NAPA).The NAPA is supported by six multi-stakeholder thematic working groups(TWGs), each led by a line ministry:agriculture and food security (Ministry ofAgriculture); forestry and biodiversity(Ministry of Forests and SoilConservation); water and energy (Ministryof Energy); public health (Ministry ofHealth and Population); climate induceddisasters (Ministry of Home Affairs); andhuman settlements and infrastructure(Ministry of Physical Planning and Works).(Pradhan, B. 2010)

5. Conclusion

Climate change is an increasingly priorityagenda in development. Addressing climatechange requires a dual approach whichintegrates mitigation – actions aimed atreducing the sources or enhancing the sinksof greenhouse gases – and adaptation orresilience building – dealing with theresidual impacts of and opportunitiespresented by climate change. As evidentin most cases, the general attention onclimate change has been focused onmitigation. However, there are irreversibleimpacts that will continue and worsen

61

within our lifetimes. This is why the focuson climate change adaptation, particularlyin urban areas, has become so importantand critical.

6. Future implications

To sum up, a climate change adaptationstrategy that focuses on preventing theprojected health impacts of climate changeis likely to be more effective. From viewpoint of public health, certain adversehealth effects can be minimized or avoidedwith sound mitigation and adaptation

strategies. Strategies for mitigating andadapting to climate change can preventillness and mortality, while also protectingthe environment and health of futuregenerations. It is critical that adaptationand mitigation decisions and policies bedeveloped with a sound basis in the bestcurrent science on climate change and itseffects. There are still gaps in ourunderstanding of the relationship betweenclimate change, the environment, andhuman health.

References

Akachi, Y., D. Goodman, and D. Parker (2009). Global Climate Change and Child Health: AReview of Pathways, Impacts and Measures to Improve the Evidence Base. Innocenti Discussion Paper No.

IDP2009-03. Florence: UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre.Asian Development Bank (ADB) and SIDA. (2011). Accountingfor Health Impacts of Climate Change,

ManilaAsian Development Bank (ADB). (2002). Handbook for Integrating Risk Analysis in the Economic Analysis

of Projects. Manila.Commission on Climate Change and Development (2009). Closing the Gaps: Disaster Risk Reduction and

Adaptation to Climate Change in Developing Countries. Stockholm: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sweden.Confalonieri, U., et al (2007): Human Health. In Parry, M.L., et al., eds. Climate Change 2007: Impacts,

Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of theIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.pp. 391–431.

Costello, A., et al (2009). Managing the Health Effects of Climate Change. The Lancet. Vol. 373.pp. 1693–1733.

Markandya, A., and A. Chiabai (2009). Valuing Climate Change Impacts on Human Health: EmpiricalEvidence from the Literature. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.Vol.6. pp. 759–786.

Ministry of Environment, Government of Nepal (2010). National Adaptation Programme of Action: ThematicWorking Group Summary Report. Kathmandu.

National Adaptation Programme of Action (2010). Thematic Working Group Summary Report. Kathmandu:Ministry of Environment, Government of Nepal.

Pradhan, B. 2010. Key Sector Analysis: Health Adaptation in Nepal. Mimeo. Kathmandu.

(The author is National Coordinator for UN Inter-Agency Initiative on Reducing Child Hunger and Under

nutrition and also an executive member of NEPAN)


Health Impacts of Climate Change in Asia

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An Evaluation Study of Food and

Nutrition Project, Dailekh, Nepal

by NAR BIKRAM THAPA, PhD

Abstract

The FANS-P is found relevant, effective, having positive impact and sustainable. Theachievement of the project outputs and outcomes has been found satisfactory as planned.The respondents have scored 96 % vote for the very good and good performance of theProject. The large majority of the people are found happy with this project due to localinstitutional development, awareness raising about food and nutrition security amongthe local people, committed staff members and good linkage and coordination withGovernment line agencies and civil society organizations. This project has contributedto household food and nutritional security of the rightholders. This is environmentallyfriendly project that contributed to reduce rural environmental pollution. It could bereplicated and scaledup in other parts of the country. The objectives of the project havebeen achieved within two years’ project period.

Key Words: Food and nutrition security, environmentally friendly, sustainability, cost-effectiveness, mood meter mapping.

1. Introduction

Nepal is among the ten countries of theworld with the highest stunting prevalence,a measure of chronic under-nutrition, andone of top twenty countries with the largestnumber of stunted children (UNICEF,2009). This problem affects 41 per cent ofits preschool children (DHS, 2011).

According to WHO, nutrition is the intakeof food, considered in relation to the body’sdietary needs. Good nutrition–an adequate,well balanced diet combined with regularphysical activity–is a cornerstone of goodhealth. Poor nutrition can lead to reducedimmunity, increased susceptibility todisease, impaired physical and mental

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development, and reduced productivity(http://www. Google.com accessed on30.07.2013).

The purpose of this evaluation was to assessan overall impact of the Food and NutritionalSecurity Program. This report has beendivided into five sections that includeintroduction; evaluation approach andmethodology; key findings; lessons learnt;and conclusion and recommendations. Thestudy was carried out during the period of11 July- 08 August 2013 in Dailekh, District.

1.1 Context

The project was implemented in threeVDCs (Sattala, Singaudi and Lakandra) ofDailekh District with the financial supportof Inter Church Organization forDevelopment Cooperation (ICCO). LWFNepal had implemented a two yearCommunity Development Project in thesame VDCs from July 2009 to June 2011supported by ICCO followed by FANS-P,a two year project started in July 2011. Theproject was implemented through a localnon-government organization (NGO)named the Women Empowerment ActionForum (WEAF), Dailekh. The generalobjective of the project is to “Improve Foodand Nutrition Security of Poor andMarginalized Population”. The project hastwo specific objectives:

· Empower and capacitate groups, CBOsand CBO Federation to claim and enjoythe basic human rights, includingimprove access to the governmentservices and resources.

· Enhance food and nutrition security of thetarget households (LWF Nepal, 2011).

1.2 Evaluation Objectives

The following were the objectives for theevaluation:

· To figure out the achievements andimpacts of the interventions in changingthe livelihoods of the targeted people.

· To assess the efficiency of the projectimplementation in the area.

· To analyze effectiveness of the projectin a multi-stakeholder environment.

· To draw the specific learning, challengesand recommend areas for improvements.

2. Approaches and Methodology

2.1 Approaches to an Evaluation Study

The appreciative inquiry, participatory, genderequality and social inclusion, institutionaldevelopment, community empowermentapproaches were taken into account whileconducting the evaluation in the field.

2.2 Methods Used in the Study

The basket of participatory techniques wasadopted for the evaluation of the project.The methods were selected based on thenature of information. Checklistquestionnaire was prepared for each toolto guide the information collection.Basically, semi-structured interview,participants’ observation, focus groupdiscussion, key informant interview,meeting with key stakeholders, review ofproject documents (Thapa, 2005), etc wereused to collect the information.

Analysis was done for all the informationcollected from the field. A simple analysissuch as classification, frequency tabulationand percentage was done. The scoreranking, mood meter mapping, pair-wiseranking, gender equality and socialinclusion, before and after situationmapping was taken into consideration. Adebriefing meeting was organised inWEAF, Dailekh Office to share evaluationfindings. Sattala VDC was selected for the

An Evaluation Study of Food and Nutrition Project, Dailekh, Nepal

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field study, as it was not possible to visitall three target VDCs due to limited time.However, telephone inquiries were madewith the selected informants in Singaudiand Lakandra VDCs, particularly tounderstand the community perceptionstowards the project. District DevelopmentCommittee, District AgricultureDevelopment Office, Drinking WaterSupply and Sanitation Division office ofDailekh were selected to map out thelinkage and coordination with district lineagencies. A group of journalists were alsocontacted to participate in the scoring formood meter mapping and perceptionmapping towards FANS project.

3. Key Findings

3.1 Relevance

The Food and Nutrition Security projectwas implemented by LWF Nepal inpartnership with WEAF found to berelevant because of remoteness, effects ofconflict, high presence of vulnerablepeople, poor access to government services,high rate of food insecurity and undernutrition of children below five years, highgender discrimination and high prevalenceof people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWH).This area was neglected by developmentpartners for many years. There was deficitof 6,828 metric ton food grain in DailekhDistrict in the last year (DADO, 2013).According to District DevelopmentCommittee, the food and nutritionalinsecurity regarded as major socio-economic issue in the Sattala, Sigaudi andLakandra VDCs of Dailekh District. Theproject activity is suited to the priorities and

policies of the Government of Nepal,Ministry of Agriculture Development andother line ministries to address directpoverty and suffering of the communitypeople in the areas.

This project has addressed the needs andaspiration of the right-holders particularlyin food and nutrition security. However,two years’ project duration seems to beshort to make a significant difference in thelives of vulnerable poor women and men.

3.2 Effectiveness

There has been found satisfactoryachievement of the program outputs andoutcomes during the project period (LWFNepal, Project Annual Report, 2012) asplanned. This program seems to be costeffective. The WEAF(WomenEmpowerment and Action Forum) animplementing partner team was found tobe active and closely working withcommunities, District DevelopmentCommittee, government line agenciesparticularly with District AgricultureDevelopment Office, District LivestockService Office, Drinking Water Supply andSanitation Division Office, District HealthOffice, District Irrigation Office etc,District Education Office. According tofinal finance report produced by WEAF outof total budget of Rs 8,437,407 Rs 949,130(11 per cent) budget has been allocated foradmin and finance which is consideredcost-effective in nature.

The before (baseline) and now (end line)situation mapping of Food and NutritionSecurity Project has been done which is asfollows (Table 1):

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Table 1: Before and Now Situation Mapping of FANS Project

Baseline (June 2011) End line ( July 2013)

1. A total of 1536 right-sholders identified, 60 1. Three CBOs registered and strengthenedgroups and 3 CBOs were formed in the project their capacity.areas.

2. No CBO’s Federation existed in the areas. 2. Loose CBO Federation Networkestablished

3. No CBOs have their own policy and 3. 60 groups and three CBOs have preparedconstitution policy and constitution.

4. No women led and managed cooperative 4. Three women led cooperatives formed andreported made functional, where 76 women members

are being organized.

5. Chaupadi system existed in the areas. 5. Demolished of Chaupadi hut (Goth). Around50 per cent women started to stay in theseparate room into their house.

6. No resource tapping from VDCs and other 6. All CBOs started to tap VDC budget fordevelopment stakeholders by CBOs. construction of CBO’s building and micro-

enterprise development. They receivedbudget of NRs 389,000 from otherstakeholders.

7. No peer educators trained in the areas 7. A total of 100 peer educators trained andmobilized.

8. A total of 95 group members have adopted 8. A total of 1152 family member have adoptedsafe family nutrition practices. safe family nutritional practices.

9. A total of 48 HHs reported to under nutrition 9. 75 per cent HHs have increased thenutritional status.

10. A total of 218 HHs have established kitchen 10. A total of 997 rightsholders have establishedgarden. kitchen garden.

11. No improved variety of cereal and legume 11. A total of 1231 rights holders introducedcrops introduced by the rightsholders in the improved variety of cereal and legume cropsareas. that contributed additional three months

household food security in the areas.

12. No community managed seed bank 12. A total of three community managed seedestablished in the areas. banks established in three VDCs where 400

rightsholders benefitted.

13. Each group has NRs 3500 saving amount. 13. Each group has NRs 9,466 saving amount.The saving amount has been used for health,


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education and income generation purpose.

14. Massive use of rice and finger millet for liquor 14. Reduced (around 40 per cent) use of ricepreparation in the area. and finger millet in liquor preparation

15. Women participation in VDC council meeting, 15. Women participation in VDC councilSchool Management Committee and CFUGs meeting, School Management Committeemeeting was reported as low. and CFUGs meeting has reported high.

16. Crop productivity was low per unit area. The 16. Crop productivity per unit area has beencrop productivity per unit area was as follows: increased. The crop productivity per unit

area are as follows:

16.1 16.1

Wheat 50 Kg/Ropani Wheat 100 Kg/Ropani (200 % increased).

Maize 150 Kg/Ropani Maize 225 Kg/Ropani (66 % increased)

Soybean 70 Kg /Ropani Soybean 120 Kg/Ropani (58 % increased).

Chickpea 64 Kg/Ropani Chickpea 80 Kg/Ropani (80% increased)

1 year local he- goat had 15 Kg body weight 1year improved he-goat gained 20 Kg body(Price 15 x Rs 300 = Rs 4,500). weight gained due to cross breeding between

Jamunapari he-goat and Khari she- goat (Price20 x Rs 350 = Rs7, 000) (Rs 2,500 income/he-goat increased)

Source: Focus Group Discussion, July 2013 and WAEF’s Report, 2013

3.2.1 Score Ranking of Major Project

Activities

The score ranking tool was used with theparticipation of three respondents thatinclude WEAF; Journalists and communityto measure the effectiveness of keyprogram activities of LWF in thecommunities (Table 2). The respondentsranked first for local institutional capacitydevelopment, ranked second for mass

awareness campaign, ranked third foraccountability promotion, ranked fourth forbusiness promotion, ranked fifth foragriculture promotion, ranked sixth forfamily nutrition promotion according tojudgment made by different stakeholders.

A total of 60 seeds of beans were distributedin every respondent to judge the projectactivity. It was noted that higher the scoregreater the performance during the scoreranking by respondents.

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Table 2: Score Ranking of Key Program Activities by Stakeholders

Key Activities Resp.1 Resp. 2 Resp. 3 Total Avg. RankCom. Staff LA Score Score

1. Local Institutional CapacityDevelopment (CBO/Cooperatives) 139 145 67 351 117 I

2. Accountability Promotion 118 46 51 215 71.6 III

3. Family Nutrition Promotion 108 46 46 200 66.6 VI

4. Mass Awareness Campaign 130 61 55 246 82 II

5. Agriculture Promotion 109 57 44 210 70 V

6. Business Promotion 114 62 36 212 70.6 IV

Source: Focus Group Discussion, July, 2013

Note: Com –Community, LA-Line Agencies

3.3 Efficiency

A total of nine full time staff members havebeen working in LWF and WEAF for theFANS program. They have receivedtraining on micro-enterprise creation anddevelopment, book keeping, socialmobilization and agriculture promotion.The project management seems to beefficient to utilize the limited financialresources and social mobilization aspectsas well. Total Euro 100,000.00 budget wasapproved for this project. The 100 per centbudget has been utilized of the project.

Almost all project activities have beencompleted until July 2013 as planned.

The Pair wise ranking of NGOs workingwith three VDCs, Dailekh District wascarried out to find out the performance ofthe organizations. The respondents rankedfirst for the SUDEC due to long experienceranked second for WEAF due to moretransparent and honest ranked third forSebak, ranked fourth for Danfe and rankedlast for the EDS out of five NGOs workingin three VDCs of western part of Dailekh(Table 3).

Table 3: Pair wise Ranking of NGOs working in Sattala, Sigaudi and Lakandra VDCs

Organization WEAF SUDEC Danfe Sebak EDS Score Rank

1. WEAF X SUDEC WEAF WEAF WEAF III II

2. SUDEC X x SUDEC SUDEC SUDEC IV I

3. Danfe X x x Sebak Danfe I IV

4. Sebak X X x x Sebak II III

5. EDS X X x x x 0 V

Source: Key Informant Interview, July, 2013Note: SUDEC-Sustainable Development and Environment Center, Dailekh

EDS- Environment Development Society, SurkhetWEAF- Women Empowerment and Action Forum


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3.4 Impact

The positive and negative changes producedby a development intervention, directly orindirectly, intended or unintended. Thisinvolves the main impacts and effects resultingfrom the activity on the local social, economic,environmental and other developmentindicators. The examination should beconcerned with both intended and unintendedresults and must also include the positive andnegative impact of external factors, such aschanges in terms of trade and financialconditions. The following impacts andoutcome of the project particularly qualitativeaspects including unintended results have beenfigured out (see quantitative data in Table 1)as per the specific objectives and major projectactivities:

3.4.1 Impact Based on Specific

Objectives

Specific Objective 1: Empowered andcapacitated groups, CBOs and CBOFederation to claim and enjoy the basichuman rights, including improved accessto the government services and resources.

i. Local Institutional CapacityDevelopment:

· Three CBO and three Cooperatives areformed and registered

· Reduced Chhaupadi system in thecommunity due to empowerment of women.

· CBOs able to tap local bodies’ resources.

· Woman decision making powerincreased in school managementcommittee.

· Woman friendly toilet has been built atschool and birthing center.

ii. Accountability Promotion:

· Formation of DAC (District AdvisoryCommittee), VAC (Village Advisory

Committee) and social audit started byother organization due to spillover effectof WEAF accountability promotionunder FANS project.

· Community people demanded socialaudit with LGCDP (Local GovernanceCommunity Development Program),PAF (Poverty Alleviation Fund) andother organizations working in the area.

Specific Objective 2: Enhanced food andnutrition security of the target households.

i. Family Nutrition Promotion:

· Under nutrition has been decreasedunder five years children due to practicesof Lito, Sarbottam Pitho, greenvegetables improve hygiene practices,timely breast feeding increased love andaffection with babies.

· Consumption pattern of nutritious foodof woman has been increased thatresulted increase health status.

· ANC/PNC care has been increased amongthe family members that result increasedattainment of mother in birthing center.

· Husband started to more care for their wifeduring pregnant period and ANC/PNC.

· Peer educators started to regular follow-up of sanitation/hygiene, child feeding,nutrition etc in the community.

ii. Mass Awareness Campaign:

· Practice of colostrums feeding for their babieshas been started among lactating mothers.

· Growth monitoring of Dalit children has beenstarted due to mass campaign that resultsincreased child care at community level.

· “Grow Green Eat Green” campaign hasbeen organized at the community togrow more vegetables in the farm thatresulted consumption pattern ofvegetables highly increased at HH level.

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· Other organizations also started todistribute vegetable seeds in thecommunity due to demonstration effectof WEAF.

iii. Agriculture Promotion:

· Productivity of wheat, maize, legumesand vegetables has been increased by twotimes that resulted additional threemonths food security happened at HHlevel.

· Now community people have started toserve the vegetable to guests andvegetable consumption behavior alsochanged as compared to previous one.

· Community people have started to groworganic vegetable, legumes and cerealcrops by using compost manure & urineapplication of animal and human-beings.

· Multistory garden has started that resultsincreased fresh vegetable productionduring rainy season. This system has beenreplicated by neighboring communities.

· A total of three community seed bankshave been established at communitylevel that result increased coverage ofseed distribution. Now availability ofimproved seeds in the villages has beenincreased due to community seed banks.

iv. Business Promotion:

· Enterprise business plan preparation hasbeen started by local entrepreneursbefore start-up of microenterprises. Thisis new practice for this area.

· Micro-entrepreneurs are in the process ofregistration of their business in Cottage andSmall Industries Board as well as DistrictMicro-Entrepreneurs’ Group Association.

· Collective goat farming in the group hasbeen started especially in Janajaticommunity where 65 goats are there in the

farm. A total of 11 he-goats has been soldin the market and earned of Rs 40,000.00(forty thousand) and that money has beencirculated within the group for incomegenerating activities. This activity has beenwidely appreciated by District lineagencies as innovative practice.

3.4.2 Perception Mapping of

Community towards FANS- Project

The evaluation study reveals that therespondents have scored 935 (74.20 %), 280(22.22 %) and 45 (3.57 %) vote for the veryhappy (very good), happy (good) and unhappy(poor) performance respectively of the FANSproject. The large majority of the people (96%) have found happy with this project due tolocal institution development (Communitybased organization, Cooperatives etc),awareness rising about food and nutritionsecurity among the local people, committedstaff members and good linkage andcoordination with Government line agenciesand civil society organizations. The moodmeter tool was used to map out the perceptionstowards happiness of the people (Table 4). Atotal of 50 seeds of maize were given to everyindividual in order to vote casting towards theperformance of the FANS project implementedby LWF Nepal and WEAF. The communityperception was mapping based on thejudgment of the local people. This is beingmeasured in relative terms.

Table 4: Community Perception

towards FANS- Project

Mood Frequency Percentage

1. Very happy 935 74.20

2. Happy 280 22.22

3. Unhappy 45 3.57

Total 1,260 100

Source: Group Exercise, July, 2013


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3.5 Sustainability

Sustainability is concerned with measuringwhether the benefits of an activity are likely tocontinue after donor funding has beenwithdrawn. Projects need to be environmentallyas well as financially sustainable.

Most of the activities will be continued afterthe phase out of Food and NutritionalSecurity Project in the areas because ofgood foundation of local institutionaldevelopment i.e. women groups,community based organizations andcooperative development. The cereal cropslike maize and wheat farming usingimproved seeds could be continue basedon indigenous technical knowledge anddirectly linked with livelihoods. There hasbeen established community seed bank inorder to conserve, accessible and use ofcereal seeds in their farm. This is aninnovative and replicable activity at thecommunity level. The semi-commercialvegetable farming and small ruminants(goat husbandry) are likely to continue afterdonor funding has been withdrawn. Thelocal people particularly women are awareand organized for the development issuesthat leads to sustainability.

They have the capacity to contact, linkageand coordination with government lineagencies and political parties to influencethe policy and practices at VillageDevelopment Committee and DistrictDevelopment Committee and District LineAgencies etc. However, there are risks ofnatural disaster like epidemic diseases,drought, landslides due to heavy rainfall,insects’ infestation, earth quake, thunderstones, wild life (that damage the crops inthe field), poor market linkage, fluctuationof market price of the agriculturalcommodities, labor shortage due to seasonal

migration of youth to India and overseascountries etc that threats to sustainability.The disaster risk reduction/climate changeadaptation program is the missedopportunity of this project. It should be takeninto account in the future while designingthe food security and nutrition project.

3.6 Coordination, Collaboration,

Communication and Coherence

There is well coordination, collaborationand communication between WEAF, LWFNepal and Government line agenciesparticularly with Village DevelopmentCommittees, District DevelopmentCommittee, and District line agencies likeDistrict Agriculture Development Office,District Livestock Service Office, WaterSupply and Sanitation Division Office,District Cooperative Office, District HealthOffice, District Education Office, DistrictIrrigation Office, District Forest Office etc.The practice of social audit at district andVDC level seems to be praiseworthy topromote transparency as accountability.The image of partner NGO (WEAF) indistrict and VDC level has found clean andtrustworthy. The Food and NutritionalSecurity project is coherence with policyand practice of Government of Nepal,Ministry of Agriculture Development.There is no major problem noted regardingcoordination, collaboration,communication and coherence in thisproject at local, district and national level.

According to DDC’s Program Officer, Mr.Sapkota Padam, “WEAF is responsible andactive NGO in Dailekh District. The planand program has been submitted in DDCCouncil meeting. The work done by WEAFis satisfactory. They have consulted DDCfrom the beginning of the program. In everyVDC, there has been formed Agriculture

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and Environment Committee. Every NGOshould consult with Agriculture andEnvironment Committee during projectstart-up”. Government line agencies haveappreciated to LWF Nepal and WEAF inlaunching the Food and NutritionalSecurity Project in the remote areas of thedistrict which is the neglected western partof the district as compared to eastern partof Dailekh District.

3.7 SAOC Analysis

WEAF has enough room for opportunities andhaving very good strengths to move forward.

However, it has some areas for improvementand challenges that hindered the smoothrunning of the food and nutritional securitywork. The strengths and opportunities needsto be capitalized whereas areas forimprovement and challenges should beminimized for the organizational growth andscaling-up of food and nutritional securitywork in the days to come (Table 5). The SAOC(strengths, areas for improvements,opportunities and challenges) analysis has beendone in the discussion with WEAF and LWFstaff members to figure out the projectperformance.

Table 5: SAOC Analysis of the Project

Strengths Areas for Improvements

1. Integrated nature of project that includes food 1. Commercialization of agricultureand nutrition, WASH component, livelihoods, 2. Only two year short project period is notinstitutional development etc. sufficient to make a difference in the life of

2. Focused on vulnerable women, children, poor poor people.and People Living With HIV etc 3. Inadequate agricultural technicians to

3. Linked with livelihoods and saving & credits increase intensity of micro-enterprises forscheme. the household income.

4. Local institutional development through CBOs 4. Limited resources to scale-up of on farmFederation Network. micro-enterprises to address food and

5. Mobilization of FCHV to ANC (ante natal nutrition security for the period of 12 months.care) and PNC (Post natal care).

6. ‘Grow Green and Eat Green Campaign’ thatleads to climate change adaptation andecological sustainability.

Opportunities Challenges

1. Good foundation for the Food and nutrition 1. Inadequate market and irrigation facility tosecurity project. grow vegetables and cereal crops.

2. Food and nutrition is the priority of 2. Problem of Chaupadi system regarded asGovernment of Nepal, Ministry of Agriculture social stigma within families. It is declaredDevelopment. as illegal by VDC to protect and promote the

3. Coordination with FCHV particularly for women rights.nutrition, ANC, PNC and Growth monitoring. 3. Gender discrimination due to patriarchal

4. Water, Sanitation and Hygiene project social structure in the areas.introduced by LWF in the same areas. 4. Labor shortage for construction work that

affected to complete the project on time.

Source: Focus Group Discussion, July 2013


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3.8 Environmental Aspect

The Food and Nutritional Security programregarded as environmental friendly. Itcontributed to reduce environmentalpollution and increased household levelkitchen garden and organic vegetableconsumption pattern with the use of organicmanure instead of chemical fertilizer andinsecticides. There is no any negativeenvironmental impact of the program in theareas. There is community forestryprogram in the FANS project sites whereCBOs’ members has been participated inthe Community Forestry Users’ Group thatcontributed a lot for the carbonsequestration that promote environmentalprotection and reduced pollution.

3.9 Gender Equality and Social Inclusion

The FANS program has been managed bya group of active women. There is fewparticipation of men in the decision makingprocess in organizational management,program planning and field monitoringaspects. The CBOs, CBOs FederationNetwork is the backbone of the FANSproject. There has been changed in thetraditional gender roles of men and womenwhere CBOs’ women participate in thecommunity meeting whereas men go tojungle to fetch fuel wood and fodder. Atpresent, this has been a normalphenomenon in the society. The genderequity and social inclusion approach hasbeen taken into account in the FANSproject. The caste based discrimination hasalso been weakened at the community leveldue to inclusion of Dalits women in theGroups, Community based organizationsand Cooperatives. The practice ofuntouchability is weakening in the society.The morale of Dalits community seems tobe high as compared to previous one

because of increased participation of Dalitswomen in the project. However, it is yet tobe done in the days to come to eradicatecaste-based discrimination and Chaupadisystem in the society.

The executive committee has foundsocially inclusive. However, a total of nineboard members are all women where threeChhetri, three Dalits and three Janajati havebeen included. The board is chaired byethnic woman. In WEAF, a total of eightstaff members are working to look after theproject. A full time Project Officer has beenassigned from LWF Nepal as focal personfor the monitoring and reporting of theproject. The staff structure include sixChhetri (two women and four men), andtwo Dalits (one woman and one man) inthe Food and Nutritional Security Project.There is good team spirit among the staffmembers to achieve goal and specificobjectives of the Project.

3.10 People’s Perception towards the Project

The people perception towards Food andNutrition Security Project carried out byLWF Nepal in Dailekh District has beencaptured with the primary and secondarystakeholders that are as follows:

“Many people have been benefitted fromthis project due to real need of the poorfarmers. This is well managed project toaddress the priority of poor women andmen in our village. This project should becontinuing in the years to come” says Mr.Moti Ram Khanal, 35, Ward # 5- SingaudiVillage Development Committee.

“The capacity development of Dalit womenand other poor people have been done fromthis project due to registration of womencooperative, enterprises development, freshvegetable production, livelihoods support,

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cooperative and tailoring training”according to Ms. Reku BK, 19, LakandraVillage Development Committee.

“This project has contributed for thedevelopment of vegetable, awareness risingto the people about the human rights, localinstitutional development throughcommunity based organizations andcooperative in our Village DevelopmentCommittee. This program should becontinuing by Lutheran World FederationNepal in the future as well” says NarotamThapa, 31, Lakandra Village DevelopmentCommittee.

“I have received three days long businessplan training with the support of LWF Nepalin the month of Falgun, 2069 (February,2013). I also received an interlock machineto upgrading my tailoring business. I havestarted to earn Rs 300 per day at the momentwhereas it was Rs 150 per day in theprevious year. The tailoring is quick incomegenerating business. This business coveredfood and non food items, education ofchildren and health expenses of my family.I have the plan to improve this business byadding 2-4 machines with skilled laborersin the days to come. I learned to useinterlocking machine by seeing dream in thenight. Now, I am very happy with thisbusiness” says Mr. Gagan Nepali, 40, ward6, Sattala Village Development Committee.

“I like institutional development program(Community-based Organization/Cooperative Development) as mother of allproject activities. This activity will becontinued after the phase over of Food andNutritional Security Project from ourvillage. We could solve many problemsthrough this institution. It works as a bridgeto develop linkage between village anddistrict headquarters. This program shouldbe continuing for the period of five moreyears to make a difference in the lives ofvulnerable women and men” says Gamata

BK, 39, ward 5, Sattala VillageDevelopment Committee.

“The Food and Nutrition program isnecessary for the community. Now, therehas been reduced severe under nutrition ofrural people. However, there is still a needof awareness rising program on communitynutrition improvement. In my knowledge,there is no death case reported due to severeunder nutrition in this Village DevelopmentCommittee recent years” according to Mr.Nava Raj Shahi, Ilaka Health Post InCharge, Sattala Village DevelopmentCommittee.

“On the whole, the Food and NutritionalSecurity Project is good to address needand priority of the local people with somechallenges to eradicate the Chhaupadisystem” says Prakash Adhikari, reporter,Kantipur Daily.

“This program is very good in terms offormation of cooperatives and carries outthe program activities throughcooperatives. The program run by WEAFseems to be transparent and clean ratherthan other NGOs working in the district.This project should be continuing for theperiod of 3-4 years” says Mr. DeepakHamal, 42, District CooperativeAssociation, Dailekh.

“WEAF have developed good coordinationand linkage with District AgricultureDevelopment Office from the verybeginning. We have provided resourcepersons for agriculture related trainings,seeds (maize) and orange saplings etc.Agriculture Officer has carried outmonitoring visit in the project sites. Weorganized regular coordination meetingbetween District Agriculture DevelopmentOffice and NGOs to tackle the issuesrelated to agriculture development in thedistrict” says Agriculture Planning OfficerMr. Raju Bhuju, District AgricultureDevelopment Office, Dailekh.


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4. Lessons Learnt

The following lessons learnt have beendrawn from the impact evaluation:

· Research, studies, publication of bestpractices needs to be strengthening andwidely disseminated to change thepolicy, practice, ideas and beliefs atlocal, national and international level.

· The commercial business planpreparation by potential localentrepreneurs is essential tool for micro-enterprises development at communitylevel.

· Awareness rising, organizing the localcommunities, livelihood improvementprogram should go together in order tohave high impacts in the lives of poorand marginalized people.

· Macro policy framework is alsoimportant to capitalize the will power ofthe communities.

· Documentation of best practices isnecessary to influence policy andpractices at local, district and national level.

· Media mobilization is an importantaspect for the dissemination ofinformation among the wider audience.

5. Conclusion

The Food and Nutritional Security Projectseems to be well managed and focused topoor and marginalized section of thesociety. This project seems to be veryrelevant to address needs and priorities ofthe poor people. The project team has foundactive and committed to deliver the project.The Food and Nutritional Security Projecthas been successful to achieve thestipulated specific objectives as planned.There has been good linkage andcoordination and communication with

District level Government line agencies,concerned Village DevelopmentCommittees and other stakeholders thatresults good impact to make a differencein the lives of poor women and men. Thelocal institutional development likes self-help groups, community-basedorganizations, cooperative and CBOs’Federation Network has found goodfoundation towards the sustainability of theproject.

In the project areas at least three monthsadditional food and nutritional security hashappened with the support of projectintervention. The local farmers are able toadopt improved variety of maize, wheat,soybean, chickpeas and vegetables thatincreased yield significantly as comparedto local varieties of cereals, legumes andvegetables crops. The severe undernutrition of under five children has beenreduced. The family nutrition promotionactivity has found popular in thecommunity that increased love andaffection with their babies. The project haslaunched some innovative actions like‘Grow Green Eat Green’ campaign,multistory garden, community seed banks;collective goat rearing in the group, semi-commercial vegetable farming etc. that isreplicable in other parts of the country.However, there is missing of disaster riskreduction/ climate change adaptation issuein the project design. The large majority ofthe people were very happy with thisproject. This project seems to be short tomake a difference in the lives of poor andmarginalized section of the community.

6. Recommendations

The following main recommendations havebeen put forward:

● The value chain based micro-enterprises

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development should be promoted toincrease household income andovercome direct poverty and sufferings.

● Backward and forward linkage throughcooperatives should be developed topromote marketing of agriculturalproduce particularly to vegetable, cashcrops, small ruminants, poultry etc.

● The food and nutrition security as wellas rural livelihoods development projectshould be designed at least for five yearperiod to have higher impact in the livesof poor and marginalized people.

● Community based OrganizationNetwork should be registered in theGovernment authority for legal identity.

● Research, studies and publication ofgood practices should be done andwidely disseminated to change the

policy, practice, ideas and beliefs atlocal, national and international level.

● The visibility of the Project should beincreased at community, district andnational level.

● Regular field monitoring by the staffshould be increased to measure outputof the project and tracking the project inright direction. The quality of fieldmonitoring report should be improved.

● The proper record keeping system shouldbe developed by using appropriate software.

● ‘Grow Green Eat Green’ campaignshould be scaled-up as Climate ChangeAdaptation and ecological sustainability.

● The disaster risk reduction/climatechange adaptation issue should be takeninto account in the food and nutritionalsecurity project from the very beginning.

References

Chhetri, A. and Maharjan, K. L. (2006). Food Insecurity and Coping Strategies in Rural Areas of Nepal: ACase Study of Dailekh District in Mid-Western Development Region. Journal of InternationalDevelopment and Cooperation. Vol.12, No.2, Pp, 25-45. Japan: Hiroshima University.

LWF Nepal. 2011. Project Proposal on Food and Nutritional Security Program. Kathmandu: Lutheran WorldFederation, Chundevi Marg-4, Kathmandu, Nepal.

MOPH, New Era and USAID (2012). Nepal Demographic and Health Survey, 2011. Kathmandu: Ministryof Health and Population.

Ministry of Environment (2010). National Adaptation Program of Action. Kathmandu: Ministry ofEnvironment.

NPC, CBS, WFP, WB, AUSAID and UNICEF (2013). Nepal Thematic Report on Food Security and Nutrition.Kathmandu: National Planning Commission, Central Bureau of Statistics in collaboration with: WorldFood Program, World Bank, AUSAID and UNICEF.

Thapa, N.B (2005). Participatory Monitoring, Reporting and Evaluation; Measuring the Qualitative SocialChange. Kathmandu: Sudeepa Publications.

(2011). Reorientation of On-farm Livelihoods Programming towards Household Food Security. Participation.A Nepalese Journal of Participatory Development, Year 13, No. 12, July 2011.

(2013). Food Security and Livelihood Strategy of Rural People in Dailekh District, Nepal. Kathmandu:Unpublished PhD Dissertation, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur,Kathmandu, Nepal.

UNICEF (2009). Tracking Progress on Child and Maternal Nutrition: A Survival and Development Priority.New York: UNICEF.

WHO (1992). Our planet, our health: Report of the WHO commission on health and environment. Geneva:World Health Organization. http://www.Googles.com accessed on 05/07/2014.

WSFS (2009). World Summit on Food Security, Feeding the World, Eradicating Hunger. November 16-18.Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization.

(The author is the life member of NEPAN)



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Children’s Participation in Nepal:

Rhetoric to Reality

by BHOLA PRASAD DAHAL, PhD

Abstract

Children and childhood is a social construct, which is changing over the years in eachcountry along with the provision of free and compulsory education. Children are the“human being” below the age of 18 years. Nepal has 48% young people in this group.Child rights and child participation has been the inevitable phenomenon globally withthe universal ratification of the UNCRC in 1989. National legislations of Nepal areconsidering this reality while forming or amending any act and rules after the 1990s. Ihave used document review with emic perspective as a tool in this article to criticallyreview, analyze and interpret the policies and practices on child rights and childparticipation both at national and local level especially into three areas, namely periodicplans, education system and local government sector. I found that “child rights” wasrhetoric at all levels and sectors in Nepal until 2000s. However it has been graduallymoving towards the reality as an obligation of the state by: i) forming central childwelfare board in central level and child welfare board in all 75 district in 2000; ii) enactingvarious acts with children’s issues; iii) the UNCRC report hearing process; iv)approvalof national plan of action for children in 2004; v) appointment of child rights officers inall 75 districts; v) recognition of children’s rights as the fundamental right in the InterimConstitution of 2007; vi) accepting children as stakeholders and target groups in periodicplans, education policies and business of local government; vii) approval of child friendlyschooling framework in 2010, national strategy of child friendly local governance in2011 and national children’s policy in 2012. There are more than 18 thousands childclubs of 4 hundred thousands children recognized by government authorities who areactively engaged in schools, communities and VDCs on their issues and priorities.

Key words: Quality education, child rights, children's clubs, mini-adults.

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1. Background

Nepali society is a homeland of 26.6 millionmultiethnic (more than 125 ethnic groups),multi-caste (4 major castes in Hindu setting),multi-religious (more than 4), andmultilingual (more than 110) people (CBS,2012). Child population constitutes 48% inNepal and one-third in the world. Purity-impurity, caste based structural and socialhierarchies continue the patterns of socialdiscrimination and social exclusion (Bennett,2006) including children. Access to assets andservices, and voice, influence and agency arethe part of empowerment process, which arebeing addressed through legal reform andsocial mobilization in each country.

Children and young people have becomethe focus of much attention in recent yearsamong academia, researchers and policymakers. Children and childhood are definedand understood in numerous waysthroughout the history, across cultures, andcountries (Archard, 1993) based on socio-cultural, political, educational andeconomic environment. There is a constantchange on children and childhood overtime. Children are getting recognition associal actors and change agents for theirrights and development.

Fundamentally, the United NationsConvention on the Rights of the Child(UNCRC) plays a significant role in thisdirection. The UNCRC (UN, 1989) defines‘child’ as all those under the age of 18 years,but people often overlook the latter part ofUNCRC’s Article 1 ‘a child means everyhuman being below the age of eighteenyears unless under the law applicable to thechild, the majority is attained earlier’. Thus,childhood may be qualified in relation tosuch factors as the commencement of work,

the end of schooling, the onset of marriage,entry into armed forces and criminalresponsibility (UNICEF, 2007).

The Government of Nepal (GoN)introduced policies and programs for theoverall development of Nepalese childrensince the second half of this century.Development partners, International Non-government Agencies, such as Save theChildren, Plan International and UNagencies like UNICEF and UNESCO ascollaborators of the GoN are subscribingand supporting the implementation of thesepolicies and programs since the early1970s. Nepalese policies on child rightsintermittently participation follow theprescription and guidelines from theinternational human rights instruments ofUnited Nations like UNCRC. Because ofthe globalized nature, these policies arebecoming rhetoric rather than reality tolocal context. Each country’s periodicreport including that of Nepal highlightsthis rhetoric-reality paradox. The CRCCommittee, Geneva also issues concludingremarks on the UNCRC periodic report forconsideration by the State Party and otheragencies. Nepal has submitted thecombined (third, fourth and fifth) periodicreport in 2013 and will be heard in Genevain 2015. All these influence status ofchildren anywhere in the World.

In this regard, this article discusses theevolution of policies and practices on childrights/participation in Nepal since the1990s when Nepal became a state party tothe UNCRC. This further critically reviewsand analyzes the national legislation andpolicies, provisions in periodic plans, andsectoral policies of education and localgovernance sectors on children and theirwell-being.

Children’s Participation in Nepal: Rhetoric to Reality

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2. National Legislation &Policies:

Aligning to International Provisions

Prior to become a party of the UNCRC,Nepal had no specific laws relating to therights of children; although there were,some provisions in various statutes toprotect the child’s interest (MoFA, 1995).Following the ratification of UNCRC in1990, Government of Nepal (GoN) madeefforts to form and reform necessary lawsand bylaws related to children and theirwelfare. This includes the Constitution of1990 and Children’s Act of 1992 (and itsRules of 1995) that establish Central ChildWelfare Board (CCWB) and the DistrictChild Welfare Boards (DCWB) in all 75districts to protect, promote and fulfillchildren’s interest and rights.

Owing to the same spirit GoN prolongedLabor Act of 1992, the Social Welfare Act of1992, Children’s Rules of 1995, Local Self-governance Act of 1999 and Child Labor(prohibition and regulation) Act of 1998(MoWCSW, 2002). These Acts have legalprovisions to safeguard the rights of childrenand their protection. Despite these legalprovisions, these acts did not mentionexplicitly about the children’s rights toparticipation at various levels. This showshow Nepal responded to the internationalforces by bringing legislative reform but madea distance dream of their implementation forthe wellbeing and rights of children.

For the first time in Nepal’s history, interimconstitution of 2007 recognizes children asrights holder by ensuring their fundamentalrights to education, identity and protectionand welfare (Article 17 and 22) but doesnot include right to participation(MoLJPACA, 2007). However, nationalpolicy on children approved by cabinet in2012 ensures children’s rights to

participation and association (Para 7.3) asone of the state’s policy and priority action.

Though aligned with CRC provisions, thecommittee regularly raises questions toNepal on its poor efforts in implementingthe national policies and programs duringperiodic report hearing process (CRC,1997, 2005). Nepal is comparatively weakin implementation of general principles ofthe UNCRC: article 2 (non-discrimination),article 3 (the best interests of the child),article 6 (right to life, survival anddevelopment) and article 12 (respect for theviews of the child) in all sectors of childrenboth at local and national levels.

In response to international concerns, Nepalinitiated to amend Children’s Act in 1998that continues until today. The 12th draftbill to amend the Act is an example that isstill pending in the Ministry afterdissolution of the legislature-parliament inMay 2012. This again invites internationalpressure and deadline periodically to alignand make progress on children’s policiesin par with international instruments. In thisbackdrop, I have discussed the key nationalpolicies and practices in regard to realizingthe rights of the children in line with theUNCRC in the following section.

3. National Policies on Children:

Rhetoric to Reality

Child rights and child participation in farmingand family issues is an old phenomenon inNepal. Sports clubs, student councils andstudent unions had emerged during Panchayatera i.e. 1961 to 1990. Children’s clubs, childrights forums, and child rights awarenessgroups’ approach to children’s rights toparticipation is the continuation of the oldform with the application of human rightsframework and instruments. This newly

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emerged child rights content and the contextdemand the involvement of children indecision-making process of local institutionslike school. This process got momentum since1994 in collaboration with children’sorganizations including child clubs (MoFA,1995). The children’s involvement processat the local to the international levels has beenencouraged due to UNCRC and its hearingprocess. At the local level, children participatein SMC and PTA meetings; at the nationallevel, they share their views to the policymakers through children’ parliament; and atthe international level they participated asofficial team for inception report hearingprocess in Geneva in 1996 which wascommended by the Committee (CRC, 1997).However, there is an absence of specific legaland institutional mechanism that ensureparticipation of children in decision-makingbodies both at local and national levels onthe issues that affect their lives.

In order to give impetus to legalize andinstitutionalize children’s participation indecision-making process, children’sorganization was established, and later on,it was registered as the first children’s clubin February 1996 (MoFA, 1995;MoWCSW, 2002) as an NGO. Followingthe concluding observations in 1996, manychild rights organizations with theleadership of Save the ChildrenOrganizations started to supportestablishment and strengthening of CCWBand DCWBs including children’sorganizations like club in both schools andcommunities (O’Kane, 2006; Rajbhandaryet al., 1999). Because of these efforts,children filed a case against the GoN forits denial of renewing the child club in July1998 (earlier registered in Nawalparasi in1996); the Supreme Court gave a verdictin August 2002 to register children’s clubs

(MoWCSW, 2002). This was a historicdecision to make GoN accountable andresponsive towards children and their clubsfor their decisive roles.

Following this favorable legal ground,number of child clubs mushroomedthroughout the country within a decade toexercise their rights that they obtained witharticle 12 of the Convention (CRC, 2005).The Committee asked GoN to amendlegislation so that the rights of the child tobe heard including in schools on the issuesaffecting them are ensured. As a response,GoN made some policy decisions toguarantee child rights through: i) TheInterim Constitution of 2007; ii) childparticipation guideline of 2007; ii) childfriendly school national framework forquality education of 2010; iii) child friendlylocal governance national strategy of 2011;and, iv) national children’s policy of 2012.However, there occurred three problemsviz., difference in understanding andapplication of these policies, in theaccessibility and availability of child rightsimplementing agencies; and in achievingrequired budget allocation that restrictedthe implementation of these policies in asatisfactory level. My experience as ChildClub promoter in Save the Children is atestimony of it.

For the first time in Nepal, child clubsexperienced their official representation inadult institutions like village childprotection committees (VCPC) underDCWB from 25 districts in 2004 (Dahal,Dhital & Sapkota, 2005) as a pilot. As asequel to it, child representatives areformally engaged in DCWBs,Municipalities and DDCs. Similarly,children’s clubs are playing active rolesformally in ward citizen forum (WCF),


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citizen awareness center (CAC) andintegrated plan formulation committee(IPFC) of local bodies and also in VDC andVCPC meetings. The number of such clubsmembers was about 1,500 in 20 districtsuntil 2005 (MoWCSW, 2005). Thisnumber is swallowing up to 17, 864 in all75 districts, now in 2012 (CCWB, 2013).Because of this provision, children have anopportunity to express their views on

matters concerning themselves, theirfamily, community institutions, and schoolsin all forums of right from the local todistrict and national levels (MoWCSW,2013). The following table presents thecomparative scenario of children’sparticipation at different layers and levelsof decision-making process as a trend (ascited in Dahal, 2014):

Table 1: Children’s Association and Representation

SN Institutions/committees/year 2000 2005 2012

1 Formation of Child Clubs·- Child Clubs/Members· 100/3500 1,500/50,000 17,864/403,553- VDC level Networks· 0 250 1,277- District level Network· 0 10 61- Districts having Child Clubs 10 20 75

2 Affiliation of Child ClubsDCWB 0 0 10,925VDC 0 0 108Municipality 0 0 45DAO 1 4 4

3 Children in Adult InstitutionsSMC 150 598PTA/Social Audit 550 15,650

VCPC 250 1,7985DCPC 20 59DCWB 5 60WCF 0 40,000IPFC 0 3,970

The table shows that child-ledorganizations are visible at schools andcommunity to district level, but not atnational level. They are also representingin both formal and informal adultinstitutions and agencies, whichdemonstrates that children are gettingrecognition as human beings and hencewelcomed for their collective voice. Inaddition, child club leaders have been

actively participating to air their voices inthe electronic and printed media and inradio and television including local FMsand wall magazine (Consortium, 2012;Hatemalo, 2004). Because of these effortschild clubs are emerging as formalinstitutions throughout the country. Thisshows that child club and childparticipation has not much been a rhetoricin Nepalese society and institutions where

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as it is moving towards a reality as rightsof children.

4. Children as an Emerging Agenda

in Periodic Plans

It was after 1950s that periodic planningstarted in Nepal. Now, we have the 13thperiodic plan (2013-2015) in our hand. Theanalysis of these periodic plans show thatchildren were not recognized as a targetgroup of development plans andinterventions until the 7th periodic plan(1987-1992). For the first time, the 8thperiodic plan (1992-1997) recognizedchildren as a target group, that put itscommitment to fulfill children’s survival,protection, development and participationneeds as a response to the agenda of theSouth Asian Association for RegionalCooperation (SAARC) Children’sConference (1986), the SAARC Year of theGirl Child (1990), the World Conference onEducation for All (1990), the World Summitfor Children (1990) and the Convention onthe Rights of the Child (1990).

The 9th periodic plan (1997-2002) as itsinitial initiative made an inclusion of childdevelopment policies in line with theUNCRC and state’s commitments toMillennium Development Goals (MDGs)in 2000. From adult perspectives, this plancaptured child survival, protection anddevelopment needs quite strongly butchildren’s right to participation was limitedto making child friendly IEC materials,radio and TV programs (NPC, 1998). Thisimplies that GoN gave consultative statusto children taking their views up to its 10thperiodic plan (2002-2007). Dedicating aseparate chapter on 10th plan, GoN aimedto mainstream child rights in all sectors; toeliminate worst form of child labor; and toincrease public awareness on child rights

promotion. CWIN’s (2002) claim is atestimony, which shows that GoN didconsultation with more than 30,000children for their views from national,regional, and district level consultationprocesses; however, the plan is silent onpromoting and institutionalizingparticipation rights of children in statestructures and mechanism.

Nepal witnessed a decade long armedconflict (1996-2006) between the CPN(Maoist) and the government (UNDP,2009), surely an unfortunate event. Amongothers, children were suffered the most andhad little progress on child rights and childdevelopment against targets set on the plansduring the period. Even in this adversesituation, DCWBs tried to address childprotection issues like children as zones ofpeace with an introduction of multi-sectoralchild protection committees at VDC anddistrict level (Dahal, Dhital & Sapkota,2005). The most significant achievementof this period was the incorporation ofchildren’s rights (Article 22) in the InterimConstitution as the fundamental right.

Children and youth were actively engaged/used in the second peoples’ movement in2006, which saw a success by ending theviolent armed conflict. This movementbecame successful to overthrow two andhalf century long kingship in Nepal andestablish peoples’ republic (UNDP, 2009).It obviously created hopes among childrenand youths participating in the movementto have peace dividend and a better life.The 11th periodic plan (2007-2010)continued the priorities and strategies ofearlier plans to create child friendlyenvironment at school and adult’sworkplace (NPC, 2008). It also planned tocapacitate children’s network and thereby


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promote children’s participation indecision-making process. This Plan alsoenvisaged for child participation guideline,a guideline for better coordination andcollaboration among district level actorsespecially with DCWB, DDC and WCDOwith recruitment of child rights officer fromdevelopment agencies to work underDCWB in a pilot basis.

From the child rights perspectives, the 12thperiodic plan (2010-2013) was consultativeand participatory because it created enoughopportunities to listen and to hear children’sviews in setting policies and priorities(UNICEF, 2012). The plan aimed to protectand promote fundamental rights of childrenby creating conducive and child friendlyenvironment for their holistic development(NPC, 2010). During this period, GoNbrought policies and procedures to makeschool and local government more childrenfriendly. The plan devised programs to hearchildren’s voice in delivering qualityservices and facilities including education.It also gave priority to form and mobilizechild club in each school and ward/community and their network at VDC anddistrict level. The same plan contributed tomake Local Bodies (LBs) responsible toallocate at least 10% of the capital budgetto children and their agenda (MoFALD,2013). However, both these policies do nottarget the children below the age of 12 aschild club is only for 12-18 years of children.

The 13th periodic plan (2013-2016) isbased on a 10-year-National Plan of Action(2004-2015) which aims to prioritize andimplement children’s welfare and rightsespecially survival, protection,development and meaningful participation(NPC, 2013). This is the first time, the planhad clearly spelled out to support VCPCs

and child clubs among children andadolescent girls to express their views andmake their voice heard in all matters thataffect their lives. The plan encouraged self-initiated group to policy level peopleincluding NPC and MoWCSW to bringappropriate policies and plans for childrenby mobilizing child clubs.

While reviewing the periodic plans fromchild rights perspective, I conclude thatchild rights/participation initiated by I/NGOs since 1990 was informally enteredinto government system, structure,mechanism, and plans. This has also beenmainstreamed in social developmentsectors. At this context, I have discussedhow child rights/participation has beenprioritized and mainstreamed intoeducation system through variouseducational plans.

5. Children as Stakeholders: New

Entry into Nepalese Education System

Nepalese education system follows thepolitical ups and downs of the country. Withthe dawn of democracy in Nepal in 1950,there came an awakening of the need foreducating illiterate mass and the spread ofeducation all over the country, from theMechi to the Mahakali and the Himalayasto the Terai (MoE, 1956). Since mid-1950s,education has been taken as a force toaddress the issues of poverty throughhuman development measures byenhancing capacity of the people in termsof appropriate life skills, knowledge andexperimental wisdom to acquire economicand social prosperity (MoE, 2003). Aftereach political change except in 2006,education commissions are formed toincorporate the aspirations and needs of thepeople into the educational processes anddiscourses. However, very few of them are

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put into implementation in fulfilling thepeople’s expectations and desired results.

The first National Education CommissionReport of 1956 (known as WoodCommission) aimed for ‘nation building’by establishing and expanding educationsystem that is ‘universal’ and ‘uniform’ forall throughout the country. It accepts therole of education for social transformationand decentralization, democracy andleadership in all walks of life. However,this report did not prioritize diversity of thepeople and also ignored children and theirparticipation in education system.

Following the political changes in 1960,the All-round National EducationCommittee (ARNEC) gave a report to bringall education institutions under governmentcontrol and make education useful andrelevant to individual, society and thenation by introducing free and compulsoryprimary education, vocational training andNepali as the medium of instruction (MoE,1992). As directed by the then King, a fiveyear National Education System Plan(1971-76) was introduced to promotepopular faith in the Panchayat system ofgovernment and reconstruction of thenationality in a planned manner. Schoolsrun by the communities came under thedirect control and management of thecentral Government (MoE, 1992). Due torestriction on political parties, students andteachers evolved as the ears and eyes ofthe people and democratic movement. Theywere active for political purpose. Hence,their educational rights and participationwas shadowed.

After restoration of democracy in 1990, allactors realized that education has a specialplace to play a catalytic role for socialchange and national reconstruction (MoE,

1992). The 1992 National EducationCommission Report responded theemerging needs of the people includinginclusivity and democratization ineducation sector by emphasizing on: i)Decentralization of higher educationthrough multi university concept; ii)involvement of private sectors in education;iii) restructuring of school system (Grade1-5 primary, 6-10 secondary and 11-12higher secondary;) iv) inclusion of localcurriculum and environmental study topreserve the natural and cultural heritage,and viii) special provision for the educationof indigenous group, women, orphan, poorand handicaps (MoE, 1992). However, likeprevious reports, this commission wassilent in recognizing children/students as acompetent actor and stakeholders ofeducation system.

The High-level National EducationCommission (1999) aimed to restructure theschooling with an introduction of one year pre-primary education, grade one to five as primaryschool, grade 6 to 8 as lower secondary, grade9 to 10 as secondary, and grade 11 and 12 ashigher secondary (MoE, 1999) levels. Thisreport was instrumental to address access,equity and quality of education withdecentralized management of teachers andschool education from rights perspectives.However, students and their voices are notrecognized in education system.

Within the broad recommendations of thesecommissions, learning and experiencesgained from various education plans in linewith the follow up to the World Declarationon Education for All (EFA) in 1990, thecountry undertook planned interventions inthe education sector introducing the Basicand Primary Education Programs I (1992-1999) and II (1999-2004) in collaboration


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with development partners. Furthermore,in line with the Education for ALL (EFA)Dakar Framework for Action adopted in2000 and global commitment towardsMDGs, the country came up with NationalPlan of Action (NPA) for EFA (2001-2015).

The 15-year NPA draws the goals of theDakar Framework of Action with sixprogram components (MoE, 2003). Theyinclude: i) Expanding and improving earlychildhood development; ii) ensuring accessto education for all children; iii) meetingthe learning needs of all children includingindigenous peoples and linguisticminorities; iv) reducing adult illiteracy; v)eliminating gender disparity; and vi)improving all aspects of quality education.Since the start of the plan, it has defined aclear resulting vision of the child, theteacher, the classroom, the school and thecommunity by 2015. I understood this asthe acceptance of rights based approach ineducation and empowerment paradigm.However, with my engagement ineducation sector for more than a decade andalso in different schools that I visited, I donot find any of this vision reflected intoannual plans and budgets of school, VDCand DDC like in SIP, VEP and DEPrespectively for its implementation.

Within the overall goals and objectives ofNPA, the EFA Program (2004-2009), andthe Secondary Education Support Program(2003-2009) were designed andimplemented. Child rights flavor wasbrought in EFA with a global debate ofeducation as a right of citizen andobligation of the state. Internationalconcern on education also encouraged I/NGOs to form child club in educationinstitutions to make it more effective,relevant and practical for children as rights-

holders. Similarly, a national curriculumframework for school educationinternalized child rights and childdevelopment (MoE, 2007). This resultedinclusion of human rights educationincluding the rights of children into schoolcurriculum, textbooks, and teachers guideup to higher secondary levels of education.Since academic year 2004, child clubs wererecognized as an actor for lunching schoolenrolment campaign and making schoolmore children friendly. They are visiblealso in bringing out of school children backto school and in improving learningenvironment in school (Dahal, 2011).

National education policies did notexplicitly spell out anything about theinteraction between teachers and studentsuntil 2006, even though teachers valueactive engagement of children in school asa motivating factor (VSO, 2005). After this,public discourse mounted in advocatingaccess to a quality and inclusive publiceducation as an entitlement for all children(Dahal, 2007). As a result, InterimConstitution of Nepal of 2007 guaranteedthe rights of children to education (article17), and also made a provision that eachcommunity shall have the right to get abasic education in their mother tongue, andthat every citizen shall have the right to freeeducation up to the secondary level(MoLJPACA, 2007). To materialize thepeoples’ aspirations and constitutionalprovisions, since the academic year 2010,the GoN has been implementing a sevenyear School Sector Reform Plan (SSRP)2009/10-2016/17 to ensure that all citizenshave the opportunity to becomefunctionally literate, numerate and developthe basic life skills and knowledge requiredto enjoy a productive life (MoE, 2012). TheSSRP under Sector Wide Approach

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(SWAp) of aid modalities aims to (i) Expandaccess and equity, (ii) improve quality andrelevance, and (iii) strengthen theinstitutional capacity of the entire schooleducation system in collaboration with ninedevelopment partners (MoE, 2009).

Because of the decade long national andinternational efforts, children are nowrecognized as an actor in school educationsystem and their learning achievement aswell as management and operation ofschool (MoE, 2008). The SSRP also aimedto contribute that a child/student is fullyengaged as a competent human being forher learning with high self-esteems andteam spirit in a multi-cultural, multi-lingual, multi-religious and multi-ethniccontext of school. This documentenvisaged that a child is expected in usinginformation, communication andtechnological (ICT) skills maximally to livean independent life in the competitive,contemporary global society thatchallenges political, economic and socialinequality, and firmly stands in support ofdemocracy and human rights (MoE, 2008).The SSRP takes into consideration thesociological theory of children andchildhood while developing educationinterventions and its targets. There is alsoa mandatory provision to form child clubin each school and engage children inschool management and classroominterventions (MoE, 2010).

Growing concerns of parents and familiesin the community for quality education hasalso demanded students’ increasedparticipation in classroom and schoolactivities. This encouraged stakeholders toform child club among students andmobilize them to enhance their learningachievements. Children (child clubs)

representatives are official members invarious school level committees(Consortium, 2012) such as: i) Schoolmidday meal management committee (2out of 11 members); ii) social auditcommittee in each school (2 out of 7members); iii) school level child protectioncommittee (2 out of 7 members); iv) schoollibrary management committee (2 out of 7members). This shows that child rights andparticipation is a new entry in our educationsystem through EFA initiatives andadvocacy of I/NGOs.

I now briefly discuss on how child rightsand child participation evolved in localbodies in Nepal both at VDC/municipal anddistrict levels.

6. Child Rights/Par ticipation: An

Emerging Business of Local Bodies

Local initiative to contribute to communitydevelopment is a traditional practice inNepal. Community heads usually takeinterest in local development. However,the government initiative to localdevelopment per se was begun only afterthe over-throw of the Rana Oligarchy in1951. During party-less Panchayat System(1960-1990), a number of efforts weremade to develop a self-sustained local levelplanned development process bystrengthening and integrating the localadministration and local politicalorganizations (Paudyal, 1994). Followingthe enactment of Decentralization Act in1982 and its Rules in 1984 and a limitedbudget provision, all 75 districts were askedto formulate an integrated DistrictDevelopment Plan incorporating thebottom-up plans from village level to Ilakalevel, and then to district level for allsectoral services. The compiled plan andbudget approved by District Assembly was


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supposed for inclusion in the program andbudget of the following year from theconcerned line ministries and NPC(Paudyal, 1994). With the unitary systemof centralized budget allocation andadministrative control mechanism, thedecentralization process neither gave anyspace for local people nor brought any fruitto general public including children(Paudyal, 1994). The rights of children andtheir participation in the planning processwas never thought and realized.

The planning documents of this periodshow that this regime considered childrenand childhood as incompetent, docile andobject of parents as defined by pre-sociological theories, not the actor of localdevelopment. There was no plan andpolicies directly targeting to children andtheir concerns. Changes and innovationseven for adults were allowed only to theextent that did not alter the existing powerstructure (Paudyal, 1994). When ideallydecentralized local government systemenjoys devolution of functions and powerclose to people and their participation, itpromotes and strengthens local democracyas it provides the local people anopportunity to participate in decision-making process affecting their life. Thereason is that it has a political, social,developmental, administrative andjudiciary roles determined by the people(Shrestha, 1996). This idea came intoexistence in a massive way only after therestoration of democracy in 1990. The thenconstitution of 1990 paid attention to localvalues, norms, principles andmethodologies as a part of localgovernment system and decentralization.However, implementation of thoseapproaches took place only after enactmentof local self-governance act (LSGA) and

its rules in 1999 (Dahal, 1999). This rulehelped to democratize local government byproviding autonomy, public accountability,transparent management system, people’sparticipation, representation of backwardand marginalized segment of society likechildren, public (central and localgovernment), private and peoplepartnership spirit and humanization of localgovernance institutions with local people.

The LSGA is another move to reach peopleat close. It has made provisions for localbodies to prioritize plans and projects thatprovide direct benefits to children and theirwelfare (clause 43, 111 & 201).Furthermore, the LSGA clearly states thatactivities related to children should becarried out in the best interest of childrenand hearing their voices. In addition, GoNhas defined with strong commitment forimplementation of Child Friendly LocalGovernance (CFLG) - as a system that bestinstitutionalizes the responsibility of theState concerning child rights issues,particularly the right to survival,development, and protection, and the rightto meaningful participation in policy,planning, and in decision making bodiesat the local level (MoFALD, 2011).

As a local body of the State party to theUNCRC, it is imperative to promote CFLGfor child survival, child protection, childdevelopment and child participation in allits interventions. The 39 minimumindicators for CFLG to comply by all localbodies (LBs) include six indicators relatedto child participation (MoFALD, 2011).They are: i) A mechanism for institutionalparticipation of children aged between 12to 18 years in the decision making processof LB is developed and practiced; ii) plansand programs related to children are

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incorporated into the implementation planof LBs; iii) a mechanism is setup to ensureinstitutional voices of children are heardon the school management committees;iv) regular child club representation in thelocal health management committees; v)child clubs and child club networks arefunctioning in each VDC and municipalward; and vi) district and municipal levelchild networks are formed andfunctioning. These indicators arecomprehensive in nature and useful topromote better learning environment forchildren and their socialization.

The provisions discussed here clearlyindicate that child clubs as a social organof local governments. Realizing childrenas a stakeholder, their participation atVDC and DDC levels planning andimplementation is mandatory (MoFALD,2011). Two representatives of child clubsshould be included as the member of eachWCF. Representatives of child clubnetworks are also made official membersat VDC, municipality and DDC levelCFLG committee. Furthermore, arepresentative of concerned child clubnetwork is official member of the VDC/Municipality/DDC level socialmobilization committee. Thus, childrights/participation has been an emergingand a mandatory pact for each LB.

I have however found a paradox on childparticipation practices among actors andinstitutions. For example, we focus onempowering children to learn and exercisetheir rights and responsibilities, but wemiss to do much to change the attitudesof parents, teachers, communities andinstitutions. Thus, the environment athome and in school was seldomconducive for children’s active and

meaningful participation in socialdevelopment and in their learning. As aresult, development agencies undulycapacitated and treated children in the nameof participation in development initiativesas “mini adults” by the developmentagencies. On the other hand, thebureaucratic and hierarchical mindset of theschool, ward, VDC to DDC levelauthorities gave little room for children tobe children. This shows a tendency of adultmanipulation of children and childparticipation (Hart, 1992) focusing a leaderof child club rather focusing all children ofthe constituency.

7. Conclusion

New policies, acts, rules and guidelinesformed after 2000s are incorporatingchildren’s issues seriously both at nationaland local levels. National policies andlegislations are formulated in line withinternational human rights instruments andframeworks. Nepalese society is graduallyaccepting children as human being and theyare invited as a social actor into theplanning process of local institutions andauthorities. There are clear evidences andindications of this into the periodic plans,education system and local governmentwhere children’s issues are integrated.Furthermore, the UNCRC has been themost powerful force to keep children’sagenda in national legislation and policiesfor their rights and participation. There hasbeen a clear departure from rhetoric toreality into the legal system where childrencan claim their rights to participation inlocal institutions including in schools. GoNand its local institutions are obligatory towork with children and child clubs forrealizing their rights at all levels.

Since the Ninth Plan, child rights/


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participation has been an integral part ofthe periodic plans as an emerging priorityagenda in the social development sectors.After the State’s commitment on EFA in1990 and MDGs in 2000, child rights/participation has already entered intoEducation System including in the recentSSRP. After enactment of LSGA in1999and adoption of the CFLG in 2011, childrights and child participation has been anemerging business of local bodies as anobligation of the State party to UNCRC.Because of these efforts and positive resultsof child clubs, child participation has beena concern in planning and implementationstructures and processes of schools andlocal bodies.

To make the child rights a reality, Nepalhas enough policies and plans, butproblems lie with the resource allocationand implementation of those policieseffectively. Children are displeased for notbeing invited and engaged in child clubsthat they narrate it as a lost opportunity inlife. There is a growing demand to makechild clubs more inclusive andinstitutionalize with local institutionsespecially with schools and VDCs. Childrights agencies should invest and work toexpand opportunities and representation toall children in club activities beyond aproject mind and agenda for a moreinclusive and non-discriminatory fashion.

References

Archard, D. (1993). Children: Rights and childhood. London and New York: RoutledgeBennett, L. (2006). Unequal citizens: Gender, caste and ethnic exclusion in Nepal. Kathmandu: World Bank

and DFIDCBS. (2012). Summary Population Census Report of Nepal 2011. Central Bureau of Statistics, National

Planning Commission, Government of NepalCCWB. (2013).The State of Children of Nepal 2013. Central Child Welfare Board, Government of NepalConsortium. (2012). Child Clubs Review in Nepal. Kathmandu: UNICEF-Nepal, Save the Children and

Plan NepalCRC. (1997). Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child: Nepal. Geneva: UN

Committee on the Rights of the ChildCRC. (2005). Concluding Observations: Nepal. Geneva: UN Committee on the Rights of the ChildCWIN. (2002). Status of children 2002. Kathmandu: Child Workers in Nepal Concerned CenterDahal, B. P. (2004). Participation for empowerment. Participation. Kathmandu: Nepal Participatory Action

Network (NEPAN)Dahal, B. P. (2007). Child rights in New Constitution. Sahabhagita Quarterly. Kathmandu: Nepal Participatory

Action Network (NEPAN)Dahal, B. P. (2011). Quality Education in Nepalese Schools under SSRP. Kathmandu: Action Aid Nepal and

National Campaign for Education.Dahal, B. P. (2014). Child Participation in Schools of Nepal: Role and Contribution of Child Club. Unpublished

PhD Thesis. Kathmandu: Kathmandu University, School of EducationDahal, B.P., Dhital, T., & Sapkota, D.R. (2005). Roles of Child Protection Committee for Children Affected

by Armed Conflict [DwandaPrabhavitBalbalikakoNimittaBalSamrakshyanSamitikoBhumika].Kathmandu: CCWB, CWIN-Nepal and Save the Children Norway

Dahal, D. R. (1999). Analysis of political and socio-cultural dimensions. Development challenges for Nepal.Kathmandu: Nepal foundation for advanced studies (NEFAS)

Hart, R. (1992). Children’s Participation: from Tokenism to Citizenship. (Innocent Essays No. 4) Italy:UNICEF International Child Development Centre

Hatemalo (2004). Profile: Hatemalo Sanchar (1982-2004). Kathmandu: Hatemalo Sanchar Abhiyan

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MoE. (1956). Education in Nepal (Reports of Nepal National Education Planning Commission). Kathmandu:Author

MoE. (1992). Collection of Education Commissions’ Reports. Kathmandu: Ministry of EducationMoE. (2003). Education for All: National Plan of Action 2004-2015. Kathmandu: Ministry of EducationMoE. (2008). School Sector Reform program (Core Document). Kathmandu: Ministry of EducationMoE. (2009). School Sector Reform Programme (2009-2015). Kathmandu: Ministry of Education,

Government of NepalMoFA. (1995). The Inception Report of the UNCRC. Kathmandu: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, GoNMoFALD. (2011). Child Friendly Local Governance National Strategy and Operational Guidelines.

Kathmandu: Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local DevelopmentMoFALD. (2013). The Local Governance and Community Development Programme Document. Kathmandu:

Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local DevelopmentMoLJPACA. (2007). Interim Constitution of Nepal. Kathmandu: Ministry of Law, Justice, Parliamentary

Affairs, Government of Nepal.MoWCSW. (2002). Nepal’s Second and Third Periodic National Report (1997-2002). Kathmandu: Ministry

of Women Children and Social Welfare, GoNMoWCSW. (2012). Children’s Policy of 2012 [Balalaika Samadhi Nitti, 2069]. Kathmandu: Ministry of

Women Children and Social WelfareMoWCSW. (2013). The Combined third, fourth and fifth Periodic Reports of Nepal to CRC. Kathmandu:

Ministry of Women Children and Social WelfareNPC. (1997). Ninth Plan (1997-2002). Kathmandu: National Planning Commission Secretariat, Government

of NepalNPC. (2007). Three Year Interim Plan (2007- 2010). Kathmandu: National Planning Commission Secretariat,

Government of NepalNPC. (2010). Three Year Interim Plan (2010-2013). Kathmandu: National Planning Commission Secretariat,

Government of NepalNPC. (2013). Thirteen Periodic Plan (2013-2016). Kathmandu: National Planning Commission Secretariat,

Government of NepalO’Kane, C. (2006). Children and Young People as Citizens: Partners for social change (2nd Eds.). Save the

Children InternationalPaudyal, D. P. (1994). Strategies for local level planned development in Nepal: an evaluation of the

decentralization act 1982 from the local perspective. Prabesh and Pratik, Kathmandu, NepalRajbhandary, J., Hart, R., & Khatiwada, C. (1999). The Children’s Clubs of Nepal: A Democratic Experiment.

Kathmandu: Save the ChildrenShrestha, T. N. (1996). The concepts of local government and decentralization. RatnaPustakBhandar, Bhotahiti,

Kathmandu, NepalUN. (1989). UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Geneva: United NationsUNDP. (2009). Nepal Human Development Report. 2009: State transformation and human development.

Kathmandu: United Nations Development Programme - NepalUNICEF. (2007). The UNCRC Implementation Handbook. New York: UNICEFUNICEF. (2012). State the world’s children 2013. UNICEF, New York

(The author is life member of NEPAN)



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Child Participation through Children’s

Clubs: Perpetuating Exclusion and

Inequality in Kapilvastu and Pyuthan

Districts

by: INDRA MANI RAI (YAMPHU)

Abstract

Child participation is one of the thematic pillars of the rights of the children as envisagedby the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1990). However, the children are oftenneglected and marginalized in exercising this right in developmental interventions becauseof their immaturity and incapability of raising their voices. In this context, this articlebased on data base prepared for the mid-term evaluation of Common Approach toSponsorship Program (CASP) of Save the Children, analyzes the child participationsituation through children’s clubs in the program intervention areas of Kapilvastu andPyuthan districts. This article explores that the majority of children were unable to exercisethe right to participation through children’s clubs without affiliation as membershipswhich was because of denial of informed choices they made through accessible and age-specific information dissemination. However, the limited children, majority from highcaste, representing the minority of children were found to have been exercising this rightto participation through children’s clubs holding managerial powers of the programs forthemselves. Thus the children’s clubs, in the name of inclusion or participation, werefound to have been enduring exclusion and hence inequality among the children.

Key Words: Participation, inclusion/exclusion, inequality, children’s clubs

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1. Introduction

Children’s Act, 1992 has recognized thechildren as minors not completed sixteenyears whereas United Nations Conventionon the Rights of the Child (1990) has set theage boundary of below eighteen years to bea child. The convention has envisaged theparticipation of children in the matters thatconcern them as one of the broader thematicpillars of their rights. But, the children areoften marginalized and neglected indevelopment interventions because of theirimmaturity and incapability of raising theirvoices. The lack of capabilities ordisempowering children are unlikely toaccess the participation as participation andempowerment are intrinsically connectedeach other depending each other (Holcombe,1995, as cited in Claridge, 2004). Children’sclubs have emerged in Nepal with a view toempowering children on their rights andproviding space to them to express theirvoices and to exercise their rights includingright to participation. There are more than10 357 children’s clubs in Nepal (Ministryof Women, Children and Social Welfare[MWCSW], 2012) emerged to ensure theright to participation of children.

The participation is the active involvementof stakeholders or beneficiaries likechildren in the decision making of differentphases of development projects or in theirimplementation (Claridge, 2004). Youssefet al (2001) envisages the meaningfulparticipation of such marginalized anddeprived segments of society so as toinfluence and share control over prioritysetting, resource allocations and access topublic goods and services (as cited inClaridge, 2004). Further, the participationhas to ensure the voices of voicelesssegments of people like children through

meaningful consultation, representationand interaction with them. Thus theinvolvement of stakeholders like childrenfor setting the reform agenda rather thanoutside agencies to decide their prioritiesis the key notion of participation indevelopment activities (Willis, 2005).

The intent of child participation is toencourage and enable the children to maketheir voices known to the stakeholders onthe issues that affect them. It ensures theirfreedom to express their opinions and takestheir views into account when coming todecisions. The participation of childrenthrough children’s clubs has beenconceived as the best approach of ensuringtheir rights to development of themselves.Thus in the context of Nepal, the clubs arethe state led micro-institutions (Mohanty,2006) to provide “opportunities for childrento act as agents in their own organizations”for offering them “a much more effective,authentic and sustainable approach toactive learning about their rights and tocollaborate themselves for more self-determining and caring citizens”(Rajbhandary, Hart, & Khatiwada, 1999,p. 8). Therefore the children’s clubs havebeen considered as the means of advancingchild rights. Realizing these significancesof children’s clubs, it has been attemptedto participate the children of Nepal throughchildren’s clubs establishing the clubs inaccessible localities.

In this context, this paper tries to analyzeand explore the child participation situationin Kapilvastu and Pyuthan districts basedon the quantitative data collected andprepared as Statistical Package of SocialSciences (SPSS) data base for the purposeof evaluating the Save the Children’sCommon Approach to Sponsorship

Child Participation through Children’s Clubs: Perpetuating Exclusion and Inequality in Kapilvastu and Pyuthan Districts

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Program (CASP). The paper argues that thechild participation through children’s clubsare enduring social exclusion andinequality for majority of children andminority of them are exercising their rightswith full power holding for managementand control over the programs conductedthrough the clubs. Among many variablesof data set, the paper analyzes the variablesassociated with child participation throughchildren’s clubs.

This paper has been organized in differentsections. The literature review section dealswith conceptualizing of participation,discussion of some specific policies, andthree relevant theoretical perspectives ofArnstein’s (1969) Ladder of Participation,Right Based Approach to Development andSen’s Capability Approach in relation to thefocus of argument. The methodologysection presents the brief methodology ofadoption of data base of Save the Children.Then in the subsequent section, it has beenanalyzed and interpreted the data results.The findings are drawn and discussed inthe following section. Finally, the paper isconcluded establishing the key argument.

2. Literature Review

In this section, the attempt has been madeto conceptualize the term participation andto review some national and internationalpolicies sharply related to child participation.Further, the brief theoretical discussionsnamely Arnstein’s (1969) Ladder of CitizenParticipation, Right Based Approach toDevelopment, and Sen’s CapabilityApproach have been made in the subsequentsections to understand the participation inrelation to the key concerns of the paper.

2.1. Conceptualization of Participation

The World Bank Sourcebook on

Participation (1996) defines the term‘participation’ as “a process through whichstakeholders’ influence and share controlover development initiatives, decisions andresources which affect them” (as cited inRobino, 2009, p. 134). Khan (1998)summarizes “participation in developmentas an organized effort to increase controlover resources and regulative institutions,people’s involvement in decision-making,implementation, benefit-sharing and inevaluation of programs, people’s capacityto take initiative in development of theirown destiny and for their own well-being,and a reversal of role playing as primaryactors” (as cited in Mohammad, 2010).From the above definitions, it comes toknow that participation does not mean tohave mere involvement without influencingin decision making. The participation indevelopment is to be in multiple phases ofdevelopment that has to make access toservices and resources and take control overthe development initiatives. It seems thatthe participation is the direct and activeinvolvement of children in the developmentprocess and activities or in multiple phasesof their own development throughchildren’s clubs under policy back up.

2.2. Policy Arrangements

As mentioned earlier, as envisaged by theUnited Nations Convention on the Rightsof the Child 1990, participation is one ofthe thematic pillars of children’s rights.According to the convention, the right toparticipation of children involves theconsultation and consideration of theirviews on the matters that affect them whilemaking decisions. It stipulates that thechildren are provided the opportunity ofexpressing their voices in any matter thataffect them, either directly, or through a

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representative or an appropriate body. Thusthe convention, in overall, is in favor ofright to information, right to expression ofopinion, right to freedom of association orform organization and conducting creativeand entertainment programs. It furtherenvisages that the children have right toinvolve in planning, implementation andmonitoring processes of programs relatedto children.

Capturing the spirit of United NationsConvention on the Rights of the Child1990, the government of Nepal hasformulated Child Friendly LocalGovernance (CFLG). The policyarrangements have provisioned the rightsto participation of children in the localgovernance. These legal instruments haveput the children at the core of developmentprocess. The essences of these policies areto develop child friendly local governmentand improve service delivery for children.Specifically, CFLG national strategy hasstipulated the right to participation ofchildren in each phase of project cycle inthe local level as per their maturity andcapabilities. CFLG guideline has ensuredthe participation of children in planning,implementation, and monitoring ofprograms that affect them. Further, it hasfixed that provision of developingmechanisms of respecting the opinions ofchildren. According to these policyarrangements, the children have right toexpress their opinions and also they haveright to information, interaction, andmeetings and discussion.

Thus, in relation to this paper, these nationaland international legal frameworks envisagerecognition, consultation, representation,and participation of children in the multiplephases of development projects. These

policies allow freedom of expression,association, interaction, meetings anddiscussion. As the provision of developingmechanisms for valuing the voices ofchildren by these policies, the governmentof Nepal encourages to establish thechildren’s clubs for creating spaces for thechildren to exercise their rights includingparticipation and conduct multipledevelopmental activities for enhancing theirinborn or inherent capabilities or to educatemultiple layers of stakeholders in regard tothe rights of children.

2.3 A Ladder of Citizen Participation

Arnstein (1969) has outlined a ladder ofparticipation demonstrating a typology ofeight levels which helps us to analyze theparticipation level of children throughchildren’s clubs. According to him thebottom steps of ladder, “manipulation” and“therapy” are the stages of non-participation of stakeholders. At this stagethe stakeholders like children are unableto participate in planning andimplementation of programs. The third andfourth levels are the “informing” and“consultation” which are the stages of“tokenism” that allow the stakeholders likechildren to hear and to have a voice(Arnstein, 1969). Under these conditionsthey lack the power to assure that theirviews are paid attention by the powerholders. According to Arnstein (1969), thefifth level, “placation”, is higher level oftokenism because the ground rules allowthem to advise, but retain for the powerholders the continued right to decide.

The ladder depicts that higher the level ofparticipation and higher the decisionmaking powers to the stakeholders.According to Arnstein (1969), from thesixth level, the stakeholders enter into a


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partnership with power holders that enablethem to negotiate and engage with powerholders. Arnstein (1969) envisages that thetopmost rungs include the “delegatedpower” and “citizen control”. At this stagethey obtain majority with decision makingpower or full managerial power. Thedelegated power is separate and parallelgroups of stakeholders and power holders(Arnstein , 1969). At the stage of control,the stakeholders like children are allowedhigher degree of power (or control) ofgoverning and managing the programs. Thestakeholders themselves handle the phasesof programs namely identification,planning, implementing, monitoring, andmanaging (Arnstein, 1969). Thus throughthis theoretical framework, I havevisualized the level of children’sparticipation in developmental activities.Arnstein (1969) could not see theparticipation from the rights perspective asthe participation of children is mostly thehuman rights construct.

2.4 Right Based Approach to

Development

A rights-based approach to development is

a perspective developed based oninternational human rights standards anddirected to promoting and protectinghuman rights of people. The Office of theHigh Commissioner for Human Rightsenvisages that right based approach todevelopment as it “integrates the norms,standards and principles of the internationalhuman rights system into the plans, policiesand processes of development” (Marks,2004, p. 10). This perspective envisagesthe participation is “access to decisionmaking and the exercise of power in theexecution of projects” (Marks, 2004, p. 10).The beneficiaries like children areempowered to participate in differentphases of the programs and hence own theprograms. The notion of this perspectiveis the meaningful participation rather thanmere ceremonial. Attention is given toissues of accessibility, including access todevelopment processes, and information.Particular attention is given to vulnerablegroups like children.

Cornwall, & Nyamu-Musembi (2004) hassummarized the common concepts of manybi-lateral and multi-lateral internationalsorganizations (DFID, World Bank, CARE,and so on). According to them, the rightbased approach to development transformsthe development practices enabling toensure the rights of people. This perspectivefocuses more on empowering thebeneficiaries to claim their rights bycreating opportunities to be empoweredthemselves. The common principles ofrights-based approach to development areto exercise the developmental practiceswith furthering human rights of people andto focus on “self-aware exercise of agencyin support of those who are discriminatedagainst and marginalized” (Cornwall, &Nyamu-Musembi, 2004). It takes into

Figure 1: A Ladder of Participation (Arnstein,1969)

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account the duties of relevant actors likelocal organizations and authorities likeVillage Development Committees andNon-Governmental Organizations.Further, it enables to improve the lives ofcommunity people or community andrealize their rights. Ensuring the rights ofstakeholders like children with theirdevelopment, right based approach todevelopment provides capabilities to themfor the positive changes in their lives.

2.5 Sen’s Capability Approach

In relation to participation of children,Sen’s Capability Approach serves as a lensof visualizing the extent of their practicesthrough children’s clubs. Sen’s CapabilityApproach comprises a number of conceptsas analytical frames. Sen envisages theconcepts like functionings, capabilities,freedom of choice, and development.According to Sen, functionings are the“beings and doings” of a person, whereascapability is the combination of multiplefunctionings (Robeyns, 2003). He furtherenvisages that the achievement ofcapability create freedom of choice for aperson that leads to positive development(Robeyns, 2003).

In this sense, I have visualized the beingsand doings of children through children’sclubs. Thus functionings are the practicesor activities that the children achieved.Capabilities are judged on the basis of theirmultiple beings and doings. Likewise,access to alternative opportunities or thecreation of opportunities for the childrenis the freedom of choices (Robeyns, 2003).The capability enhancement contributes toreal freedom of choice. The concept ofcapability is thus closely related to the ideaof opportunity but more as a positive notionof overall freedom. In this paper, the

children’s development is discussed interms of their capabilities to function. Inother words, their development is seen ontheir effective opportunities to undertakethe actions and activities that they want toengage in (Wigley, & Akkoyunlu-Wigley,2006). Thus capability approach todevelopment helps to evaluate the activitiesof children through children’s clubs whichsupport them to positive changes in thelives of children.

3. Methodology

This paper is based on the quantitative datacollected and prepared as StatisticalPackage of Social Sciences (SPSS) databases for the purpose of evaluating theCommon Approach to SponsorshipProgram (CASP) of Save the Children.One of the data bases was based on thehousehold survey conducted to the childrenof age group 10 to 18 years and anotherwas based on the survey conducted tochildren’s club members. The data baseshows that six Village DevelopmentCommittees (VDCs) from Kapilvastu andfive VDCs from Pyuthan were selected assample VDCs. Moreover, 117 child clubmembers were surveyed from 30Children’s Clubs from those VDCs. Thusgeneralization is possible to the extent ofoverall VDCs in which the CASP has beenimplemented by Save the Children.

There were a number of variables in boththe data bases associated under broaderthemes. The key themes in the first data basewere education of children, childparticipation, marriage and birth,menstruation management, family planning,access to public services, sexuallytransmitted diseases, gender roles, andlivelihoods. Likewise, the key thematicareas of variable in the second data base


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were demography of children’s clubmembers, functioning of children’s clubs,and activities conducted by the clubs.Among these variables, appropriatevariables from these two data bases inrelation to the key concern of the paper wereused to analyze. Descriptive statistics wasused to analyze the data. The cross tabulateddata outputs were generated and re-tabulatedthe numeric information as convenience (seeAnnex). The numeric data were expressedin percentages and derived meaning.

Participatory Perceptions and Practices

through Children’s Clubs

In this section, I have attempted to analyzeand interpret the participation of childrenthrough children’s clubs. In doing so, Idiscuss the availability and affiliation ofchildren in children’s clubs. Further, Ianalyze the participation of children invillage councils, in the functioning ofchildren’s clubs, the programs conducted bythe children’s clubs, and gender and caste/ethnicity based inclusion in children’s clubs.

Affiliation of Children in Children’s

Clubs

The children’s clubs were found to havebeen established in the communities tomake available for most of the children inboth Kapilvastu and Pyuthan districts (seeAnnex I-Table 1). But there were less thanhalf of the children in Kapilvastu andslightly less than one third children inPyuthan who were the members ofchildren’s clubs (see Annex I-Table 1). Theaffiliation of children with memberships inchildren’s clubs in Pyuthan was lesser ascompared to Kapilvastu. As compared tothe availability of children’s clubs, theaffiliation of children was unwelcoming inboth the districts. Maximum children werenot affiliated in the children’s clubs because

of their disinterestedness and unawarenessor ignorance about the children’s clubs (seeAnnex I – Table 2). Some of themexpressed that they were unable to involvein the clubs due to lack of time (see AnnexI – Table 2). Thus a large number ofchildren were not affiliated to the membersof children’s clubs because of lack ofawareness about their rights or informationabout the clubs. They remained away fromgetting age-appropriate and accessibleinformation and hence could not “makeinformed choices or express reasonedviews” (Lansdown, 2001, p. 9).

The awareness and participation are closelylinked together. Empowerment in thematters that affect them positively couldenhance the participation and hence theydepend on each other (Claridge, 2004).Participation through affiliation inchildren’s clubs which is to be a part of anaction could be a means of empoweringthem. According to Holcombe (1995), theempowerment represents the ability toparticipate, to influence decisions, as on theallocation of resources (as cited in Claridge,2004). In this sense, the children who wereout of children’s clubs were denied ofempowering, an act of building,developing, increasing power throughcooperation, sharing and working together(Claridge, 2004). The participation ofchildren through children’s clubs wereunlikely to be a means to capacity buildingfor all children for effectivecommunication, leadership development,life skills and basic education on differentknowledge and skills through child-to-childapproach. However, the children whoaffiliated and working actively in children’sclubs as members were found to have beenparticipating in state mechanisms likevillage councils.

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Participation of Children in Village Councils

Village Development Committees (VDCs)are the major state mechanisms in the locallevel to provide public services andresources to the people. VDCs are themajor ruling bodies of government throughwhich the policies and programs ofgovernment are implemented in the grass-root level. There were few children whoknew about the Village DevelopmentCommittee (VDC) council meetings (seeAnnex I-Table 3). Further, there were veryfew of them were participated in themeetings as representatives (see Annex I-Table 3). Of the children participated invillage council meetings/discussions,majorities (55.6% and 61.5%) were founddiscussed for identifying the child relatedprograms in both the districts (see AnnexI- Table 4). Many of them raised the issueof allocating budget for the programs ofchildren (see Annex I- Table 4). Thecouncil was responsive to the voices raisedby the children. Most of the children whoknew the village councils reported that thecouncils were allocating budget for thechildren’s programs in both the districts(see Annex I – Table 5).

This shows that the children affiliated inchildren’s clubs as the members andrepresenting minority of the children hadaccess to public resources. However, localgovernmental bodies have increasedconsultations with children during theformulation of child-related plans andpolicies and allocating at least 15 percentof their annual budget to fund activitiestargeted at supporting child rights (Ministryof Women, Children and Social Welfare[MWCSW], 2012) as the directive issuedby Ministry of Local Development(MoLD). As envisaged by CFLG national

strategy, the children were found to havebeen participated in village councilmeetings in identifying the programs forthe children and allocating budget for theirprograms. Thus the local governmentbodies, VDCs, were responsive towardsfunctional children’s clubs.

Participation of Children in

Functioning of Children’s Clubs

The children’s clubs were found to havebeen creating space for the children toexercise their rights including right toparticipation. The functioning of children’sclubs were forums for children to voicetheir concerns that affect them. Maximumand overwhelming majorities of childrenreported that they held the meetings/discussions in Kapilvastu (92%) andPyuthan (67.2%) (see Annex I – Table 8).Overwhelming majorities i.e. two thirds(78.8% in Kapilvastu and 74.5% inPyuthan) of children reported that theywere conducting meetings/discussions aftereach month (see Annex I – Table 6). Andfew of them opined that they conductedmeetings/discussions weekly, fortnightly,bi-monthly, and tri-monthly (see Annex I– Table 6). According to CFLG guideline,the children were found to have enjoyingthe right to express their opinions throughinteraction, meetings and discussion.Therefore, the children were involving inthe actual agenda setting rather than outsideagencies deciding on the priorities to beaddressed (Willis, 2005). The childrenwere allowed greater decision makingpower and influence (ibid) as their needsand aspirations.

Most of the children’s club membersreported that they maintained minute ofmeetings, had annual work plan, andconducted periodic review meetings and


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annual general assembly (see Annex I –Table 7). Noticeably, about one third(30.3%) children’s club members inKapilvastu and few (15.7%) members inPyuthan noted that they were notconducting annual general assembly (seeAnnex I – Table 7). Few (15.2%) children’sclub members in Kapilvastu complainedthat they had no annual work plan whereasthere were very few (0.12%) membersexpressing this in Pyuthan (see Annex I –Table 7). This shows that most of thechildren’s clubs were well functioning. Asenvisaged by Convention on the Rights ofthe Child (1990) and CFLG guideline, thechildren were found to have participatedin planning, implementation, andmonitoring of programs by themselvesthrough children’s clubs. They were foundto have involved in managing their owninstitutions (children’s clubs) (Lansdown,2001). They were at the stage of exercisingdelegated power and hence they werefurther allowed higher degree of power (orcontrol) of governing and managing thephases of programs (Arnstein, 1969).

About half of the children reported that thechildren’s clubs were conducting differentcompetitive programs in both the districts(see Annex I – Table 8) and many of themreported to have been conducting streetdrama for educating community people(see Annex I – Table 8). In Pyuthan district,majorities of children were reporting thatthey were conducting health relatedprograms namely health awarenessprograms (55.2%) and communitysanitation (51.7%) (see Annex I – Table 8).Half of the children in Pyuthan reported tohave been publishing wall magazineswhereas there were very few children whoreported to conducting this program (seeAnnex I – Table 8). Therefore, the

children’s clubs were conducting diversenature of programs like competitiveprograms, street drama to educating publicpeople, and health awareness programs andso on. The particular children wereengaging in campaigns, lobbies, advocacy,and publicity particularly on the rights ofthemselves ((Lansdown, 2001). But itwould be worthwhile to discuss here howthe participation of children in thoseactivities was.

Par ticipation in the Programs

Conducted by Children’s Clubs

Maximum and overwhelming majority ofchildren were found to have participatedin meetings and discussions in Kapilvastu(80%) and Pyuthan (65.5%). Majority ofchildren (51.7%) in Pyuhtan and 39% ofchildren in Kapilvastu were participatingin competitive programs. More childrenwere found to have participated in healthrelated programs namely health awarenessprograms and community sanitationmanagement programs in Pyuthan than inKapilvastu (see Annex I-Table 9). InPyuthan district, maximum (65.5%) wereparticipating in meetings and discussionsand slightly more than majorities wereparticipating in health awareness (51.7%)and different competitions (51.7%) (seeAnnex I – Table 9). In addition, slightlyless than half (44.5%) were participatingin wall magazine publication in Pyuthanwhereas the participation of children insuch program was very minimum (6%) inKapilvastu. Many of them were alsoinvolving street dramas in both the districts(see Annex I – Table 9).

Therefore, in Kapilvastu district, thechildren were more concentrated inconducting meetings/discussions andcompetitions whereas in Pyuthan district

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they were involving in more distributedactivities awareness and promotionalactivities. There was co-existence ofmultiple practices of participation ofchildren through the multiple activitiesconducted by the children’s clubs. Thus thestate led institutions like children’s clubspromoted through Save the Childrencomplementarily played the key roles ofcreating spaces for the participation(Mohanty, 2006) of that minority ofchildren through the multiple programs forthe positive development in their lives. Theparticipation through these diverseprogrammed practices of children couldpromote the inclusion of multiplestakeholders facing multiple exclusions(Mohanty, 2006) in children’s clubs. Buthow inclusive the children’s clubs were isdiscussed below.

Participation in Children’s Clubs by

Gender and Caste/Ethnicity

Major portfolio positions including‘Chairperson’ of children’s clubs werefound to have occupied by males and thepositions like ‘Vice-Chairperson’ and‘Treasurers’ with less influencing roles indecision making by majority of females(Annex I-Table 10). In addition, most ofthe portfolio positions were found to haveoccupied by the children from upper castesgroups and few positions were by thechildren from Dalits and Janajatis (AnnexI-Table 11). This depicts that there weredominancy of males and upper castechildren in children’s clubs in comparisonto the presence of females, Dalits andJanajatis. The exclusion is manifestedclearly in the children’s clubs.

As envisaged by Vulnerable CommunityDevelopment Plan (2004), there are fourbroader impeding factors of denying

inclusion of children in such institutions.The plan clearly mentions that the povertywhich is more severe among Dalits andJanajatis, geographical difficulties, socialbarriers (stereotypic gender-relations,language, caste based hierarchies and ethniccultural barriers), and disabilities may havebeen the exclusionary factors for the childrento be participated in children’s clubs.According to Francis (2000), the girls, andthe children from Dalits and Janajatis weredeprived (as cited in Rawal, 2007) ofexercising their rights involving themselvesthrough children’s clubs. As Hillary’s (1994)views, they were discriminated when groupboundaries impede individual freedom toparticipate (as cited in Rawal, 2007) throughchildren’s clubs.

4. Findings and Discussion

The children’s clubs were available in mostof the communities for most of the childrenirrespective of geographical areas ordistricts. However, majority of childrenwere not affiliated as members in thechildren’s clubs. Holding generalmemberships was also a form ofparticipation (Claridge, 2004). But, thesechildren were unaware or not informedabout their rights, responsibilities andoptions that could be the first step tolegitimate participation (Arnstein, 1969).In this sense, the participation of childrenthrough children clubs mediated by Savethe Children was worthless for majority ofchildren. Majority of children were notparticipated through children’s clubs. Theyhave no influence in decision making onthe matters that affect them as they had nomemberships and hence denied to selectingtheir representatives in children’s clubs.They were in non-participation level belowthe third and fourth levels of participation,


100 - 15 l August 2014

“informing” and “consultation”, i.e. eventhe stages of “tokenism” that allow childrento hear and to have a voice (Arnstein,1969). As the right-based approach todevelopment the preferences onempowering children as right holdersthrough child to child learning throughchildren’s clubs seems weaker for majorityof children. The government mechanismsand Save the Children were found to beweaker in ensuring the right to informationof majority of children that affects them.

The children’s clubs with minority ofmembership affiliation were found to havebeen well functioning. The functioningchildren’s clubs were likely to make forumsfor children to voice their concerns thataffect them and conduct diverse activitiesfor enhancing their inherent capabilities.Through the monthly regular meetings/discussions, maintaining minute ofmeetings, annul work plan, and conductingperiodic review and general assembly, thechildren’s club members were found tohave been engaging themselves in morefunctional way in making decisions inchildren’s clubs which was a form ofmeaningful participation (United Nations[UN], 1990). The children were foundinvolved in identifying, planning,designing, and implementation phases ofthe development programs. They mobilizedthemselves, managed resources, and madedecisions that affect their lives (Price, &Mylius, 1991, as cited in Claridge, 2004).The children were enjoying more freedomand they had opportunities of expressingtheir opinions (UN, 1990) throughchildren’s clubs in village councils.

Among minority of children, limitedchildren were aware of village councilmeetings whereas overwhelming majorities

of them were unknown about the villagecouncils. There were few representativeparticipation of children in village councilsin both the districts. Of the childrenparticipated in village council meetings/discussions, majorities were found discussedfor identifying the child related programsand budget allocation for the programs inboth the districts. As viewed by Youssef etal.(2001) this was participatory processthrough which the children influenced andshared control over priority setting andresource allocations and accessed to publicresources ( as cited in Claridge, 2004).Moreover, this was a dynamic interactiveprocess in which the children voiced andinfluenced in decision-making (Claridge,2004). In addition, as viewed by Arnstein(1969), a group of children representing theminority of children of Kapilvastu andPyuthan districts were in the position ofpartnering state mechanism like villagedevelopment committees (power holders)engaging and negotiating with them foridentifying and allocating budget for thechildren’s programs.

The most of the children’s clubs were foundconducting diverse social and promotionalactivities such as meetings/discussions,competitions, street drama, health awarenessprograms, community sanitation, wallmagazine publication, and so on to enhancetheir inherent capabilities and educating localpeople. Overwhelming majorities of childrenwere found participated in suchdevelopmental activities conducted by theclubs. Visualizing these practices or activitiesthrough the children’s clubs from the lens ofSen’s Capability Approach, the children haveachieved multiple functionings (beings anddoings) through the children’s clubscontributing to enhance their capabilities(Robeyns, 2003). The capabilities

101

achievement of the children (mostly thosewho have been involving in children’s clubsactively) was likely to create freedom ofchoice leading to positive development(Robeyns, 2003) of themselves. The childrenhad access to participation in multipleopportunities or practices or activitiesconducted by children’s clubs leading tofreedom of choices (Wigley, & Akkoyunlu-Wigley, 2006).

The children representing minority childrenwere exercising the topmost rungs of ladderof participation which includes “delegatedpower” and “citizen control” (Arnstein,1969). Being at this stage they haveachieved full decision making power or fullmanagerial power of children’s clubs. Theywere in position of collaborative effortmaking to engage in joint planning and theywere delegated the power of governing selffor the programs and managerial aspects(Arnstein, 1969).

Further, most of the portfolio positions ofchildren’s clubs were found occupied bymajorities of high caste children and malesexcluding Dalits and Janajatis. The socialand economic aspects were the key barriersof exclusion of these children fromchildren’s clubs. This was “a consequenceof the formation of group monopolies, withresources being controlled by hierarchicaland exclusive networks” (Hillary, 1994, ascited in Rawal, 2007). The exclusion ofDalits and Janajatis arose from the interplayof social class and it is the manifestationof power holder high caste people and thusenduring exclusion and then inequality.

5. Wrapping up

Mere availability of children’s clubs inaccessible areas of the communities doesnot promote or ensure the inclusion or

participation of all the children. The lackof informed practices of their rights toparticipation for the overall developmentplays crucial roles of promotingparticipation of children in children’s clubs.Thus participation depends onempowerment of stakeholders like childrenon their rights and then development. Thedisempowerment leads to the exclusion ofstakeholders from the mainstreamingdevelopment processes.

The children’s clubs are representingminority of children creating the spaces orthe platforms for discussing/interacting orexpressing their opinions and views in thematters that affect them. Limited numbersof children are able to raise and influencethe state mechanisms raising their issuesand, as a consequence, make access topublic resources. They are able to manageand control multiple promotional activitiesfor making positive change among childrenwith full decision making powers throughchildren’s clubs. The informed minority ofchildren is able to enlarging their choicesof participation in diverse programsconducted by the children’s clubs and islikely to changing their lives positively.

Thus excluding majority of children fromparticipation through children’s clubs, thechildren representing minority of childrenare mostly informed, represented andparticipated in the matters that affect them.Further, inclusion of children frommarginalized and deprived communities inthe children’s clubs which have beenrepresenting minority of children wasbleak. Thus, the development of childrenparticipating through children’s clubs isnothing more than whim or rhetorical asmajority of children and children frommarginalized and deprived communities


102 - 15 l August 2014

within the minority groups are denyingexercising their democratic rights and theirright to participation and developmentthrough children’s clubs. The children’sclubs themselves are responsible to makerepresentation of entire children are unable

to do so. Despite the long effort, thegovernment of Nepal and Save the Childrenare unable to liberate and emancipate tothese majority of marginalized and deprivedsegments of society rather further exclusionand inequality are enduring in the society.

References

Arnstein, S. R.(1969). A ladder of citizen participation. Journal of the American Planning Association, 35(4),216-224.

Claridge, T. (2004). Designing social capital sensitive participation methodologies. Retrieved on January22, 2014 from http://www.socialcapitalresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Social-Capital-and-Participation-Theories.pdf

Cornwall, A., & Nyamu-Musembi, C. (2004). Putting the ‘rights-based approach’ to development intoperspective. Third World Quarterly, 25 (8), 1415-1437.

Government of Nepal (1992). Children’s act, (2048) 1992. Kathmandu: Author.Lansdown, G. (2001). Promoting children’s participation in democratic decision making. Florence, Italy:

UNICEF Innocenti Insight.Ministry of Local Development (2011). Child friendly local governance (CFLG): Operational guideline.

Kathmandu: Author.Ministry of Local Development (2011). Child friendly local governance (CFLG): National strategy.

Kathmandu: Author.Ministry of Education and Sports (2004). Vulnerable community development plan. Kathmandu: Author.Mohanty, R. (2006). Citizen participation in development: Issues of identity, inclusion and voice. In R.

Mohanty, & R. Tandon (Eds.), Participatory citizenship: Identity, exclusion, inclusion, (pp. 68-91). NewDelhi,Thousand Oaks and London: Sage Publications.

Mohammad, S. N. (2010). People’s participation in development projects at grass-root level: A case studyof Alampur and Jagannathpur Union Parishad (Unpublished Master’s Degree dissertation). North SouthUniversity, Bangladesh.

Marks, S. P. (2004). The right to development: A Primer. New Delhi, Thousand Oaks, and London: SagePublications.

Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare (2012). National plan of action for children, Nepal, 2004/05-2014/15. Kathmandu: Author.

Robeyns, I. (2003). The capability approach: An interdisciplinary introduction. University of Amsterdam,Netherlands.

Robino, C. (2009). Citizen participation, decentralization and inclusive development: A survey on citizenparticipation and decentralization in South Africa with specific reference to the Eastern Cape (Unpublisheddoctoral dissertation). Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, South Africa.

Rawal, N. (2007). Social inclusion and exclusion: A review. In Dhaulagiri Journal of Sociology andAnthropology, 2 , 161-180.

Rajbhandary, J., Hart, R., & Khatiwada, C. (1999). The children’s clubs in Nepal: A democratic experiment.Retrieved on January 24, 2014 from https://www.google.com.np/?gws_rd=cr&ei=6M_gUrSQEoXZigef-YHABA#q=The+children’s+clubs+in+Nepal%3A+A+democratic+experiment.

United Nations (1990). United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Geneva: Author.Willis, K. (2005). Theories and practices of development. London and New York: Routledge.Wigley, S. & Akkoyunlu-Wigley, A. (2006). Human capabilities versus human capital:Guaging the value of education in developing countries. Social Indicators Research, 78, 287–304, DOI

10.1007/s11205-005-0209-7

(The author is PhD Student, Kathmandu University School of Education)

Emai: [email protected], [email protected]

103

AnnexesAnnex I: List of Tables

Table 1:

Status of Existence of Child Clubs in the Society and Memberships

Responses Existence of Child Clubs Membership of Child Clubs

Kapilvastu Pyuthan Kapilvastu Pyuthan

Yes 180(86.5) 161(80.5) 98(47.1) 58(29.0)

No 28(13.5) 39(19.5) 110(52.9) 142(71.0)

Total 208(100.0) 200(100.0) 208(100.0) 200(100.0)

Source: Field Survey 2013 (The figures in the parentheses indicate percentage)

Table 2:

Reasons for Not Being Child Club Member

Reason for not being the child club member Kapilvastu (N=98) Pyuthan (N=112)

Not interested 13(13.3) 52(46.4)

No idea about the club 25(25.5) 38(33.9)

Nobody informed 10(10.2) 6(5.4)

No free time to go to clubs 10(10.2) 25(22.3)

Parents didn’t permit 1(1.0) 1(0.9)

NA 39 (….


Table 3:

Awareness and Participation of Child Club Representatives in Village Councils

Kapilvastu Pyuthan

Response Knowledge of Participation in Knowledge of Participation inVDC Council VDC Council VDC Council VDC Council

Yes 45 (21.6) 18 (8.7) 29 (14.5) 13 (6.5)

No 160 (76.9) 27 (13.0) 166 (83.0) 17 (8.5)

NA 3 (1.4) 163 (78.4) 5 (2.5) 170 (85.0)

Total 208 (100) 208 (100) 200 (100) 200 (100)


Table 4:

Issues Raised/Discussed in the Village Councils

Issues Kapilvastu Pyuthan

Identification of child related program 10 (55.6) 8 (61.5)

Allocation budget to the children 4 (22.2) 4 (30.8)

Preparation of planning regarding children 2 (11.1) 1 (7.7)

Didn’t know 2 (11.1) 0 (0.0)

Total 18 (100) 13 (100)



104 - 15 l August 2014

1 Minute Maintenance2 Annual Work Plan3 Review Meeting4 Annual General Assembly

Table 5:

Allocation of Budget in the Name of Children

Responses Kapilvastu Pyuthan

Yes 43 ( 95.6 ) 25 (86.2)

Don’t Know 2 (4.4 ) 5 (17.2 )

Total 45 (100) 29 (100)


Table 6:

Practices of Meetings/Discussions

Time Interval Kapilvastu Pyuthan Total

Weekly 4 (6.1) 5 (9.8) 9 (7.7)

Fortnightly 0 (0.0) 2 (3.9) 2 (1.7)

Monthly 52 (78.8) 38 (74.5) 90 (76.9)

Bi-monthly 4 (6.1) 4 (7.8) 8 (6.8)

Tri-monthly 6 (9.1) 0 (0.0) 6 (5.1)

NA 0 (0.0) 2 (3.9) 2 (1.7)

Total 66 (100) 51 (100) 117 (100)


Table 7:

Minute Maintenance, Annual Work Plan, Review and General Assembly Meetings

Response Kapilvastu Pyuthan

Minute1 AWP2 Review3 AGA4 Minute AWP Review AGA

Yes 64 (97.0) 56(84.8) 60(90.9) 46(69.7) 47(92.2) 43(84.3) 48(94.1) 41(80.4)

No 2(0.03) 10 (15.2) 4(0.06) 20(30.3) 3(0.06) 6(0.12) 1(0.02) 8(15.7)

NA 0 (0.00) 0 (0.00) 2(0.03) 0 (0.00) 1(0.02) 2(0.04) 2(0.04) 2(4.0)

Total 66 (100) 66 (100) 66 (100) 66 (100) 51 (100) 51(100) 51(100) 51(100)


105

Table 8:

Activities Conducted by Child Clubs

Child Club Activities Kapilvastu (N=110) Pyuthan (N=58)

Health awareness program 24(21.8) 32(55.2)

Street drama 37(33.6) 13(22.4)

Meeting /discussions 101(91.8) 39(67.2)

Education awareness/school admission campaign 16(14.5) 7(12.1)

Community sanitation 18(16.4) 30(51.7)

Different competitions 52(47.2) 31(53.4)

Child wall magazine publication 15(13.6) 29(50.0)

Peace-making activities 1(0.9) 2(3.4)

Environment protection program 4(3.6) 4(6.9)

Training/orientation about child rights 11(10.0) 13(22.4)


Table 9:

Participation of Adolescents in Child Club Activities

Activities Participated Kapilvastu (N=110) Pyuthan (N=58)

Health awareness program 16(14.5) 30(51.7)

Street drama 29(26.4) 11(19.0)

Meeting /discussions 88(80.0) 38(65.5)

Education awareness/school admission campaign 9(8.2) 7(12.1)

Community sanitation 15(13.6) 21(36.2)

Different competitions 43(39.1) 30(51.7)

Child wall magazine publication 7(6.4) 26(44.8)

Peace-making activities 1(0.9) 2(3.4)

Environment protection program 3(2.7) 2(3.4)

Training/orientation about child rights 9(8.2) 12(20.7)


Table 10:

Children’s Clubs Portfolio Distribution by Sex

Positions in Children’s Clubs Sex Total

Male Female

Chairperson 27 (71.1) 11 (28.9) 38 (32.5)

Vice-Chairperson 4 (30.8) 9 (69.2) 13 (11.1)

Secretary 5 (62.5) 3 (37.8) 8 (6.8)

Vice-Secretary 1(100.0) 0 (00.0) 1 (0.008)

Member 26 (68.4) 12 (31.6) 38 (32.5)

Treasurer 4 (44.4) 5 (55.6) 9 (7.7)

NA 4 (40.0) 6 (60.0) 10 (8.5)

Total 69 () 48 () 117 (100.0)



106 - 15 l August 2014

Table 11:

Children’s Clubs Portfolio Distribution by Caste/Ethnicity

Positions in Children’s Clubs Dalit Janajati Upper Caste Total

Chairperson 7 (18.4) 4 (10.5) 27 (71.0) 38 (32.5)

Vice-Chairperson 1 (7.7) 3 (23.1) 9 (69.3) 13 (11.1)

Secretary 2 (25.0) 1 (12.5) 5 (62.5) 8 (6.8)

Vice-Secretary 0 (00.0) 0 (00.0) 1 (100.0) 1 (0.008)

Member 10 (26.3) 6 (15.8) 22 (57.9) 38 (32.8)

Treasurer 1 (11.1) 2 (22.2) 6 (66.6) 9 (7.7)

NA 3 (30.0) 0 (00.0) 7 (70.4) 10 (8.5)

Total 24 (20.5) 16 (13.7) 77 (65.8) 117 (100.0)


"The Effectiveness of Non-contributory

Social Pension in Nepal"Participatory Research Report

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Prepared by: Dr. Laya Uprety

Published by: NEPAN and HAI

Published date: May 2011

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107

Coping with Parkinson’s disease: a

Real Life Experience

Senior Citizen's Health Experience

by DEEPAK CHAPA (CHAPAGAIN)

It was devastating news for me and myfamily when I was accurately diagnosedand re-confirmed as Parkinson’s patient inthe early 2012 at the age of 66 in Californiaat Alta Beta Hospital. In the early stages ofParkinson’s disease, I hardly noticed anysymptoms and led a full and active life until2011. But as time passesed away, I neededmore help and support. I felt difficult toget around and do everyday activities. Itwas frustrating and upsetting for me. I wasanxious and fed up. I am fighting this battleagainst Parkinson’s disease with thesupport of family members who are my realcare givers. My body has Parkinson’sdisease. It does not define me and it onlylimits my life in my small room. I felt that,my life and the disease is in my hand. Mygoal is to stay in vigorous with the goal ofliving happiest and healthiest I joined TAICHI classes, participated in the danceclasses specially organized for theParkinson patients in Oakland and Berkeleycities of California, USA. I also had anopportunity to join training on “how to

fall safely”and “bad posture correction”.By learning the very important techniquesto live with Parkinson’s disease, I adoptedthe following strategies to win againstParkinson’s disease. Before getting out ofbed, I begin each morning with stretchesand rotations. Daily exercise is critical formaintaining flexibility. Tai chi has a lowerincidence of falls compared to stretching.Tai Chi uses slow and controlledmovements to help enhance balance,posture and walking stride. We keep inmind that there are four components offitness: aerobic, endurance, strengths,balance and flexibility. After completion ofmy exercise in the morning, I become readyto welcome my day. Daily exercise hasbecome my mulmantra because physicalexercise is equally important as medicationfor the Parkinson’s patient. Gait exercise,aerobics, morning walk, TAI CHImovement helped me notably. I visualizedopamine flowing into my brain andpassing through the blood stream uptoSubstantia Nigra. My focus is to balance

108 - 15 l August 2014

my body and harmony. I do dancingmovements, especially, HULA dance(Hawai Dance) and Nepali way of folkdances by rotating my whole body. It helpsme to make coordination of body with mymind which is doing good for me. I amslowly, and day by day, becomingindependent in my daily life activities.

What is Parkinson’s disease?

Parkinson’s disease is a slowly progressive,neurodegenerative disorder that occurswhen certain nerve cells called neurons, inthe area of the brain identified thesubstantia nigra, die or become impaired.Normally, these neurons produce a vitalsubstance known as dopamine. Dopamineis the chemical messenger responsible fortransmitting signals between the substantianigra and the next relay station of the brain,allowing smooth, coordinated function ofthe body’s muscles and movement.

Four Main Motor Symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.

• Shaking or tremor at rest.

• Slowness of movement, called bradykinesia.

• Stiffness or rigidity of the arms, legs or trunk.

• Trouble with balance and falls, also calledpostural instability.

Postural instability usually appears laterwith disease progression and may not bepresent in the initial diagnosis. The regularexercise can help us to keep us mobile andsupple, and improve balance andcoordination. Exercise does not mean goingto a gym. It can be going to a walk,gardening, cycling or anything we enjoy.That is easy to include in our daily routine.We can choose a time in the day to exercisewhen we are in rest and symptoms are wellcontrolled by medication. We must be sureto warm up gently and stretch musclesbefore getting stiffed.

Adopting at our home

Adopting at our home can sometimes makeus easier. An occupational therapist canassess our needs and make suggestions.Many people with Parkinson’s Disease arefalling on the ground. So followingprecautions are suggested

1. Rearrange furniture and carpets so thereis nothing we can trip over

2. Have grab rails

3. Put a non-slip mat

4. Install sufficient lighting conditions

Handling medicines

• The dose of medicines and how often totake it.

• When and how we will know it isworking

• To be alert for any common or seriousside effects

• Medicines needs to be stored properly,so that it stays effective

• Drinking plenty of fluids for easily swallowingpills and helps to absorb medicine.

Neurologists generally do not diagnoseParkinson’s Disease until at least two of thefour main symptoms are verified. Thedisease is both chronic (meaning it persistsover a long period of time), and progressive(meaning that gradually worsens over time).

Others Characteristic Features of

Parkinson’s Disease

• Micrographia (small handwriting)

• Hypophonic dysarthria (soft, lessunderstandable speech)

• Stooped posture

• Shuffling steps

• Diminished facial expression

• Less frequent eye blinking

109

Early falling or postural instability are thecommonly seen symptoms of classicParkinson’s disease and needs treatment. Itis important for persons to realize thatParkinson’s disease progresses slowly, theclinical course over many years variesgreatly with individuals. Effectivemanagement of Parkinson’s disease requiresan experienced and compassionate healthcare provider, and caregiver to determine atreatment plan consisting of appropriatemedication, diet, physical and mentalexercise, counseling and other therapies. Asthe disease progresses and problemsaccumulate, deep brain stimulation (DBS)may be reasonable. However, the majorityof people with Parkinson’s disease can leadfull and active life with good symptomcontrol for many years.

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is aneurodegenerative brain disorder thatprogresses slowly in most people. It meansthat individuals with PD can live for twentyyears or more from the time of diagnosis.While Parkinson’s disease itself is not fatal,the Center for Disease Control ratedcomplications from the disease as the 14thtop cause of death in the United States.There is currently no cure for Parkinson’s;however, doctors will be focused anddedicated to finding treatments that helpcontrol the symptoms of PD and have a

good quality of life. Normally, there arebrain cells (neurons) in the human brainthat produce Dopamine. These neuronsconcentrate in a particular area of the brain,called the substantia nigra. Dopamine is achemical that relays messages between thesubstantia nigra and other parts of the brainto control movement of the human body.Dopamine helps to have smoothcoordinated muscle movement. Whenapproximately 60% to 80% of theDopamine-producing cells are damaged,and do not produce enough Dopamine, themotor symptoms of Parkinson’s diseasewill appear. This process of impairment ofbrain cells is called neurodegeneration.

Medication

The central objective of using Parkinson’sdisease medication is to control or managemotor symptoms. Since these symptomsare largely due to the diminishing supplyof Dopamine in the brain. The most of thesymptomatic medications are designed forreplenish, mimic or enhance the effect ofthis chemical. It must be remembered thatmedication usage is only a part of wholetreatment plan for effective treating ofParkinson’s disease. Physical therapy,occupational therapy, speech therapy,holistic practices, nutritional consultation,support groups, education, psychologicalcounseling, intelligent use of assistivedevices and caregiver relief are importantaspects of the best treatment plan. IfParkinson’s patient take their medicationmany of their symptoms may be reducedeven disappear some tremor, stiffness,slowness and return before it is time formedication. We can strategize to relief“wearing off”. The simplest strategy is totake medication at equal intervalthroughout the day. Medication can be

Coping with Parkinson’s disease: a Real Life Experience

Participatory Dancing

110 - 15 l August 2014

adjusted the “wearing off” phenomena.Receiving timely medication and intervaladjustments can have a meaningful andimmediate impact on our quality of life.

Good diet

Nutrition does indeed make a significantcontribution to the health status of personsliving with Parkinson’s disease. Nutritionistsay “Eat Well, Stay well” with theParkinson’s disease. Protein can interferewith the way Levodopa (dopamineproducing medicine) is absorbed from theintestine so we may be adjusted not to eatprotein rich foods when we are inmedication. We may digest food differently,lose weight or become constipated. Nutritionwon’t cure Parkinson’s disease, or slow itsprogression. People with Parkinson’s diseaseare at risk of malnutrition. So, specialattention should be given on good nutritionpractices and the patients feel better, healthyand minimize the hospital visit.

Conclusion

I have no other options, I cutback my stress,changed my eating and drinking pattern,and began exercising. Daily exercise is apart of my life. I don’t know how long thisdisease will last but I am determined tocherish every second of my life. Rightmedication and successful therapeuticexercises helped me considerably reducesymptoms of rigidity of legs and forearmsand improve flexibility. I continue forcedexercises like laughing therapy, vocaltherapy by singing raag based classicalsongs, speaking loudly as a vocal therapy,and doing dancing movements. I keep aneye on each exercise how these exerciseswork. Ultimately, the results are foundpositive. I also wish all the best to theNutritionists and Neurologists who taughtme so much about good diet and caring.My special thanks go to my family for theirpatience and firm emotional support.

(The author is Life Member of NEPAN)

email: [email protected]

"How does social protection contribute

to social inclusion in Nepal"Participatory Research Report

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111Book Review

Book Title: Participatory Project CycleManagement Handbook

Author: Dr. Krishna Babu JoshiPublished Year: 2014 (2nd edition)Published by: Mrs. Tara JoshiLanguage: NepaliTotal Pages: 141 + 14Price: NRs. 300.

NEPALESE DEVELOPMENT WORKERS’COMPANION*

Since the innovation and adoption of various toolsand techniques of participatory approaches (PA) inthe 1970s/ 1980s and beyond, the practice of usingsuch tools in planning and execution ofdevelopmental activities/ projects as well as in othermanagement issues has gradually expanded all overthe world. Much change in the participatoryapproaches and practices has also been experiencedin development interventions in Nepal during these20-30 years. However, use of participatory tools andtechniques in monitoring and evaluation purposesare still lacking in our country.

Participatory methods and approaches are the ‘crux’of any development activities and stages. Irrespectiveof this fact, however, many developmentpractitioners and institutions feel difficulty inproperly applying such tools, approaches andtechniques in reality. These all have barred localpeople’s effective participation in the localdevelopment processes. Much developmentalprogress could have achieved over the last 30 yearsif the implementation of the PA tools were fullyinternalized by every development worker and everyorganization involved into it. Because of this, thedesire to achieve the goal of sustainable developmentis yet to be met. One of the reasons for this is thelack of adequate reading and guiding materials forNepalese development workers. They also lackessential knowledge, attitude and skills. Equally, oneof the drawbacks is that the practice of participatoryapproaches is only confined in the ‘projects’ but notin the regular development works and at thepermanent institutions.

Realizing this limitation, a Nepalese developmentscholar Dr. Krishna Babu Joshi has brought a veryuseful book entitled “Participatory Project CycleManagement Handbook”. As the author claims,“experiences observed from different offices andprojects have inspired me to develop this handbook.”The book is a good companion of Nepalesedevelopment workers who want to use the PAtechniques in development facilitation—particularlyin the facilitation of training and other participatory

events. It primarily serves as a training manual tothe trainers in participatory planning, execution andmonitoring/ evaluation systems. The handbook hasadvocated for using participatory projectmanagement cycle in all the projects and day-to-daymanagement of offices and decision-makingprocesses. It has also urged the developmentpractitioners to use PA tools and techniques not onlyin certain ‘steps’ and ‘phases’ of the project period,but also in the entire steps and throughout the projectperiod including in all the governmental and non-governmental mechanisms. Participatory approachesand governance aspects of development have wellbeen captured in the book.

This book is divided into 3 parts. Part 1 presentsobjective of project cycle management training, tipsto the trainers, training curricula and session plans.Part 2 illustrates the resource materials needed forall sessions like, participatory project cyclemanagement, planning, implementation, monitoringand evaluation as well as various tools used forplanning and monitoring. And, finally, part 3 presentsannexes including pre/post-test form, project demandform and matching the words. This book was printedfirstly in 2006 and, with revision it has just comeout in the market targeting larger Nepalese audience.Every development worker and M&E practitionersshould have this book.

In this second edition also there are some limitationsin the book. It would have been better if the authorhad given well attention towards Nepali languageediting/ proof reading, additions of some latestparticipatory tools, emphasis on the ‘attitude andbehavior change (ABC)’ aspects of the PApractitioners. Equally, boundaries of using PA toolsin PM&E should also have well discussed in theconcerned sections. Let’s hope, in the 3rd edition,these all expectations of the readers are met.Congratulations to the author!

by CN HaritNational Development Centre (NDC), Kathmandu

[email protected]

Note: The book is also available at NEPAN ResourceCentre for sale.

112 - 15 l August 2014

New Arrivals at

NEPAN Resource Centre

● Who Counts?, Jeremy Holland; Afterwords by Robert Chambers, Practical ActionPublishing, UK

● Is Nepal Getting Ready for REDD+?, Dil R Khatri; Naya S Paudel, Forest Action

● Impact of Climate Change on Children in Nepal, Perry Thapa, Plan Nepal

● Because I am a Girl: the state of The World’s Girls (2010 & 2011), Plan International

● The Global Campaign to: End Violence in School, Plan International

● Handbook on Community-Led Total Sanitation, Kamal Kar; Robert Chambers,Plan UK

● Empowered Lives, Misha Hussain, UNDP, Bangladesh

● 6th Five Year Plan (FY 2011-2015), General Economic Division, Bangladesh

● Perspective Plan of Bangladesh 2010-21, General Economic Division, Bangladesh

● Millennium Development Goals, General Economic Division, Bangladesh

● National Sustainable Development Strategy (2010-2021), General EconomicDivision, Bangladesh

● Participatory Learning and Action – 66, Holly Ashley; Nicole Kenton; AngelaMilligan, IIED, UK

● Development in Practice (Vol-23, Issue-7, Sept 13 & Vol-24, Issue-1, Feb 14),Brian Pratt, INTRAC, UK

● Public Security and Justice in Nepal, International Alert

● Nepal: Institutional Audit of the Dept of Women Development and its WomenDev Offices, ADB

● LGCDP-Program Document, LGCDP, Ministry of Federal Affairs & LegalDevelopment.

● Monitoring and Evaluation Training , NPC/SMES/JICA

● Asian Cities Climate Resilience, Donald Brown & David Dodman, IIED, UK

113

● Social Protection and Older People in Nepal, HAI Nepal

● Juvenile Justice Terms: A Glossary, MoWGSW/CCWB, Ktm

● Remarking the Nepalese State, Sanjaya Serchan, Sefavan Pi, Ktm

● Population Projections for Nepal, 2001-21, NPC/CBS, Ktm, MoPE, Ktm

● How does social protection contribution to social inclusion in Nepal ?, NEPAN/ODI

● Gender and Social Protection in the Developing World, Rebecca Holmes &NicolaJones, Zed Books, London & New York

● Into the Unknown: Exploration in development practice, Robert Chambers,Practical Action Publishing, UK

● The Participation Reader, Andrea Cornwall, Zed Books, UK

● Plan- a different story, Plan Nepal, Lalitpur

● NARC Research Highlight, NARC, Kathmandu

● Land, Agriculture and Agraian Transformation, Kailash N Pyukuryal, PhD; BishnuRaj Upreti, PhD, COLARP

● Food Security in Post Conflict Nepal, Bishnu Raj Upreti; Sagar Raj Sharma; SumanBabu Paudel, NCCR/KU, Nepal

● Nepal 2030: a vision for peaceful and prosperous nation, Sagar Raj Sharma; BishnuRaj Upreti; Kailash Pyakuryal, NCCR/KU, Nepal

● Contested Development in Nepal: experiences and reflections, Sagar Raj Sharma;Bishnu Raj Upreti; Prabin Manandhar; Mahendra Sapkota, NCCR/KU, Nepal

● The Remarks of State, Bishnu Raj Upreti; Sagar Raj Sharma; Kailash Nath Pyakuryal;Safal Ghimire, NCCR/KU, Nepal

● Human Security in Nepal: concepts, issues and challenges, Bishnu Raj Upreti;Rajan Bhattarai; Geja Sharma Wagle, NIPS/NCCR, Kathmandu

● NEPAL from war to peace, Bishnu Raj Upreti, Adroit Publishers, New Delhi

● Tourism in Pokhara, Bishnu Raj Upreti; Pranil Kumar Upadhayaya; TikaramSapkota, NCCR, Kathmandu

● Guide for Beneficiary Results Assessment of Agricultural EmergencyInterventions, EU/FAO, Nepal

REQUEST

You are cordially requrested to send your valuable publications to enrich NEPANResource Centre. We will acknowledge your contribution.

- NEPAN Secretariat

114 - 15 l August 2014

PEER REVIEW POLICY

All types of articles as well as reviewsare peer-reviewed in thePA RTICIPATION JOURNAL. Also,all forms of published corrections mayalso be peer-reviewed in principal at thediscretion of the editors.

Reviewing with access code

We ask reviewers to submit theircomments via our secure online systemby using the instantly generated "accesscode". The reviewers may use this codeonly for reviewing. They may submit theircomments for the author and confidentialremarks directed to the editor. Once thereview comment has been sent to theeditor, the access code is no longer valid.If the reviewers would like to refer to theirreviewed contents on manuscripts, theycan confer with the editorial office.

Criteria for publicationWe are currently receiving moresubmissions than we can publish.Therefore, we ask reviewers and editorsto be more critical to the givenmanuscript. To avoid accumulation ofmanuscripts to-be-published and thesubsequent delay of publication ofvaluable findings, the number of theincorporated articles has been graduallyincreased, with the acceptance ratedecreasing during the last three years. Tobe published in SE, a manuscript shouldmeet our general criteria:

it must provide strong evidence for itsconclusions.

it must be of novelty and significance tothe related fields.

The review process

All submitted manuscripts are read by theeditorial staff. To save time for authorsand peer reviewers, only those papersdeemed by most of our editors and thatlack our criteria in terms of scientificmerit as well as overall styles are rejectedpromptly without review. These decisionsare also based on informal advice fromspecialists in the field. Manuscriptsjudged to be of potential interest to ouraudience are sent for formal review,typically to two reviewers.

The editors then make the first decisionbased on the reviewers’ comments asfollows: accept with or without editorialrevisions; request the authors to revise theirmanuscript to address specific concernsbefore final decision is made; reject.

Evaluation categoryIn addition to the review comment, weprovide evaluation categories so that thereviewers can answer the specificquestions on the manuscript, which ishelpful to the editorial staff for furtherprocessing. The evaluation categoryincludes:

· scientific quality: high, good, acceptable,poor;

· significance of research: high, good,acceptable, poor;

· priority: high, acceptable, low;· style: clear and concise, acceptable, low;· length: appropriate, acceptable, too long,

too short;· language (English writing): appropriate,

acceptable, poor (proofreading required).

115

EDITORIAL POLICY

The PA RTICIPATION is an internationalEnglish journal published annually. Themanuscripts submitted for publication mustbe previously unpublished research workswritten in English language, which are notbeing considered for publication elsewhere.All the papers will be critically read by atleast two reviewers who are selected fortheir competence in the subject matter ofthe paper.

Acceptance of the paper will depend uponits scientific merit and suitability for thejournal. A paper may be accepted in itsoriginal form or accepted subject torevision. The reviewers' (and editor's)suggestions will be conveyed to the authorwithout identifying the reviewers and the

author will have an opportunity for revisionas well. If a manuscript returned to anauthor for revision is held longer than twomonths, or if revision is sufficientlyextensive, the date of the receipt of therevised manuscript will be substituted forthe initial date of receipt.

Galley proofs for an accepted article willbe sent to the corresponding author forcorrection. These should be returned to theeditorial office within the requested time.The content of an article cannot be changedduring galley proof reading.

Thank you,

Editorial Board

PARTICIPATION Annual Journal,NEPAN

The PA RTICIPATION Journal is a multidisciplinary peer-reviewed journal publishedannually by NEPAN. It is dedicated to increasing the depth of research across all areasof social science especially on social protection, inclusion and participatory methodsand processes.

Call for Papers

PA RTICIPATION welcomes the submission of manuscripts that meet the generalcriteria of significance and scientific excellence in this subject area, and will publish:

· original articles in basic and applied research

· case studies

· critical reviews, surveys, opinions, commentaries and essays

We invite you to submit your manuscript(s) via email at [email protected] forpublication. Our objective is to inform authors of the decision on their manuscript(s)within four weeks of submission. Following acceptance, a paper will normally bepublished in the next issue. Instruction for authors and other details are available onour website at www.nepan.org.np

116 - 15 l August 2014

Dear Editor,Being a regular reader of NEPAN’s annual English Peer Review JournalParticipation makes me gladwhen I got a chance to read Participation,Year-14, No- 14. All the articles are very informative and of greatimportance for all sort of readers especially development practitioners,workers and researchers.I found all articles very interesting, informative and contextual as well.Among all,three articles written with different context grasp my attentioneven more. First article “The Flown Bird: Experiences of Returned MigrantWomen in Nepalese Hills and Plains” written by BinodChapagain depictsthe ground reality of how women are compelled to seek foreign employmentto escape gender based violence and fulfill the economic needs of familyespecially for the better future and upbringing of their children. However, the findings of such women’sinvolvement in group, food and finance management and family relation choices shows a positive changingscenario of decision making in the family and empowerment of returned women.Second article “A Local Method of Development Practice: A Reflection of Dhukuti in Mustang”written byLalBahadur Pun reflects how Dhukuti as a cultural practice of Bhotia, Thakali and Gurungs communities inMustang to serve the poorest person or family and to develop self-help practice in the group hasnowadaysgradually become a method of handsome money collection that can be used to start business andaddress immediate needs of people and has been followed by every sort of people and it has also empoweredwomen to enhance their economic status.Likewise,Shreeram KC in his article “Social Media for Change: Promoting Citizen’s Participation andEmpowerment”has talked about the use and importance of social media to ignite the issues for social change.Indeed, in today’s context social media has gain popularity and became a good source to disseminate ideas,raise issues that have power to influence policy and law as well.Overall, all the articles are very interesting and of equal importance to gain knowledge in various sector. Ihope to see even more issues based research articles in future as well.At last I would like to extend my best wishes to NEPAN and editorial team for the progressive progress ofParticipation.

RupaBasnetChautara- 9, Sindhupalchok

[email protected]

Letter to the Editor

Type of Member Reg fee Annual Life

Become a NEPAN Member

Membership Fee (Rupees):

Individual 300/- 1,000/- 3000/-

Institutional

i. CBOs 600/- 4,000/-

ii. Local NGOs 1,000/- 4,000/-

iii. National NGOs 3,000/- 12,000/-

iv. International NGOs 5,000/- 20,000/-

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Discourse of Inlcusive Education from Dalit Perspectives in Nepal

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Transcript of Discourse of Inlcusive Education from Dalit Perspectives in Nepal