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Sundari, 11, has an intellectual disability that causes memory and learning difficulties. With the support of Handicap International in Nepal, she’s enrolled in a class adapted to her needs. A fifth grader, Sundari lives in a dormitory at the school, which is more than 60 miles away from her home. Her favorite subject is science. She recently made a presentation to her classmates in which she drew an animal cell on the whiteboard and talked about its different parts. “I want to become a doctor one day to save people’s lives and help the elderly,” Sundari explains. Sundari spends most of her time with her best friend, Bipana. Together, they play Ludo, a strategy board game that is Sundari’s favorite. “Sundari is very open and friendly,” Bipana says. “She sometimes gets angry, but I can calm her down really quickly.” The resource class in Sundari’s school caters to 30 students with disabilities. Children learn the Nepali and English alphabets, numbers, words, body parts, as well as hygiene and self-care. When they’re ready, students join their classmates for inclusive lessons. “Sundari was enrolled in the resource class – a class where children with intellectual disabilities study together—when she was 5 years old,” explains her teacher, Bhupendra Bhandari. “She was enrolled during her early childhood development years and has since progressed to mainstream classes. She is now second in her class.” Children in resource classes range in age from 7 to 17, with some even in their 20s. Like Sundari, some transition to mainstream classes after a few years in a resource class. Over the past four years, the school’s resource class has been supported by Handicap International and its local partner Human Rights, Social Awareness and Development Center. Resource classes welcome children with a range of disabilities, including sensory and intellectual disabilities. Only 380 of Nepal’s more than 30,000 schools have resource classes, and Handicap International supports 50 of them. Teams provide educational materials adapted to the needs of children with disabilities, including braille books or sign language learning mobile applications. Other support materials include foam letters, word cards, toy balls, storybooks in local languages and stationery. Educators are also trained to adapt their teaching methods to the needs of children with disabilities. Last school year, HI also provided hygiene kits and school bags to 500 students with disabilities in 46 resource classes across 10 districts to help them continue to learn during the Covid-19 pandemic. HI and its local partners continue to fight for access to education for children with disabilities. Prabin, 5, lives in Jhapa, the southeastern district of Nepal with his parents. He was born without the lower part of his right leg. “Because of the disability of our child we were worried about his future,” says Sunita, Prabin’s mother. A community mobilizer from Community Based Rehabilitation-Biratnagar (CBRB), a local partner organization of Handicap International, met Prabin and referred the family to seek services at the rehabilitation center. At first, Prabin was hesitant to be fitted with an artificial limb. Specialists worked with the boy and his parents to better understand how the device would work, and how it would help him. A month later, the parents were eager to have a new leg. “This was a wonderful change for our little boy, as he quickly accepted the prosthesis and began playing, running, and even jumping like any other child of his age,” Sunita explains. Prabin attends school and loves to play with his toys. Ambika Sharma, a specialist in artificial limbs and orthopedic braces at CBRB, worked with the little boy and his family from the beginning. “Initially, it was challenging to fit Prabin with an artificial limb because he was not accepting,” Sharma says. “But his parents made it possible with their supervision and guidance. It was an amazing experience for us to see him happy with his prosthesis." As Prabin gets older, he will need to be fitted with new devices. “Growth is an important aspect of a child's life,” Sharma continues. “As their bodies change, prostheses have to be adapted or changed in the appropriate manner to accommodate them. Just as they outgrow shirts, pants, and shoes, they will outgrow their prostheses.” Jamuna, 26, from Rasuwa, a central hilly district of Nepal, who is deaf by birth and uses sign language to communicate, started a business venture with her strong will power and with the support of Handicap International. Jamuna left her studies a few years back and could not continue her studies after ninth grade due to a barrier in accessing class in sign language. This is something she regrets till date. Her father had a small piece of land, which was not very productive and barely met the needs of their family. There was not enough left for them to save anything for the future. Jamuna knew about her family’s economic condition and felt a strong sense of responsibility towards that. All her efforts to help her family were in vain as her disability restricted her communication and she could not look for a job opportunity in her community. Her knowledge of sign language empowered her to communicate with others who could understand her or to write notes with others. Thanks to the support from the project, she could build a new cottage and restore her tailoring business, which was badly damaged by the 2015 earthquake. In her community, she is well known for sewing stylish designs for girls and women. "My newly built tailor home gave me plenty of space to work on and enough light made my work so much easier," says Jamuna. She feels more dignified and honored in her family as well as in her community. A few years ago, when she was 20, she learned tailoring and dreamed of becoming a renowned tailor. “My dream turned into reality,” said Jamuna. HI has been present in Nepal since 2000 and works to improve the quality of life and participation of the most vulnerable populations, including people with disabilities. Thanks to the support of HI donors like the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), these efforts are possible.

One of the prominent prerequisites to promote gender equality and empowerment is access to inclusive and quality education for girls and women.  Educating girls and women provide them with life-changing opportunities whether it is social, economic, or political. Ultimately, enabling them to demonstrate their meaningful presence in decision-making, generate income to support themselves and their families, and take leadership roles in the home, community, and country. Madhesh Pradesh is one of the regions with the highest rates of illiteracy and early marriages in Nepal (NDHS 2016, CBS 2011, MICS 2014). The majority of the girls are trapped in the vicious cycle of poverty, harmful gender, and socio-cultural norms, and practices creating barriers to education. As they are hardly provided with opportunities and access to education, they acquire zero bargaining power in the house. They have null or low literacy and numeracy skills and lack information about their rights, equality, and life skills. Therefore, an educational institution free of harmful gender/social norms is required to empower girls and boys. It will contribute to reducing the school-related gender-based violence (SRGBV) and harmful practices, including child/early marriage. Girls’ education improves economies and reduces inequality. It provides opportunities for all individuals to fulfill their potential including girls, women, boys, men and everyone. Girls who receive an education are less likely to marry at a young age and more likely to lead healthy, productive lives. They earn higher incomes, participate in the decisions that most affect them, and build better futures for themselves and their families. Therefore, investing in girls’ education transforms communities, schools, municipalities and the nation as a whole. With the aim to promote inclusive education including specific needs of women and girls, life skill, livelihood, reducing harmful social norms and adverse impacts of climate change and disaster, a network of volunteers called Girls and Inclusive Education Network (GIEN) is formed. GIEN is formed under the technical leadership of Girls Education Challenge (GEC) program funded by FCDO, and implemented by People in Need (PIN) Nepal, VSO and Street Child, in consultation with Center for Education and Human Resource Development (CEHRD). The GIEN is formed and operationalized at community, municipality, province and federal levels. The network consists of adolescent girls, youth and adult representatives from a range of stakeholders at the school, municipality, provincial, and federal levels. The major aim of GIEN network is to work together with the government and communities to promote girls’ education and inclusive learning, girls' right to protection and safeguarding, reducing gender-based violence to in and out of school girls, life skills and livelihood through creation of enabling environments at family, communities, and schools. GIEN provides marginalized girls with localized support through a peer mentoring model. Since the volunteers often share the same background and have lived experiences, they can offer both support and motivation to the marginalized girls. It is envisioned to be developed as a women-led network so has the unique potential to become a catalyst within the education landscape by activating school-based Girls and Inclusive Education Networks (GIEN) in schools and different layers of government. The network is designed to align closely with Government of Nepal’s (GoN) policies and priorities outlined in the 10 years School Education Sector Plan (2021-2030), especially regarding the creation of gender networks ensuring Government of Nepal’s ownership in sustaining these endeavors. It aims to align non-governmental organizations’ efforts with the government initiatives to reduce girls’ educational barriers and continue their inclusive learning in a sustained way. This network at school/community level will strengthen the complaint response mechanism that will support the school governance, reducing SRGBV, and resulting in establishing a safe, inclusive, and enabling environment at schools for girls' transition to and retention in secondary education. GIEN not only encompasses the girls' access to schools, but it will also ensure to remove gender stereotypes in the learning materials, girls feeling safe in the schools, getting adequate support in the coursework, and making career-plans they choose to pursue.  The network at local level will advocate on promotion of girls’ education and inclusive education, lobby at local level to prioritize voices of marginalized girls and women in policy formation and reflect in government activities with allocation of resources.  People in Need (PIN) Nepal have taken the initiation to form Girls and Inclusive Education Network (GIEN) in working schools and local levels of Bara and Rautahat districts of Madhesh Province under the UK Aid funded Aarambha-Leave No Girl Behind (LNGB) project. The project aims to improve the life chances of out-of-school, adolescent girls aged between 10-19 years, through literacy, numeracy, life skills, and community mobilization for social transformation. During the project period, PIN with other GEC partners and its implementing local partners, has been facilitating the process to establish and strengthen the GIEN at schools, local levels and other government structures. The provincial level GIEN has been formed in Madhesh Pradesh, with leadership of Provincial Government and CEHRD, in which PIN is represented as invitee technical member. Moreover, in the provincial level, by the initiative from CEHRD, the name has been finalized to Girls and Inclusive Education Network (GIEN) as of which the project is replicating similar schools/community and local level.  The Gender focal person of Shree Devi Secondary School, Pinki Kumari Patel shares, “Our school had developed a 10 months action plan which includes support on school enrolment campaign, enroll out-of-school girls into formal education, strengthen complaint response mechanism to create safe and enabling environment at schools. Now, girls reach out to me if they have any problems. Recently some girls came to me for a sanitary pad, they are the same girls who used to go home and be absent in schools during their menstruation period.” As of today, People in Need has formed 24 GIEN at school and community levels in Bara and Rautahat districts. The members of the GIEN were oriented on girl's education, Complaint Response Mechanism (CRM) at School and capacitated for effective mobilization. In the leadership of GIEN, gender transformative workshops were completed in 24 schools covering 4200 adolescent girls and boys.  The Education Officer of Baragadhi Rural Municipality (Member Secretary of GIEN) Jalmati Chaudhary shares that the complaint boxes in schools must be placed where students can easily access it without any fear of being judged or seen, mostly avoiding the area near the teachers' room or the principal’s office. She further adds, "But we observed that no one focuses on such things, and are still unaware about the proper use of complaint boxes, documentation of cases and its prioritization. Therefore, to strengthen the complaint response mechanism in schools and Palikas, GIEN has a significant role and Palika should integrate it in its planning.” Federal network has been established and a provincial network has also been established in Madhesh, Lumbini, Gandaki and Sudur Paschim provinces. GIEN supporting agencies are also actively engaged in 129 municipalities. PIN is planning to scale up GIEN initiatives to other districts and provinces of Nepal, with formation, operationalization and capacity strengthening of network volunteers.

Manju Dahit from Rajapur Bardiya-8 joined as an apprentice at SH Steel Udhyog where women were only hired for light jobs like sewing. Manju did Dual VET-Apprenticeship through ENSSURE project, a bilateral initiative between the Governments of Nepal and Switzerland. She is among the seven women who completed Dual VET-Apprenticeship in Mechanical Engineering from Bheri Technical School, Nepalgunj. She was one of the first to do mechanical jobs (working with mechanical equipment, welding etc.), earlier deemed as a job for the men in the factory. She used to feel awkward and scared initially but gelled with other colleagues soon after. The in-company trainer also helped them learn and feel comfortable with such work. She started with an easy paint job and slowly graduated to do more strenuous work like welding and drilling. She is now supervising the bending machine unit, leading colleagues including male workers.  She has recently completed her skill test, wherein after, she was offered a job in the same company.  When she joined as an apprentice, she got Rs 6,000 per month, which gradually increased to Rs 8,000 and Rs 15,000. Now that she has been hired as staff, she gets a basic salary of Rs 16,100 plus benefits including food. Her earnings have helped her family financially, to cover debts and regular household payments. She is also saving NPR 5,000/- monthly. She aspires to start her own factory in her community in the future. Manju is among 1,597 apprentices enrolled in ENSSURE project’s Dual VET-Apprenticeship since 2018/19. The project has successfully run three batches of Dual VET-Apprenticeship programs. The courses offered in this program are Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Automobile Engineering, Information Technology, Hotel Management, Building Construction, and Early Childhood Development (ECD) Facilitation. The course is 24-months long wherein learning takes place in two places - training institutions and workplace. The first three and half months of learning takes place in the simulated environment at the world of education/training institute, which is Off-the -Job Training. The next 19.5 months of learning takes place in the Business/Industries, or the real working environment at the world of work, which is On-the-Job Training.  ENSSURE also implements another Dual VET learning—1696 hours’ Training with OJT in Professional Vehicle Body Repair Technician, Professional Motorcycle Mechanic, Professional Light Vehicle Mechanic, Professional Computer hardware and network technician, Professional Plumber,  Professional Mason, Professional Carpenter, Professional Aluminum Fabricator, Professional Building Electrician, Professional LCD, LED Television Repair Technician, Professional Telecom Technician, Professional Cook, and Professional Welder. The learning in this course is also divided in two places—the world of education and the world of work with the majority of learning happening in training institutions and around three months in the business/industries. Till now, 6,463 youths have enrolled in the Training with OJT program through ENSSURE project. Gita Ale, 28, of Dhaddaghari, Bharatpur-16, always wanted to study hotel management. Her dream to study hotel management courses remained unfulfilled due to financial constraint. She got the opportunity to change this when she got entrance in ENSSURE’s level II Training with OJT in Professional Cook course. She now owns a restaurant, and the two are looking forward to expanding the business to make it a hotel.  Living with her husband’s joint family of 11 people including her 4-year-old son, Gita was looking after her family at home. She had been educated till high school but did not have specific training for hotel management. With the intention to give wings to her dream, she went to the ward office one day and left her phone number asking to be informed if there was any training on hotel management. Soon, she was informed about ENSSURE’s training. Besides learning the basics of professional cooking, she also got the opportunity to participate in the Entrepreneurship Development Class. Gita completed her on-the-job training at Himashikhar Restaurant, Putalibazar, Narayangarh for about 5 months. After which she started her own restaurant, Banbatika Cottage, next to her house with an investment of around Rs 400,000. It has been almost two years since she started the business, and it has been running well. She earns about Rs 35,000 a month and is saving Rs 10,000 monthly. She has taken a loan of Rs 200,000 to start the business, which she is paying off with the savings.  ENSSURE also runs 96-hours Workers’ Further Training program for the skill upgradation of the existing workers and returnee migrants. The program, like the two Dual VET programs, are run in close collaboration with the business/industries and associations. Currently, skill upgradation is offered in 33 course contents as per the need expressed by the business/industries. 7,860 workers have already benefited from this program. Shyam Chaudhary, who runs S Electric in Butwal has seen a rise in his income and work opportunities after he completed workers’ further training course in AC fitting. He has received several jobs to do AC fitting at client’s residences and offices. He is thinking of involving his younger brother also in this business now. Since the traditional educational system in the country is more institute based, ENSSURE also conducts career guidance sessions in the community schools for grade 9 and 10 students, so they are aware of the opportunities of Dual VET system also. A career guidance system was developed with support from India’s Promise foundation for this purpose and survey among over 1000 students in Nepal. Currently, the project provides six 110 mins sessions to grade 9 students and one follow-up session to grade 10 students. The students are informed about different aspects of career and future opportunities. At the end of the session, the students make an informed choice of a career to pursue based on their interest and aptitude. The project has trained 593 career guidance teachers from over 250 schools, who have provided career guidance to over 30,000 students.  Anjali Gautam is one of the few girls who are opting to pursue technical studies in a small community in Madi, Chitwan. She was thinking of following the norm of letting the marks obtained in her high Secondary Education Examination (SEE) guide her in her further studies regardless of what was best suited for her. She would study science if she got high scores, or management if she got less marks. Her school, Janakalyan Madhyamik Bidhyalaya, organized a 6-days career guidance session when she was in 9th grade. During this session, she learnt that it would be better if she considers her interests and skills before making a decision. This guided her to choose between the options of pursuing a career in Architecture, Civil Engineering, IT or science. Since these were options that were not considered as career options for girls, she had not given them a thought. Now, she made up her mind to take up Civil Engineering. After her SEE, she applied and got admission in Diwakar Smriti Prabidhik Shikshyalaya, a CTEVT constituent school in her hometown Madi itself. The bilateral project between the governments of Nepal and Switzerland-ENSSURE project aims to contribute to assisting Nepali workers, particularly from disadvantaged groups, to benefit from continuous employment and an improved standard of living. The project also aims that the Nepali businesses and industries will benefit from skilled human resources, and the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) system will benefit from increased inclusion and expansion of its services. The first phase of the project is implemented from January 2016 to July 2023. Council for Technical Education and Vocational Training (CTEVT) is implementing this with technical assistance from Helvetas Nepal. The second phase of the project is being implemented from September 2021 to July 2025. It is being implemented by CTEVT at the federal level, Ministry of Social Development in the province level (Province-1, Bagmati Province and Lumbini Province) and 33 municipalities within these provinces at the local level, with technical assistance from Helvetas Nepal.

113 landless farmers of Gadhawa Rural Municipality-5 Parshiya of Dang district have been fighting for their tenure security for generations. They are still deprived of getting government’s facilities including access to better education, adequate housing for dignified life and upliftment of their lives by improving sustainable livelihood in the absence of land registration in their own name. In the past, they used to work as wage laborers in different areas for survival although nearly 474 hectare of land remained unused at the bank of Rapti River. Chintamani Chaudhari of Parshiya said; "when I was child this land was captured by an elite landlord. We used to work as agricultural laborers for him. It was not sure whether this land was registered in his name or not. "  In 2017 Community Self Reliance Centre conducted a context mapping of ward 5 of Gadhawa Rural Municpality including Parshiya community together with community members to find out availability of land resources, possibility of their utilization for the upliftment of the livelihood of landless and former Kamaiyas. The final report of context mapping showed that 474 hectare of land identified which remained unused since 2000.  Then, the members of Village Land Rights Forum (VLRF) also discussed the possibility of utilization of fallow land by landless people in their regular meeting. Finally, all members of VLRF reached the conclusion that they should use the land to improve and strengthen their livelihood.   Fallow land utilization was one of the major opportunities identified for developing an inclusive agricultural entrepreneurship model from bottom-up. The discussions led by Parshiya VLRF supported the identification of unregistered fallow lands, which can be utilized by landless for increasing their agricultural produce. Likewise, to get support from local government units, a series of discussions with ward chairpersons, and members was also organized. Finally, 113 HHs of Parshiya have cultivated 57.57 hectare of land and produced different crops in the fallow land. They produced vegetables, paddy, maize and ground-nuts near the bank of Rapti river which remained unused for about a decade.   Now, the unused land has become cultivable and productive to produce several crops. Meanwhile, the members of VLRF also urged the provincial government to support the utilization of fallow land and demanded necessary resources. Gaura Chaudhari, who has been cultivating fallow land in Pershiya said, “We have Rs 21,000 investment in 2.03 hectare area of land for seeds, fertilizer, labor and other necessary input for the farming. We earned about Rs 41,000 by selling our vegetables in a single season from this land. Manjari Women Small Farmers Agriculture Cooperative Ltd. also collected our produce by paying a reasonable price.  We are getting attractive prices from seasonal vegetables rather than other paddy and maize.”  The local farmers have also demanded from the government to increase the support amount to boost the production of the areas. Chintamani said, “Now our family members need not go downtown to work as wage laborers. We work in ‘our farm’ from early morning to late evening. If the government guarantees our tenure security we will be eligible to claim government's grants, loans which would support teaching our children in good schools or colleges.”  CSRC and its roles for Combating Gender Based Violence  CSRC has been campaigning for comprehensive agrarian reform and the land rights of working farmers and tillers for almost three decades. Through this time, CSRC has worked to organize and raise consciousness amongst those deprived of land rights, build public opinion in favor of progressive land reform, and conduct action-research related to land and agrarian issues. Today, it is regarded as a national resource organization by intellectuals, and policymakers who are concerned with land and agrarian rights. Through the process of raising awareness on land and agrarian rights, organizing the rights-deprived, conducting action-research, and campaigning for land reform, CSRC has presence in more than one-thirds of the nation’s districts covering hill, mountain and Terai region.  CSRC is committed to the belief that social inclusion and participatory democracy must be strengthened at the roots of a society. Hence, each of the organization’s activities and initiatives in all of its working areas begin with participatory context-mapping, and proceed with community-level organizing and the empowerment of those deprived of their rights. The discriminatory practice and tradition of land registration system has sidelined the women’s contribution over land as most of the land is registered in the name of men in every households. This discriminatory practice has severely impacted women’s well-being and enlarged the intensity of gender based violence. To combat this practice CSRC facilitated a Joint Land Ownership (JLO) campaign, which ensured registration of land in the name of men and women since 2005.  This campaign has brought some notable outcomes both in policy and implementation level. In policy, the government of Nepal (the then Ministry of Land Management) formulated a Joint Land Ownership (JLO) guideline 2017. The guideline has allowed each couple to obtain JLO by paying Rs 100 as tax. As of July 2022, CSRC’s campaign on JLO led to obtaining JLO of 10,255 families all over the country.  JLO Certificate is not a mere piece of paper showcasing land area. It’s an answer to an age old plight of how to end gender discrimination. This certificate solidifies women’s societal and economic position in home and community alike. CSRC takes JLO not as an activity of completion but a campaign towards combating GVB promoting women’s access/right to land. The campaign not only has changed perceptions of husband’s and communities but also empower women for their social and economic wellbeing.

Jane Goodall Institute in Nepal has been an entity advocating for environmental conservation  through community engagement for the past decade. Working with the local communities and  leaning more into the local practices of conservation and interaction of the communities directly  affected has been how the organization has been active. Its conservation practices are influenced  heavily by the understanding that each type of ecosystem needs its own kind of conservation  efforts and that the communities in and around have practiced methods of conservation that  suit the local environment the best since the conception of civilization.  The institute got its entry to Nepal via another community engagement program, Roots &  Shoots, a prominent program in the global Jane Goodall Foundation. Dr Jane Goodall is a  prominent figure in the field of conservation. When Jane Goodall entered the forest of Gombe,  the world knew very little about chimpanzees, and even less about their unique genetic kinship  to humans. She took an unorthodox approach in her field research, immersing herself in their  habitat and their lives to experience their complex society as a neighbor rather than a distant  observer and coming to understand them not only as a species, but also as individuals with  emotions and long-term bonds. Dr. Jane Goodall’s discovery in 1960 that chimpanzees make  and use tools is considered one of the greatest achievements of twentieth-century scholarship.  Her field research at Gombe transformed our understanding of chimpanzees and redefined the  relationship between humans and animals in ways that continue to emanate around the world.  Living her legacy, she started the Jane Goodall Institute Nepal and since then an array of projects and activities have been encompassed within the structure. The institute here in Nepal  has been slowly working with the local communities of Bardiya, Koshi Tappu and more to  restore habitats of River Dolphins, Asiatic elephants and more. Currently the institute is working  with Women in Nature Network to organize a conference that celebrates the women working in  nature-environment conservation. This is a network of women who are active in nature  conservation, whether it be in the field working hands on, in research, or at policy level. JGIN  combines principles of animal welfare, community welfare and engagement tools and  compassionate conservation techniques to achieve its goal of conserving what is there and  restoring what was.   With main work being advocating and influence in policies that affect habitat restoration and  conservation, JGIN, has created alliances with the on-ground conservationists, organizations working in similar capacities and communities that have seen and experienced loss of their  natural environment overtime. This alliance has helped not only create a communal feeling in  conservation in the said communities but also challenged the idea of conservation in a broader  sense.  The case against mass massacre of cattle in Gadhimai, was won through the same  understanding and the program that brought the institute in the country, Roots & Shoots, also  pushes for a similar relationship with nature and natural environment in young students. The  brutality and challenge of the said case brought a lot of our misunderstandings about  environmental conservation, our relationships with the same to the forefront, and   Roots & shoots is a youth led community engagement education program. This program is  designed to foster a relationship between young persons of our communities and their  immediate environment. Working with schools and creating environment clubs, designing  activities for the same is how R & S works. As of now the program is working with students to  foster emotional connection with their immediate natural and man-made environments, develop  their sense of responsibility towards maintaining cleaner and healthier balance in the local  ecosystems and learn more through their own active participation.   One of the programs that R & S is organizing and leans heavily into conservation is a Children’s  Theater, or Children’s conservation theater. JGIN, along with PAN Nepal have recognized eight  endangered species of fauna in Nepal as keystone species and named them Anautho Aath.  This includes, leopards, brown bear, vultures, bumblebee, spiny babbler, river dolphin, asiatic  elephant and pangolin. These animals and their habitats are essential in maintaining a healthy  balance in their local and connecting ecosystems. Recognizing the need for educated  awareness of the plight these animals are in due to our own actions, Roots & Shoots has moved  forward with the theater program that brings together research on the animals, their status as an  endangered animal, the butterfly effect of human actions that leads or led to the loss of their  population and habitat, and our own selfish needs as humans to have a healthier environment in  which to live and let live.   Children’s theater is being designed in collaboration with Earthbeat collective, a theater group  that has traveled all over Nepal to spread awareness and also engage the community in their  own ways in conservation. This year we at JGIN and Roots & Shoots are creating plays on the   Anautho Aath to highlight the impact of our actions on the ecosystems the animals belong to  and also foster a deeper connection to nature among everyone who is a part of the project and  also those who witness the play as an audience.   There have been countless challenges and adversities throughout the journey and JGI Nepal has come a long way. However, through such intrinsic experiences, there have been impactful  interventions on the ground where the whole concept of community and conservation go hand in  hand. In coming days, the Jane Goodall Institute Nepal seeks to tread further to create a healthy  and livable world for humans and animals alike creating intergenerational justice. 

NRCS’s hotline 1130 is really helpful Sim Bahadur Tamang, a 67-year-old local resident of Kavre District Mandandeupur Municipality-10, who belonged to a middle-class family, used to work based on daily wages to support his family.  He was compelled to do any kind of work in the village like building construction, toilet construction, road construction, and so forth, as he had no other option for work. One day, he heard that there was a job to build disability -friendly toilets in the homes of the people with disabilities in the municipality. So, he also started working and accomplished the task on time. But even after 3-4 months of completion of the work, he did not get paid for his work. He consulted with many people but could not meet the contractor. He was very much worried. One day he heard that the Nepal Red Cross Society (NRCS) constructed the toilets, and a contract was given to a party. He also heard that there was a complaint registration mechanism at NRCS via 1130 (free hotline service).  One day, Sim Bahadur dialed 1130 and complained, “The construction of the toilets in Mandandeupur Municipality-10 was done under the coordination of the Nepal Red Cross Kavre District. As far as we know,  other workers were paid at the rate of Rs 17,000 per day.  Two laborers including me are not paid yet. The task is already completed. Why is this injustice to us?” The hotline operating team at NRCS Headquarters consulted with NRCS Kavre District Chapter. The disability-friendly toilets were constructed under the NRCS lead program named: Community Based Disaster Risk Reduction', financially supported by the Danish Red Cross. Under the program, the understanding was made to build disability-friendly toilets by providing all the required materials and wages for workers to the households having people with disability who do not have disability-friendly toilets in their homes. In total 79 toilets were constructed at a cash cost of Rs 6.5m. Among them, 12 disabled-friendly toilets were constructed in ward 10. There was an agreement between NRCS, the concerned households and the Community Disaster Risk Reduction Committee (CDRRC). NRCS provided the necessary materials for the construction and deposited the amount necessary for skilled and semi-skilled workers in CDRRC’s bank account. After the completion of toilet construction, workers’ wages had to be paid through CDRRC’s account on the basis of their attendance after the recommendation of the concerned household.  The Hotline (1130) team explained the proper ways of getting payment to Sim Bahadur. The team also communicated the issue with the NRCS Sub-Chapter and Ward Chairperson. After being informed from NRCS Hotline (1130) Sim Bahadur consulted NRCS Kavre District Chapter that facilitated his payment. After two days, Sim Bahadur made a call and said, “Thank you very much for doing such a good job by operating the hotline service. If I hadn’t called the hotline I wouldn’t have been paid. Two other laborers including myself got paid on the basis of Rs. 1,700 per day. This is a very huge amount for people like us. Many thanks to the Red Cross. The hotline service is really helpful.” Covid-19 preparedness and response operation Nepal Red Cross Society (NRCS), having the organizational structure of seven Province Chapters at Provincial level, 77 District Chapters at district level, 1554 Sub-Chapters at local level and 6538 Junior/Youth Red Cross Circles at school, colleges and University, provides humanitarian services to the most vulnerable on the basis of humanity, impartiality and neutrality. NRCS, an auxiliary to the Government in humanitarian services, is guided by the fundamental principles of the Red Cross Movement and serves the most vulnerable to alleviate suffering and save lives and livelihood. Annually it reaches more than 3m people via its different programs and projects, and services such as blood service, ambulance service, eye-care service, first aid service and community care services.  NRCS has been implementing covid Preparedness and Response Operation throughout the country from early February 2020 focusing one awareness raising, vaccination and vaccination centers, holding center management and supporting the most vulnerable on the basis of their needs. NRCS basically targets the people infected with covid and their families, frontline health responders, vulnerable groups such as elderly people, children, pregnant women, people with disability, people with chronic disease, migrant returnees/laborers/workers and people at points of entry, in holding areas, quarantine/isolation centers.  As of 18 August 2022, NRCS has reached more than 7m people directly and indirectly through Covid-19 Response focusing on the following sectors, but not limited to:  Health and care  NRCS supported 1,779,373 people with protective items such as full body personal protective equipment (PPE), coveralls, masks and gloves distributed to front line responders and 408,120 people had been supported to access vaccination service provided by the government. Similarly, 32,527 people including FCHVs, teachers, JYRC, community leaders and active loose forums representatives oriented on the importance of COVID-19 vaccination and 1,733 people reached through various psychosocial first aid service (PFA)/ psychosocial support services (PSS).  Water, sanitation and hygiene promotion  NRCS has directly reached 18,235 people including 2,558 females through hand washing demonstration sessions at point of entry and strategic locations. Furthermore,  11,507 bars of soap, 354 buckets with jugs, 16 water tanks and 3,641 sanitizers and 115 toilet cleaning materials (like toilet brush, toilet cleaner, plunger etc.) distributed in isolation centers, prisons and communities. Similarly, throughout the country, school students, teachers and covid affected family members, trained for preparing reusable sanitary pad, cloth masks including menstrual hygiene management.  Risk Communication and Community Engagement and Accountability (CEA) NRCS reached 3,177,280 people through various means of Covid-19 awareness activities for delivering right information on covid and its preventive measures. Similarly, 1,851 people were reached through role play, street drama and other community based activities there by disseminating covid awareness messages including the importance of Covid-19 vaccination. NRCS also operated a feedback collection mechanism from which 1,670 feedbacks were collected.  through various channels of feedback mechanism such as hotline 1130, Face to face and social media. From the Hotline (1130) service, 1,133 calls were received and responded. Queries responded were related to updates on the vaccination center and access for Covid-19 vaccine, booster dose vaccine including information on vaccination availability for children. Furthermore, 71 episodes of Radio programmes aired throughout the nation highlighting the status of covid, vaccine scenario and other pandemic and disasters.  By and large, protection, gender and inclusion (PGI), logistic management and restoring family links and livelihood support are also key priorities of NRCS under the Covid-19 preparedness and response operation.  NRCS provided orientations on violence prevention, referral pathway, child protection and social inclusion to the schools, community and public places. Similarly, supporting dignity kits and providing unconditional cash support to covid affected families (of single women, pregnant women and disability) and supporting the security forces and hospitals with dead body management bags are also important priorities of NRCS.  

“Though the flood happened this year, the loss wasn’t huge. We were able to save our lives, livestock, food, and seeds. We can easily regain our livelihoods.” Wouldn’t it be beautiful to hear this during monsoon-induced disasters rather than hearing of the loss of lives and livelihoods? Practical Action is committed and works with the communities with the same goal. One of the aims of Practical Action is to build resilient communities. Practical Action works with communities in southwestern Nepal and helps them live and thrive despite floods. Over two decades, together with communities and local governments, we have been able to save lives through effective disaster preparedness and a state-of-the-art flood early warning system. Coordination has been done with all tiers of governments to demonstrate the community resilience wins, and advocate to systematize these wins to help allocate more investments for climate resilient and disaster risk reduction development planning and implementation.  Communities as changemakers Practical Action starts with the communities. The communities are at the forefront of climate-induced disasters. With proper training, skill, and social organization they have taken over as changemakers through our community-based early warnings system and disaster preparedness programs. These communities come together and form Community Disaster Management Committees (CDMCs), which are voluntary, grass-root community-based organizations composed of community members, women, and youths.  These micro institutions represent their communities for disaster risk planning with the local governments and various stakeholders and are the entry point to reach communities living at disaster risks. There are additional task forces for first aid, early warning, and search and rescue that volunteer for the community focusing on the most vulnerable people. They have developed a mechanism to raise disaster management funds within the community. The CDMCs coordinate with various other stakeholders to improve community resilience.   Bangaun CDMC of Kailali is one of the CDMCs that Practical Action has helped form just like in the other 25 communities in western Nepal. This CDMC has been actively supporting its communities to prepare effectively for the monsoon. Despite the uncertain situation aggravated by covid, the CDMC has also been responsive in managing the mixed vulnerability. This CDMC has experience in dealing with extreme events. In 2010/11, the flood wreaked havoc in Bangaun. But thanks to effective community-led disaster risk reduction and management. The communities have since been much safer despite the extreme tantrums of monsoon. Practical Action initially worked to improve community flood resilience including preparedness, structural and non-structural mitigation measures, and resilient livelihoods. Later, Practical Action worked with CDMCs like the one in Bangaun Village to enhance their knowledge and actions for flood resilience through training, regular meetings, follow-ups, social mobilization, and annual mock flood simulations. Community members and municipality stakeholders have hailed the CDMC for being very proactive and resourceful in disaster risk reduction and management. Helping communities thrive despite floods Keeping people’s lives safe from floods is not enough. It is also important that floods do not impact assets and businesses so that they can recover quickly and get back to their normal lives and livelihoods with minimal damage. Practical Action also works with communities that lie alongside these river channels and tributaries and helps them build their resilience to these floods so that they can survive and thrive despite floods. We employ a unique approach to building resilience. We use Flood Resilience Measurement for Communities (FRMC) to unpack and understand the flood resilience capacities of communities. This framework is based on five capitals and 44 sources of resilience. After completion of the survey, the results are graded into four categories. The grades are shared with communities based on which the communities identify necessary interventions that could help improve their resilience. Resilience interventions could be from any of the livelihood capitals (human, social, financial, physical, natural) Amongst many interventions guided by the FRMC, Sita Tharu and Pradeshini Tharu from Murghawa chose banana farming as livelihood interventions. It is their first attempt to plant bananas, which they started after receiving training from Practical Action. They started banana farming in their joint 14 kattha land. This is a joint effort where these families got together and invested jointly in their flood-prone land; that had been turned barren after floods from Karnali.  Such efforts are made to enable the communities through training to diversify livelihoods and promote cash crops in riverbed areas. Banana farming has been doing very well. They have been able to earn more income and spend on their children’s education and family well-being. They can save and invest in community cooperatives, which will help them in hard times.  Innovation and Policies to support building the resilience of the communities  With the learnings and evidence from our community-based initiatives, we have influenced the policies of local, provincial, and federal governments. We have received requests from and supported rural/municipalities to build local disaster and climate resilience plans (LDCRP). These LDCRPs have been formed based on the federal draft guidelines of LDCRP from the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration (MoFAGA). The main objective of these LDCRPs is to mainstream climate-smart risk-informed, resilient development planning and implementation at local government levels. It will also help these municipalities to prioritize climate-smart and risk-informed programs and help receive co-funding support from other government and nongovernment programs and projects.  As per priorities identified in the LDCRP of Rajapur Municipality, the community received an additional budget of NPR 8,62,000 to build a wall around the irrigation canal in Chakkhapur from another organization. Similarly, the municipality allocated NPR 1,000,000 for the communities of Tighra to build a similar wall structure around an irrigation canal.  Practical Action has also conducted numerous research that has supported as evidence in national advocacy for climate and resilience. Practical Action conducted extensive research and proposed an assessment framework to assess and address climate-induced loss and damage in Nepal. The assessment framework was based on research with the communities that suffered from the 2014 floods. The assessment framework has been cited by many researchers. It is also cited in the National Framework for climate-induced loss and damage, proposed by the Government of Nepal in 2021. Similarly, Practical Action has also been working with the local government and various stakeholders to conceptualize and build risk-informed sustainable tomorrow cities, as a part of the ‘Tomorrow Cities’ initiative.  On top of all, Practical Action in partnership with Global Parametrics, Stonestep, and Shikhar Insurance has initiated the Index Based Flood Insurance (IBFI) in Nepal, the first product of its kind, in Nepal. The insurance will cover possible damage caused by flood hazards based on a pre-agreed flood index indicated in the IBFI product approved by the insurance board. Index-based insurance can be more effective for low-income households and communities exposed to river floods and those living in flood-prone areas. Practical Action is a global change-making group. It is a change-making organization that works in unconventional ways. It is focused on putting indigenous ideas into work to contribute to poverty reduction and sustainable well-being. Apart from programs focused on building resilience, Practical Action also implements various programs that promote farming that works and programs that ensure access to clean energy.

Nepal has had a friendly relationship with Japan for a long time. The diplomatic relations between  Japan and Nepal was established in 1956. To further strengthen the alliance between the two countries, Japan has been providing Official Development Assistance (ODA) programs in several sectors in  Nepal to support its development. It has helped foster human resources, technology transfer and  infrastructure development through various technical cooperation projects.   As part of its cooperation in the capacity building segment, Japan supports in dispatching Nepalese  students to Japan for further education courses such as masters, doctorate etc. So far, many Nepalese  students have undertaken various courses, pursued degrees in various fields, and have benefitted  immensely.   Ekai Kawaguchi, a Buddhist monk, was the first Japanese to visit Nepal. He had visited Nepal in  1899 at the age of 34 and stayed at Boudhanath temple for a few months, on his pilgrimage to Tibet.  The cultural ties between Nepal and Japan began from 1899 when people-to-people contact started. In 1902, a few years after Ekai’s visit to Nepal, the history of Nepalese students in Japan started with eight Nepalese students. Since then, Nepalese students have started going to Japan for higher study.  When we think of Japan, we think of discipline, courteous nature, and hard work, innovative and  advanced technology etc. Japan was able to grow economically and become a leading country in  manufacturing precisely because of the advanced knowledge and technology fostered by its excellent  education system. Using its state-of-the-art science, technology and medicine, Japan has introduced  many products to the world, including electric vehicles, digital cameras, optical fibers etc. The  practice of transforming innovative ideas into creative products goes far back into Japanese history.  Japanese schools focus not only on academic achievements but also on the development of human  quality. This aspect of Japanese schools is highly appreciated by international students who think the  studying experience in Japan helps them immensely after they start working. Japanese universities are well reputed and world-renowned which is why any international student  who gets an opportunity to study in Japan considers it a great achievement. Japan is also known as  a good place to live, providing a conducive living environment with safe and secure infrastructures.  Any foreigner living in Japan will tell you great things about living in the Land of the Rising Sun. Even  international students who feel anxious after leaving their home country can find some peace of  mind while staying in Japan. Japanese people are known to be hardworking and attach importance  to discipline. The attitude of caring for guests by giving them the highest priority is second nature  to Japanese people, and thus international students are always welcomed warmly. “I was able to make many friends from Japan and other countries, actively communicate, participate  in lots of extracurricular activities, and enjoy a full lifestyle.”   “I was able to engage in fulfilling research activities surrounded by fantastic professors as  exceptional guides and in an outstanding university environment!” - Excerpt from a previous  international student in Japan. Studying in Japan has been quite a popular choice among many aspiring students who want to study  abroad or overseas. The number of foreign students from Nepal is increasing year after year, with  approximately 18,500 Nepali foreign students coming to Japan in 2021 making it third globally. The  Japanese government has also been encouraging foreigners to seize opportunities in the country.  Japan is always known for its excellent quality of education. The country has appeared in the top-tier  list of the best education system in the world for the past several years. Considering how great the  education is in Japan, it will not be surprising to see them continue to be one of the world’s best when  it comes to the academics aspect. Human Resource Development Scholarship (JDS)  The Japanese Grant Aid for “The project for Human Resource Development Scholarship (JDS)” to  Nepal began in 2016. Currently, JDS offers 20 seats for 2-year Master’s degree and 2 seats for  Doctoral degree for government officials of Nepal to study in renowned universities in Japan, with  an objective to resolve development challenges in Nepal. The selected participants enhance their  expertise in respective professional areas ranging widely from judicial sectors, economic policy,  industrialization, to infrastructure, and develop a broad network at the global level. The project enables  the young leaders to catalyze the development agenda back in Nepal.   The objective of the JDS is to strengthen the government’s administrative capacities in Nepal for the  young and capable government employees who are expected to engage in formulating and  implementing social and economic development plans and thus play leadership roles to contribute to  the development of the country.   JDS has built its wide alumni network amounting to more than 80 JDS fellows across key ministries of Nepal building a strong alumni network. At present, 42 civil servants are undertaking Master’s and  PhD courses in prestigious Japanese universities. JICA always has and always will aim to contribute  to strengthening human resources in Nepal, which is indispensable for delivering better public services  to the people.   This year, 2022, is the 120th anniversary of the International Student Exchange between Nepal  and Japan. Nepal is celebrating the 120th anniversary in the year 2022 since the first Nepalese  students were dispatched to Japan and Japan marks this anniversary as one of “Japan-South Asia  Exchange Year”.  To commemorate the occasion JICA Nepal has produced a promotional video highlighting the  experience of studying in Japan focusing on the implementation strategy applicable in the workplace and  the impact it has had on the career of various Nepalese individuals.