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ChildFund Japan (CFJ) is a child-focused international development organization committed to  promote the rights of children through international development cooperation in the spirit of  harmonious coexistence since 1995 to help deprived, excluded, and vulnerable children, families, and communities through meaningful, sustainable solutions.  One of the thematic intervention sectors of CFJ Nepal Office (NO) is on education to improve  school infrastructures, governance in school management, teaching quality, and in enhancing  child protection in government/community schools. Furthermore, and through other thematic sectors, CFJ continues to serve the disadvantaged children, families and communities in education, healthcare, nutrition, and income generating areas through sponsorship, special  assistance and emergency relief and rehabilitation programs with support of various donors, sponsors, CF alliance members and government funds of Japan.  In collaboration with the government of Nepal, currently ChildFund has been implementing its  projects in Sindhupalchok, Dhading and Gorkha districts.  Similarly, one of the projects of ChildFund Japan is “Improving the Learning Environment in Gorkha District.” This three-year project is funded by the Government of Japan through Japanese NGOs. Overall goal of this project is to improve the learning environment of disadvantaged communities in Gorkha District by rebuilding schools, providing training to teachers and School Management Committee (SMC) members, raising awareness among parents, and strengthening  linkage with the local government with the support of local NGO Unification Nepal. The Project  will work with twelve schools in three different rural municipalities of Barpak Sulikot, Shahid Lakhan, and Dharche RM of Gorkha district.  Story of Chandra Kumari BK   On the way to Barpak Sulikot Rural Municipality , at Deurali Bazar there is a small school named Thalibari Basic School. The school was established in 2040 BS. Currently there are 91 students and  11 teachers in the school and among them Chandra Kumari BK is also a teacher in the same  school.   She is the eldest daughter in her family. Her father, who was supposed to support the  family, discarded the family so the burden to take care of the children was upon her mother.  Being the eldest she had to look after her six brothers and sister as well as help her mother with  the household chores. Education and going to school were out of context. But with arduous work  and dedication she completed her School Leaving Certificate and enrolled herself for further  studies. After completing her +2 in Education she found a job in an NGO which helped in  supporting her families and their education. After working for four years in the NGO she applied  for a vacancy at a local school near her village. With limited knowledge of teaching methods, she  continued to teach at the school, but she was not satisfied with her teaching methods.   Unification Nepal, an NGO in Gorkha had organized a 3-day Teacher Training with the support  from ChildFund Japan, where Chandra Kumari enrolled herself for the training. With all  dedicated and excited she participated in the training and learnt different teaching methods and  modalities.   After the training she was determined to use the skill she learnt during the training in practice  but due to limited resources she could not deliver what she had learnt to her students.   During an unofficial meeting with the teachers organized by Unification Nepal, Chandra Kumari  shared that the school lacks different educational materials and due to limited budget the school is  unable to purchase those resources.   After the meeting, Unification Nepal Gorkha with the technical assistance of ChildFund Japan  conducted a workshop on Educational Tools Development at Thalibari Basic School and  Bageshwari Basic School at Barpak Sulikot. The workshop was focused on creating a learning  environment through developing learning materials for appropriate classes.  Chandra Kumari shared that, I never thought that there might be a different method of teaching, I  always thought that we must teach what is in the course book but after this training my perception  towards teaching has changed. I never knew teaching and learning would be fun and  entertaining. I would like to thank Unification Nepal and ChildFund Japan for their support and  hope that ChildFund Japan would continue to support both teachers and students in future too.  Sponsorship Program (SP)  SP is one of the major and comprehensive programs of CFJ. SP contributes to its vision of ‘a  global society that ensures every child the opportunity to develop their full potential.’ The  program aims to promote and protect the right of every child to survival, protection,  development, and participation. The program focuses on improving the well-being of children in  need, especially the most vulnerable. Through SP, ChildFund Japan provides a holistic approach to  facilitate healthy growth of every child and self-reliant community based on a one-to-one  relationship between a child and a sponsor. The child sponsorship connects one child in need  with one compassionate sponsor who is eager to help children in need and improve the quality of an individual child. Susmita Pahari is also one of the sponsored children of CFJ.  Pahari is the permanent resident of ward 3 in Sunkoshi RM and a student at Jana Jagriti  Secondary School studying at grade nine. She has two elder sisters, two elder brothers and a younger brother. There are altogether nine members in the family. The family has no regular income sources  as both her parents work as farm hand labor, so the financial status of her family is very weak.  During her school term break, she went to visit her sister who lives in the Tarai region. In  the meantime, her classmates spread the rumor that she eloped away which influenced her  badly. Due to a bad message about herself, she did not go to school for seven months in grade eight.   Many efforts were made from school and family to bring her back to the school, but all efforts  were useless. When Tuki the partner organization received information about her absence from  school, the immediate action was taken to bring her back to school. Tuki staff coordinated with the concerned school Head teacher and frequently visited her home, consulted with her parents and Susmita herself. After the regular counseling and discussion with her, she was convinced and committed to continue school.   The school child club was also mobilized to bring her back to school and the club also played a  vital role in it. A group of child clubs was also equally involved to eliminate the rumor that was  spread about Susmita. Finally, she went back to school and is now studying in grade nine. She is  also involved in various activities at school specially to eliminate social evil and fighting for the right to education.

Sunita Harijan, 19-years-old belongs to the Madhesi middle class Dalit family Rupendehi district. She is the chairperson of the Girls Rights Forum (GRF) of Rupandehi district and member of provincial level Girls Network. Her mother Nirmala Harijan and father Bekaru Harijan are farmers by profession. Sunita is studying in grade 11 in Shree Balrampur Higher Secondary School in her community and is recognized as a hard-working and dedicated student in the school.  Discriminatory gender norms are highly prevailed in her community. As a consequences girls are facing the issues like early forced marriage, gender, deprived of education, sexual harassment, control over mobility and so on. Sunita was no exception to those harmful traditional norms and values. She had to leave school, and her parents forced her to get married when she was 14 years old. She bravely stood against her parents and refused the proposal.  It was very hard for her to convince them.  She had to go through painful experiences that she does not want to remember the past now.  During the conversation she said, “Our community does not respect women and girls and treat us as second-class citizens. On top of that, we being a Dalit community, have to face untouchability from so-called higher caste people.  Dalit women and girls are in the three tires of discrimination; Caste Based Discrimination (CBD), Gender Based Discrimination (GBD) poverty, making them very difficult to live a dignified life.  Further, her community promotes the dowry system rather than girls’ education.  Sunita has got the opportunities for her capacity development from different types of training, interactions, and workshops conducted by GRF with the support of WOREC. With the confidence to fight against social harmful practices gained from the programs, she has started advocating for girls’ and women’s rights in her patriarchal society. Further, she is also mentoring the girl’s group and taking part in Intergenerational Feminist Dialogue with the objectives to develop alliance against girl’s issues and transferring the feminist knowledge to new generation. These activities have enhanced her skills for advocacy, analyzing the existing social structure and transformative leadership. Through GRF, now she is leading 1,500 girls and advocating for their rights. They are conducting many awareness-raising programs in their community, such as parenting education, interaction with community people about violence against women and girls, child marriage, and girls’ rights.   Furthermore, she has supported 20 girls to get citizenship and motivated 12 adolescent girls in her community to continue school. Many child marriages were stopped in her leadership. Nowadays, some parents in the community reflect Sunita as an example in front of their children to make them focus on education and social work. She is a role model in her community and district. She is awarded with the “International Environment Warrior Awards” from the Brainstorming on Nature and Global Warming Camp 2021. Sunita, a symbol of Girl’s Human Rights Defender commits for her further engagement and leadership to ensure the rights of women, girls and marginalized communities.   ***  I am Akshita Shukla, 21-year-old residing in Kapilvastu of Suddhodhan Rural Municipality.  My father’s name is Vashishta Shukla and my mother’s name is Sangita Shukla. My father is engaged in agriculture while my mother is involved in household work. I am currently studying in the third year of B.Ed. and have adjacently been leading various campaigns as the chairperson of the district-level Girls Rights Forum Kapilvastu.  In my community, there is a harmful concept that daughters shouldn’t be educated.  It is believed that the more a daughter studies, the more dowry, and gifts need to be provided in her marriage- either way giving dowry is mandatory so instead of investing in daughter’s education, the families prepare for dowry. These problems are prevalent and normalized. Many of the females can’t raise their voices against it because of the intended backlashes linked with honor.  I along with other adolescent girls got the opportunity to join a group around our community where we initially discussed our dreams and life skills. Gradually, we started discussing problems prevailing in society and their root cause among ourselves which further turned into having discussions and searching for solutions with related stakeholders and family members. Once we started having such discussions, we received support from parents as well as local stakeholders which boosted our self-confidence and our voices amplified.  But at the same time, it made us also realize about girls like us who didn’t have opportunities like us and were living in violence every day. That realization led to the formation of the District Level Girls Right Forum as an organization.  I was running various campaigns as vice president of the forum. In the initial phase of working inside a forum, I received a lot of pressure from my home to get married but I continued to discuss with my family about my work and my dream.  Currently I am working as a chairperson in GRF. We are now working as a voice for many adolescents by forming the Girls Rights Forum in 10 municipalities of Kapilvastu. At present, WOREC has been mentoring us regularly and supporting technically for the empowerment of girls. As a result, we have also made our five-year strategic plan and are working accordingly. We have been conducting various campaigns in coordination and partnership with WOREC, local government and other related organizations. Challenges aside, in coordination with adolescent groups formed by various organizations inside this district, we are making harmful social practices a common issue for all. Many people say that I walk out freely and have been spoiling other girls. But my family is very proud of me; they say, “my daughter is about to become a leader”. There are also many people who support and inspire me which has boosted my self-confidence throughout. My dream is to become a social engineer in my community to guide adolescents, increase their access to a national level and work relentlessly to eradicate harmful social practices.

‘Mangalam Dairy and Foods’ is a private dairy processor in Hariyon, Sarlahi. Commercial Agriculture for Smallholders and Agribusiness (CASA) Programme partnered with Mangalam to establish a modern dairy plant with the vision of bringing more milk from the informal sector to the formal sector and thus also providing local farmers a secured market to sell their milk. Sarlahi District is an up-and-coming milk production area but is lacking in terms of presence of modern dairy facilities. Mangalam seeks to capitalize on this opportunity by establishing a new dairy company and developing this untapped market.  The first phase of the project ended in July 2021 with Mangalam securing an agriculture loan from a leading commercial bank. Most of the loan has been utilized to construct the dairy plant and to purchase necessary equipment and materials for factory operations. During this phase, CASA supported Mangalam to make them investment-ready by developing concrete business and investment plans, investor matchmaking and technical assistance to develop the structural blueprints of the dairy plant, production floor design and installation of equipment.  After the successful inauguration of Mangalam Dairy in Feb 2022, the project has entered its second phase. CASA continues to support Mangalam on strengthening its supply chain by developing linkages with milk collection centers, aggregating smallholder farmers, improving production quality, and creating market presence for the dairy. Similarly, CASA has also provided Mangalam with dairy technologists to help them meet dairy food quality requirements and develop capacity of other staff workers to produce quality dairy products. One example from the field is 35-year-old Sher Bahadur Shahi (Suraj), a commercial farmer from Satyawati Rural Municipality in Gulmi District. He previously farmed on a small scale but started commercial-scale farming when Paicho Pasal Pvt. Ltd established a new collection center in Satyawati. Paicho Pasal is a private agribusiness that collects, sells and processes fresh vegetables and other agriculture produce from remote areas regardless of its volume and sells it to the urban markets while processing the unsold produce. Although Paicho has set up a collection center in the village near his farm, where local villagers can aggregate their produce, Suraj would have the option of having his produce collected from his farm by Paicho, due to the scale of his production. CASA has supported Paicho in conducting a mapping study to establish various collection centers in the new location so that farmers like Suraj can have proximity to bring their produce. “Because of Paicho’s assurance, I was confident enough to commercialize my farming”, he said. Suraj explained how difficult it was to sell vegetables on a local scale as he would barely earn enough. Now, he is encouraged to farm on a larger scale as Paicho would buy any volume of his produce. There are at least fifteen other farmers in his village who, like him, have started commercial vegetable farming on nearby farms.  With CASA’s support, Paicho mobilizes several agriculture technicians who support individuals like Suraj to set up their vegetable farms and provide technical assistance as required. The technicians visit the farm weekly and provide suggestions on vegetable farming techniques and on establishing a nursery for seedlings, building polytunnels, setting up trellises, weeding, pest control etc. “The support provided by the technicians has been a big help to me”, says Suraj.  Swisscontact is a leading partner organization for the implementation of international development projects. The organization promotes inclusive economic, social, and ecological development to make an effective contribution towards sustainable and widespread prosperity in developing and emerging economies. In Nepal, Swisscontact is registered as an International Non-Governmental Organization that currently has five development programs, including Commercial Agriculture for Smallholders and Agribusiness (CASA) Program. CASA with a vision to increase investment in Agri-SMEs which trade with smallholders, has been helping many agribusinesses like Mangalam and ‘Paicho Pasal’ to access finance and investment to expand their business and to bring more, poorer smallholders into agribusiness supply chains. CASA is being implemented in Nepal by Swisscontact and works in two value chains—dairy and vegetables.  CASA’s primary work is to support a shift in agriculture, away from subsistence farming towards a more productive, commercially vibrant agriculture sector by supporting agribusinesses to bring smallholders into commercial markets, connecting smallholders with increased demand from local, regional and export markets.  To achieve this vision, CASA works under three intervention areas: 

• SME interventions aimed at improving SME investment-readiness, deal pipeline and SME access to finance and investments for growth and expansion. 
• Producer Organization interventions aimed at improving productivity, climate resilience, aggregation, and sourcing to link more, poorer farmers to commercial markets.
• Enabling Environment interventions aimed at improving the Business Environment for vegetables and dairy value chains. 

“Action with punishment does not solve the problem every time, we live together and deal with different issues with people in the community. So, we need to plan kindly, sympathetically and diplomatically to sensitize the local people on risk of child labour.” the statement was shared by the former chairperson of Manahari Rural Municipality, Makawanpur Ek Raj Upreti.   The Rural Municipality is now keeping concerns and serious on the emerging issues of child labor and has initiated to move ahead for the process to minimize and mitigate the issues. Child Labour Reduction Project (CLARP) in partnership between Shaplaneer and CWIN-Nepal is a three-year project (May 2021-April 2024) implementing with the objective to reduce Child Labour in and from Makawanpur District (one of the source/district areas of child labour in Nepal). The key purpose of the project is “Child Protection Mechanisms are strengthened in line with National Child Protection Policy and action plan to eliminate Child labour in Manahari Rural Municipality”. Total Beneficiaries children are nearly 550 most vulnerable children (350 for emergency supports and 200 direct supports to vulnerable children at high risk of child labour) from the project areas for three years project period. To fulfill the purpose; Government of Japan provided financial assistance of $428,234 equivalent to approximately 51.10m Nepali rupees, to the Shapla Neer Citizens’ Committee in Japan for Overseas Support, an international NGO based in Japan.  There are three types of child laborer in Manahari Rural Municipality:

1. Children of Manahari Rural Municipality working in the same Municipality
2. Children of Manahari Rural Municipality working outside the Municipality
3. Children from adjoining rural municipalities who are working in Manahari Rural Municipality.

1. Child Protection Mechanism strengthened and rolled out at Rural Municipality level.
2. Decreased Child labour in Manahari Rural Municipality by providing need-based support
3. Increased knowledge and practice on “No child labour” in Community.