Sikka
Sikka is a digital tool that facilitates cash and voucher assistance programmes by distributing digital tokens to beneficiaries through a blockchain technology. The tokens can be exchanged for cash or goods at participating merchants, financial cooperatives, or relief centers. SIKKA’s digital tokens are transferred through SMS text messaging. Blockchain transactions are transparent and trackable allowing aid agencies to deploy this last mile distribution tool even in fragile contexts. The system has been used to assist 92,788 people during the Covid-19 response. KITAB Bazar It is a cutting-edge online marketplace that enables results-based financing as a solution to improve access to supplementary reading materials in schools. The platform simplifies the entire process of selecting, ordering and purchasing books for children in coordination with key stakeholders like municipalities and private publishing houses, which proved quite relevant in covid operational context. KITAB Bazar has served 53,412 children in 831 community schools by providing 133,008 supplementary reading books in local languages through the platform. With an intention to share the resources and deliver public service at a better value through KITAB Bazar, the platform was handed over to the private sector in April 2022. Participatory Disaster Risk Assessment (PDRA) The development of a digital platform for participatory disaster risk assessment at household level and vulnerability classification along with a facility to generate household disaster preparedness and response plans (HDPRP) is an innovative initiative undertaken by WVI Nepal under the USAID TAYAR project, implemented at Lamkichuha Municipality-9 in Kailali district in 2021. After effectively deploying the data collection tool (the PDRA mobile application) for survey of more than 1,700 households in the ward, along with data collection of community resources/infrastructure using a team of locally trained enumerators, the PDRA tool was used for vulnerability assessment of households. PDRA is a set of tools which assess the household and community level existing hazards, disaster risks, vulnerability, resources and capacities, and identifies the plans to mitigate, prevent and manage their impacts at household and communities level. Supported by USAID, PDRA works by assessing the household and community level existing hazards, disaster risks, vulnerability, resources, capacities and identifies the plans to mitigate, prevent and manage the disaster’s impacts at household and communities level. Social plastics In Nepal 16 percent of urban waste is plastic, totaling 2.7 tons of daily plastic waste production with Kathmandu alone using around 4.8 million plastic bags as of 2018. Micro plastics have been found in the snow and stream water samples in remote regions of Mt. Everest. WVI Nepal has been exploring the possibilities of reducing plastic waste found in communities, focusing on creating livelihood related opportunities by innovatively co-creating with different stakeholders to create the right value propositions. In the past, WVI Nepal has designed products such as the squat latrine pans and floor tiles, that were made of a mixture of 60 percent sand and 40 percent PET plastic that were gradually heated up and compressed into a mold to take the shape of the final product. The mold was created to be flat packed for transportation to remote areas. Similarly, with the onset of the covid pandemic, to support WVI Nepal’s covid response, exploration of products ranged from 3D printed bag valve mask (BVM) Ambu Bag mechanical respirators, to phone holders, to mask hooks for children. The initiative has resulted in repurposing waste plastics to produce low cost and durable materials such as thermal insulation for schools and health centers during emergency, and high strength bricks for housing and squat latrines for vulnerable households and communities. These products have proven vital in supporting and providing relief to the most vulnerable communities in Nepal.
