reflections on nepal capacity 21 initiative - Department of Applied ...

3. Social DevelopmentWeekly CBO meeting inprogress, Okhaldhungacommunity. As they had limited resources, they had to first identify the most pressingneeds. Naturally, different people would have different priorities so they needed to learnnegotiation skills to reach a consensus. While asking for loans, they needed to convinceothers that their case was a genuine one and their business idea profitable. These practiceshelped both men and women make coherent plans and built their confidence. They learnedabout problem solving if and when unforeseen issues cropped up during the activityimplementation.22In the meetings, they also talked aboutdevelopment and learned to identify thetrade-offs. As mentioned earlier, all theirneeds could not be satisfied with the limitedfunds at community's disposal. They wouldthen realise that only a few projects couldbe undertaken; so they tried to make surethat the ones that would benefit morecommunity members were approved. Inthe groups, there were men and womenfrom different economic conditions, castes,religions, cultures, etc. Their continued andactive association contributed towards socialharmony and respect towards diversity. Inaddition, many under-privileged groups also formed CBOs. For example, former bondedlabourers established a CBO of their own in Kailali. One community forest was also handedover to this CBO.In general, female CBOs were the most active followed by mixed and male CBOs respectively.It was also observed that female CBO members were more honest and took theirresponsibilities very seriously. There was also a general impression that the loan repaymentrate among the female CBOs was higher.The declaration of the state of emergency and escalation of the conflict from 2001 onwardshas adversely affected the social mobilisation activities. The CBOs needed to work outBox 3: Insights about social mobilisation process during emergencyAccording to Khumakanta Pandey and KedarPrasad Adhikari, Chairperson and Managerrespectively of Gyan Jyoti CBO of Dang, their CBOheld regular meetings and always collectedsavings, even during the state of emergency. Butthe format changed after the state of emergencywas imposed. The CBO decided to have twomeetings in a month instead of weekly ones.Savings amount for two weeks were collected inthose meetings. Earlier, they conducted meetingsin public places but during the emergency it wasdone inside a member's house. The best part wasthat neither the army nor the insurgents perceivedthe CBO as a threat. This was because the CBOwas able to convince both sides that it wasinvolved in welfare activities which benefited thewhole society and not just a few people. The CBOmembers even talked with the Maoists on a regularbasis and updated them about their activities.Because of these factors, they were able to raiseRs. 57,500 for the Community Fund and alsomobilised Rs. 140,000 of the Credit Capital Fund.Teja Basnyat, Devithan Women CBO of Dang feelsthat the state of emergency affected her CBOadversely as most of its members left the district,many seeking employment outside Nepal. Thoughthey were also not able to conduct meetingsregularly, savings were collected every month tomaintain the CBO and keep it active. For thosemembers who were away, their family memberspaid the due amount.