Project activities carried out in districts

Human Rights Advocacy Project in Doti

Background: - FEDO has been working in Doti district since February 2001 to reduce discriminatory perceptions and bring Dalits in development mainstream. Human rights and advocacy project in the district implemented by targeting four VDCs namely Ranagaon, Medegaon, Pachnali and Tijali. It has own working strategy and approaches to achieve goal and objectives and set activities to avoid social discrimination into the society. The major program activities and its achievements on details during the project are as follows.

A. Education:

FEDO ‘s one of most important objective is to increase Dalit women literacy rate. FEDO run non-formal education literacy classes to the Dalit women and girls. These classes provide educational opportunity to the Dalit women and girl, who have missed out from the formal schooling education. These non-formal literacy classes allow Dalit women to increase their knowledge and awareness of development issues and confidence building within Dalit women. Out of School children classes are running to encourage Dalit children to enroll in formal schooling. FEDO also helps Dalit student to improve the quality education by providing scholarship, which assist to achieve the secondary school education and train in vocational skill development.

B. Advocacy:

FEDO’s mission is to reduce caste and gender discrimination from the society to establish equitable society. To fulfill this objective FEDO runs various awareness raising programs and do advocacy in the decision making and policymaking level with judiciaries and development planner. FEDO tries to raise awareness among Dalit and Non Dalits, religious leaders, school teachers, political representatives and bureaucrats regarding caste discrimination in society through Legal Rights training, Behaviour Change Sensitization training, Workshops, coordination meeting etc. FEDO will advocate for active representation of Dalits in development process and Dalit rights at all levels in order to bring changes in lives of Dalit.

FEDO also advocate implementation of action research for reducing discriminatory consciousness and also makes awareness in legal rights through training and workshops. Action research will be initiated in order to influence policies of the government and non-government organizations. The finding of the action research will be shared to raise awareness and make capable in advocacy for Dalit rights. Government, FEDO and other NGOs will be made aware of Dalit issues and needs. Study visits, training, information, education and communication campaign will be initiated to advocate framework of Dalit upliftment.

C. Income Generation Activities:

One of the major components of FEDO is economic empowerment program. Dalit’s economic condition is vulnerable as compare with Non Dalit people. FEDO takes this program as sustainability of advocacy program. Without any active income generating programs, economic vulnerability could not be reduced. So, FEDO has planed to form the Women groups and provide them seed money to invest in small-scale economic activities. During the literacy class women groups will be formulated. Saving and Credit management training and exposure tour will be managed to empower Dalit women in field of economic empowerment activities. Group formation is not only to empower Dalit women in economic empowerment but they will be activated for getting their rights as pressure group too. In this view, Dalit women groups will be strengthened to be achieved our development objective (Goal).

Achievement: -

1. Education Program

1.1 Basic Literacy Class:

Basic Literacy Class mainly focuses on the literacy and functional life skills to be acquired by the women of 15 – 45 years. Women will acquire literacy skills. Women will take action to solve their problems by analyzing their situations and identifying problems and solutions.

Ten centers of Basic Literacy Class have conducted within 4 VDCs of the project area. Total 235 Dalit females were initially enrolled and completed class this year.

1.2 Advance Literacy Class:

As per the program plan, we have conducted 14 Advance literacy classes to 292 Dalit women in targeted VDCs. Most of the participants are those who have already graduated from the basic literacy class. This program provided literacy knowledge and practical knowledge to the women. In addition to this, it is functional education program, which can support to organize and empower the women participants for involving development activities. Initially we conducted the facilitators training regarding this program with aim to provide them skill and methodology to conduct the class smoothly.

1.3 Scholarship to the school going Children:

Total 24 Dalit students are getting scholarship among them 14 are boys and 10 girls from various school in the target VDCs. The scholarship is provided on installment basis first and final during the academic session. The lower secondary and secondary level students are getting facilities by this scholarship program. During this year we distributed last installment of this academic year to the scholars.

1.4 Vocational training:

FEDO has vocational training program to provide the vocational skill to the Dalit youths in this project. Total seven girls and boys received scholarship support by this program in which two girls and five boys in the different faculties, CMA and ANM. According to training institute all the students have completed the course and appeared the final examination. They are now involving in practical on the job training. They are in the different hospital and primary health care center for practical training.

The namelist of students who are trained in vocational education as follows.

1.5 Tin Trunk library:

After completion of the literacy program both BLC and ALC, we have planed to provide them tin trunk library to the participants. It supports and makes continue of their literacy activities and encourage them to upgrade their literacy knowledge and skill. We provided the Tin Trunk Box to maintain the books and education materials. We distributed 12 Tin Trunk libraries for the 12 centers during this year. This program benefits approximately 300 female.

1.6 Dalit sensitization training:

It is also most important activity under the advocacy component to fulfill the stated objective. Four Dalit sensitization training have been conducted during this year. This program has benefited total 130 including 82 male and 48 female. Particularly this program focused to change the discriminatory practices through the community people. Schoolteacher, VDC representatives, religious leaders, Dalit activist and non- Dalit men and women participated in the training. The main objective of this training is to aware the community people at all aspects particularly against caste and gender discrimination. The major course contents included human rights, historical background of the Dalit and its definition, Dalit rights and access on resources, discrimination in organizational development activities, and its solutions, women rights, caste and gender discrimination and its remedies, laws in the country etc.

2 Advocacy:

2.1 Legal rights training:

Total Four legal rights training conducted during this year in various times in the Village Development Training Center Punna Doti. This training has benefited total 112 having 49 male and 63 female. VDC representatives, schoolteachers, women group’s representatives, and Dalit activist participated in this training. The main objective of the training was to aware the Dalit community about legal provisions of punishment in the constitution and civil code against discriminatory system. The major course contents included Human rights, Domestic violence, Women rights, and women’s property rights, trafficking, civil rights, caste discrimination and its remedies provided by the laws in the country.

2.2 Community Level advocacy workshop:

It is also important activity pertaining to this project. We have completed two community level workshops this year. Total 135 participants were participated in the workshop among them 40 male and 95 female. VDC chairpersons, wards representatives, religious leaders, school teachers, club representatives, Dalit activists were actively participated workshop and they discussed on the root causes of the caste discrimination and its effect on the development process. The major achievement of this are: Dalit people have formed committee against various type of discrimination. Dalit peoples don’t accept to consume carcus (Sino) and not to throw out it without wage.

2.3 District level advocacy workshop:

One district level advocacy workshop was conducted in Silgadhi, Doti. Total 142 participants including 65 male and 77 female participated in the workshop. Participants from four VDCs’ community members, political leaders, district government line agency representatives, NGOs/INGOs representatives were invited and participated in the program. Various guests highlighted the Dalit problems and its solutions in the program. Group discussion was also done to find out the present Dalit problems and its solutions. All the divided groups presented their problems, solutions and commitment.

2.4 Pressure group formation:

We lunched the legal rights training, Dalit sensitization training, advocacy workshop, and interaction activities under this project. This program has been assistance to raise the awareness and internalize the Dalit issue and people against discrimination into the society. It made unity to bring the hidden issues and improvement in the traditional believes as well as the bad habits within the Dalit community. It has enforced to make the collective voice and unity

Community radio is the most popular media of Nepal and also remains as the easy means to inform the rural people about what is happening in the country. That’s why FEDO started broadcasting a radio program‘SAMANTA’ from August 2003 through Dipayal, regional broadcasting service. We have transmitted 10 episodes of SAMANTA’ by this year. The radio program has played an important role to create awareness among the rural people about the different segment of the society with a respect each other. In fact, the radio program was not just for Dalit community, but for all levels of the society. Therefore having such positive experience FEDO is ready to broadcast continuously another series of episodes with the help of HUGOU. Considering the project goal FEDO in Doti will transmit a total of 2 episodes (twice every month). The duration of program is 15 minutes. The theme of episodes will include social exclusion, education, Dalit women’s rights, traditional occupation, intercaste marriage etc. Further, the program will focus on interviews, field reports, radio drama, and news. With certain level of possibility the radio program will be designed/developed incorporating others’ experience also. This radio program will encourage radio listeners to send their reactions and their feedback. This feedback will be incorporated in the regular radio episodes. The radio program is a very effective tool on media to raise the unseen issues in the remote area.

3. Income Generation Program:

3.1 Saving and Credit Group Formation:

Economic conditions of Dalit women are very low and have less opportunity in economic/income generation activities. FEDO formed saving and credit groups from graduate women of BLC to mobilize the saving and credit program. To empower the group members in saving and credit, fund channelization, mobilization and utilization of resources has been doing. We have 12 women groups having 231 Dalit women members.

3.2 Saving and Credit management training:

We conducted two saving and credit management training in Village Development Training Center, Puna – Dipayal during this year. Total 55 women group members were participated in the training from the ten women groups. The main objective of the training was to make aware on local fund generation and group mobilization and management in saving and credit activities. The major topics of this training were saving management, role and responsibilities of group members, loan investment and repayment procedure, leadership, group assessment, development etc.

3.3 Book keeping training:

Three book keeping training conducted during this year. Total 65 women participated from the saving and credit groups. The training was conducted in the Village Development Training Center, Punna. The main objective of this training was to provide the accounting knowledge simply and group management skills to run group activities at local level. The major course content are, introduction of the group, policy and rule, saving, credit and its advantage, seed money utilization, record keeping and its process, meeting, communication coordination, introduction of cooperative and leadership etc.

Community interests and demand:
As per community interests and our experience with the project, following activities have been realized to carry out in the future.

• Formation and strengthening of pressure group in VDC and district level to develop as CBOs
• Activation training to pressure group members
• Dalit sensitization training and street drama
• Exposure visits for pressure group and FEDO district chapter’s members, which makes dialogue and negotiation with planners and law makers from district to national level
• Vocation training to Dalit youths focus to Dalit youth girls
• Scholarship to both school and campus level Dalit students
• Publication of magazine at local level
• Support media advocacy for highlighting Dalit women issues
• Capacity building to Staffs and members: TOT on advocacy, project management training, facilitator and leadership training and exposure visit

Countering Violence Against Women in Doti:

FEDO is implementing a project to counter violence against women in five VDCs of Doti from October 1, 2003. Four of the VDCs where FEDO has existing programs, and Durgamandu will be a new project area. FEDO will carry out the following activities

Awareness raising: Collection, development, and dissemination of information, education and communication (IEC) materials, street dramas, community radio, rallies and public events and wall newspapers and notice boards.

Community mobilization: Formation and training of women’s groups, a sensitization workshop for Dalit activists, elected officials, bureaucrats, and law enforcement officers, couple training, and legal aid for victims of abuse.

Capacity building: Staff will receive training on gender issues and violence against women, counseling, and mediation skills.

Based on stated program, we have achieved following activities during this initial stage from October – December 2003.

Glimpse of activities carried out on Dalit Human Rights Advocacy Project in Doti.