Projects

FEDO’s current projects are as follows:

Equal Access of Dalit Women to Health Services (EADWHS)

Dalit Empowerment Project
The Dalit Empowerment Project (DEP) was conducted in the Lalitpur and Doti districts covering more than 30 VDCs. During the project operation, approximately 3,770 people directly and 28,877 people indirectly benefited from the 17 activities that have been carried out thus far.

Specific activities undertaken include trainings on health and sanitation, social literacy follow up, business literacy classes, bookkeeping monitoring, and the construction of water supply and irrigation infrastructure.

Inclusion of Dalit Women in the Democratic Process
This project aims to enhance political participation of Dalit women by mobilizing networks and alliances at central and local levels. It hopes to make the government and political parties more responsible in including Dalit women and Dalits at all levels through concrete and coordinated efforts.

This project was launched at a time when the country was moving toward democracy by electing members to the Constituent Assembly and the interim legislature promised to reserve 33% of seats to women at all levels.

Promotion of Dalit Women’s Human Rights
This project aims to protect and promote Dalit women's human rights through awareness campaigns and advocacy efforts to enhance the capacities of Dalit women to claim their rights against caste and gender discrimination. The specific objectives include: enhancing Dalit women leaders activism among the Dalit communities at regional and national levels with a special emphasis on Dalit women's human rights; conducting effective social action/education and awareness programs to bring changes in people’s perception, stigma and attitudes about caste and gender discriminations; and enhancing FEDO’s organizational capacity to sustain these efforts. FEDO will implement this project at the national level as well as with one district in all the regions: Makwanpur district of the Mid region, Kaski district of the Western region, the Banke district of the mid west region and the Kanchanpur district of the Far west region. Activities in this project include: public education and awareness raising campaigns, advocacy to stop violence against Dalit women, training (on human rights, women's legal rights and the training of trainers), support to victims (case filling and documentation), and exposure visits, such as allowing Dalit women to discuss their challenges with women from other communities.

Coalition of Constitutional Assembly Support
FEDO is one of nine different NGOs working as a coalition on this project which is being implemented in all 75 districts of Nepal. FEDO’s geographic areas of responsibility (a total of nine districts) are in the mid-western and far-western regions of the country. The objective of the project is to define and address issues affecting marginalized people and present these to the Constituent Assembly (CA) for inclusion in the constitution they are forming. Within the districts’ VDCs, FEDO will first train trainers who will then coordinate and facilitate each community’s agenda for reform. Using these agendas, the trainers will then conduct district level workshops with stakeholders, including CA members, NGOs, and other representatives of civil society, to gain their commitment to the cause and a district reform agenda. All inputs will then be merged into one national manifesto at a national level workshop and this final document will then be presented to the CA.

Global Fund for Women
This ongoing project adds onto FEDO’s other work by providing opportunities for capacity building and institutional development support to FEDO.

Yasuda Literacy Fund
This three-year project aims to improve literacy among Dalit women in the Accham district in the Far-Western part of Nepal and in the Surkhet district located in the Mid-Western part of Nepal. Trainers will be trained to conduct social literacy classes and teaching aids, methodology, and a teaching manual will also be developed. A total of 18 social literacy classes will be undertaken in the project during which the Dalit women participants will learn about women’s rights, human rights, and social mapping in addition to acquiring writing and reading skills.

Participation of Dalit Women on the Peace Building Process through the Constituent Assembly
This project will empower local Dalit women and help identify potential Dalit women leaders who can represent their communities and educate others about their rights, the democratic election process, and the importance of their participation. The local issues of Dalit women will be linked to FEDO’s national advocacy strategy. FEDO will lobby for the meaningful participation of Dalit women in the Constituent Assembly and peacebuilding process as well as to ensure that local government and civil society reserve a certain percentage of employment opportunities for Dalits and women.