Enhancing CSO Roles

Project Title: Enhancing CSOs roles as key development partners for climate resilient policies and practices in province 2

Duration of the Project: February, 2020-January, 2023

Funding Partner: Oxfam in Nepal/European Union (EU)

Project Coverage areas: – Chandrapur and Brindawan Municipality, Rautahat, Province 2

Target Beneficiaries: Women, Youth, People with disabilities, Dalit women, women with disabilities, human rights defenders and vulnerable groups from upstream and downstream communities.

Objectives: The population in target province and catchment areas benefit from improved climate governance by strengthening Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), ensuring the accountability of local government and enabling partnership for inclusive, and climate sensitive actions.

Outcomes

Outcome 1: Creating enabling working environment through meaningful collaboration and access to knowledge.

Outcome 2: Creating multi-stakeholder platform to promote meaningful and structured participation.

Outcome 3: Enhancing capacities of CSO/CBOS, and local government.

Outputs

Output 1: Improved awareness and shared knowledge.

Output 2: Activate local networks and strengthen productive collaboration.

Output 3: Strengthen capacity of CSOs/CBOs in technical knowledge and skills, fund raising and influencing.

Planned Activities:

Output 1:

• Mapping and capacity assessment of upstream/downstream CBOs/CSOs representing the target groups in relation to climate change and disaster risk reduction, agriculture and forestry sectors.
• Orient and sensitize the target groups, local governments, and elected representatives on existing local/national policies and priorities in climate change mitigation and adaptation, and sensitivity of the target groups to CC impacts.
• Conduct multi-stakeholder participatory climate vulnerability risk assessment of target
• Involve and engage CBOs and CSOs in climate change actors profiling and municipal adaptation planning (MAP)
• Build awareness of target groups through social media, youth networks, local cable networks, radio, print media, women rights groups and television, forum theatre.

Output 2:

• Activating participatory Disaster Risk Management Committee (DRMC) as a common platform to engage, contribute and implement decisions, climate financing, resource allocation and multi-stakeholders’ collaboration.
• Engage schools/students to sensitize, formulate groups and take action to promote DRR/CCA actions in school, home and wider community through climate campaign, discourse.
• Facilitate networking and coalition building of CBOs/ CSOs on climate change, inclusive action with marginalized groups, gender justice and youth empowerment.
• Support and facilitate inclusive and participatory multi-stakeholder dialogues for policy and plans formulation that addresses the rights and needs of target groups.
• Support to develop and implement live interaction mechanism between CBOs/CSOs and authorities of local and provincial governments to create environment to promote strategies for cooperation in planning, climate financing and implementation.
• Facilitate peer to peer learning process among and between different target groups.
• Promote the participation of decision-makers (provincial government, Mayors and their committee), local stakeholders and the target groups in mainstreaming, resource allocation, climate financing and initiate climate actions.

Output 3:

• Develop influencing and networking capacity of target groups and community members to raise issues/concern related to the impact of climate change and promote inclusiveness.
• Build capacity of target groups to identify and use climate-resilient livelihood options.
• Support social and economic development of target groups through access to micro-finance, crop insurance, cooperative-based job creation to improve coping capacity against climate impact
• Promote relevant technical training on ecosystem or nature-based approaches through action research in key sectors (I-forestry-group-plantation, reducing forest fire, bio-engineering, II) agriculture-flood & drought-tolerant crops, varieties, irrigation system and organic, III) DRR- mitigation and adaption measures).

Publications:

1. Mapping of CSOs/CBOs representing women, youth and marginalized groups, forest groups, farmers’ groups in municipality.
2. Vulnerability Risk Assessment Report (VRA)
3. Municipal Adaptation Plan (MAP)
4. Collection of Indigenous technology in farming, forestry, and in other climate resilient jobs

Research:

1. Impact of haphazard sand mining in downstream communities.
2. Impact of climate change in Agriculture, Forestry and Community.
3. Scoping study of River and its resources to identify deforestation patches and haphazard river trainings.

Project Implementation Methodologies:

• Meeting/Dialogues/Workshops
• Training/orientation/Mentorship/Peer-to-Peer learning
• School Campaign/Social media Campaign/Cross-visit
• Forum Theater
• Social Audit

Approach of Project implementation:

• Prioritizing women, youth and marginalized in all activities.
• Right based Approach
• Multi-stakeholder Approach
• Upstream and Downstream Approach
• Less and more experienced consortium members

Key Achievement:

• In collaboration with Palika, LDCRP was developed for Brindawan and Chandrapur Municipality.
• 31 local issues arising due to impacts of climate changes and disaster risks were identified.
• Preparedness and disaster risk management, climate change and COVID-19 awareness and advocacy were done through media mobilization and reached to approximately 250000 people.
• Created three inter municipal forum for members of local CBOs/CSOs (Agriculture, youth and Co-operatives) to share experiences, express ideas, and design strategies for action.
• Financing to 18 women and marginalized groups like Dalits/PWDs on climate-resilient business.
• Facilitated 19 inclusive and participatory multi[1]stakeholder’s dialogues at ward level for policy and plan formulation that address the rights and needs of the target groups
• Plantation was done in 0.57 hectare of school areas.
• Two cross-learning visits were organized, through it 54 CBOs members participated and learned about the upstream and downstream communities’ risk and opportunities and good practices.
• Improvement in Knowledge of 2200 Population and 102 local elected government representatives on Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation. Local level interaction between CSO/CBOs and elected bodies were organized, where 75 CBOs members raise the local climate resilient issues to be addressed.