Words from the Chief of Party, Civil Society: Mutual Accountability Project

I take immense pleasure in bringing to you yet another issue of the Civil Society: Mutual Accountability Project (CS:MAP) monthly newsletter. I sincerely hope that this eighth issue will help us to reflect upon activities and achievements from the month gone by (May 2018), share with and learn from one another, cherish the collective results that we have achieved this far, and aspire to do more towards advancing the Nepali public interest. As with the earlier issues, we anticipate that you will enjoy going through this edition, and provide feedback in making future editions even more interesting and fruitful. Happy reading! Bishnu Sapkota Chief of Party, CS:MAP; Country Director, FHI 360 Nepal

Strengthening the Enabling Environment for Civil Society and Media Organizations in Nepal

Training on Right to Information for Public Information Officers Freedom Forum organized a three-day provincial-level training workshop on Right to Information (RTI) for Public Information Officers (PIO) from May 24-26, 2018 in Bhaktapur. A total of 24 participants (4 female) from different local levels got trained on the importance of RTI Act, policies and provisions for maintaining transparency and accountability in the public agencies. The Chief Information Commissioner along with the experts from Freedom Forum facilitated the training which covered the concept, meaning, principles, rights and duties of Information Officers, importance and utility of RTI, proactive disclosure mandated by law, process of handling information requests, and RTI as a tool for promoting good governance in local governments. Sixty percent of the participants represented local governments and the remaining represented District Administrative Office, District Coordination Committee, District Health Office,

District Postal Service and District Election Commission Office from Kathmandu, Bhaktapur, Lalitpur, Dhading, Gorkha, Rasuwa and Nuwakot districts.

Open Government Partnership Roundtable Meeting in Nepalgunj

On May 15 2018, CS:MAP organized a roundtable among major stakeholders in Nepalgunj, to discuss the concept of Open Government Partnership (OGP). The concepts of accountability and transparency, the role of civil society organizations (CSOs) and citizen oversight of governance, and importance of collaboration among major stakeholders were discussed as the basic pillars of OGP in promoting open and effective local governance. Thirty (male-24, female-5 and other 1) people

June 2018

Issue 8 CS:MAP Newsletter

Civil Society: Mutual Accountability Project

were in attendance representing CSOs, media, business community, youth, Muslim community, LGBTI community, lawyers and others.

In her opening address, the US Ambassador to Nepal, Alaina B. Teplitz highlighted the importance of collaboration between local governments and CSOs in the changed context, and the need for openness in building mutual trust. Senior anti-corruption advisor for USAID and OGP board member Victoria Ayer, talked about the importance of the use of technology for promoting openness and explained that Nepal was eligible to apply for OGP membership. Mayor, Dr. Dhawal Shamser Rana, expressed commitment to apply OGP principles in running the Nepalgunj sub-metropolitan city, including a strong collaboration with CSOs. A discussion on how different communities can collaborate to build synergy for promoting open local governments was facilitated by the FHI 360 Country Director, Bishnu Sapkota.

Interaction on Electoral Rights

On May 31, 2018, the National Election Observation Committee (NEOC) convened an interaction on ‘voter roll, citizenship and external voting’. This Kathmandu event with over 60 participants (18 female), included electoral experts, parliamentarians, civil society leaders, rights activists, academicians, researchers, resource partners, Electoral Observation Coordination Group (EOCG) members and journalists. The interaction chaired by NEOC’s chairperson – Surya Prasad Shrestha and with the honorable Chief Election Commissioner – Dr. Ayodhi Prasad Yadav as the chief guest, aimed to improve the electoral legal and administrative framework to guarantee universal equal suffrage to all Nepali citizens, living within and abroad. Constitutional expert – Kashi Raj Dahal, and former Chief Election Commissioner – Bhojraj Pokharel participated as special guests. Speakers dwelt on the need, importance,

complexities, feasibilities and associated pros and cons of oversees registration and voting, given that a significant portion of the Nepali population lived abroad for a variety of reasons.

Civil Society Session in Nepal Administrative Staff College Training

CS:MAP collaborated with the Nepal Administrative Staff College (NASC) to design and integrate a civil society component within their regular courses for government under-secretaries. Additionally, CS:MAP facilitated two separate sessions on

May 9 and May 16, 2018 as part of the month-long “Advanced Course on Governance and State Management”, mandatory for promotion to the joint secretary level. The key contents of the civil society component were the concept of civil society in democracy; strength of civil society in Nepal; self-regulation as a means of fostering trust and confidence for civil; role and importance of civil society in Nepal’s changed socio-political context; and collaboration between civil society and government. As a pioneer national level training institution for government employees, NASC will use the same resource material to facilitate a session on civil society for future course-takers. CS:MAP will also collaborate

with NASC to integrate this content in relevant courses for other levels.

Government Engagement for Effective Public Resource Use and Service Delivery

Common Assembly: a joint platform for service providers and service seekers

The Common Assembly meeting held in Bijayanagar gaunpalika, Ward number 2 of Kapilvastu district on December 20, 2017 discussed the governance issues related to health. The meeting deduced the need to construct a birthing center and felt the necessity for the transparent display of the list of free medicines, in accordance with government policy. Following this meeting, the Gugauli health post in-charge,

health-post management committee and the monitoring committee followed up on the construction work of the

birthing center, and helped to bring it into operation from April 8, 2018. Now, the women in the area are getting safe child-birth service from the birthing center. According to the

health-post in-charge, more than 13 new child-births have been successfully conducted at the birthing center from April 8 – June 7, 2018. Now, the health-post also displays the list of free medicines for public viewing.

An initiation of CA to return ambulance to Health post of Gorkha The Common Assembly (CA) helped to bring back an ambulance, which the health-post in-charge had illegally rented out to a private individual, to the Shahid Lakhan gaunpalika health-post. The locals are now hopeful that they will be able to access ambulance services at a reasonable cost, a service they paid highly for to private providers. SOCH Nepal identified this issue in a social audit conducted on April 11, 2018, to oversee effectiveness of service delivery by the health-post. The audit revealed that the health-post in-charge had been renting out the ambulance since the last three years without consulting the health-post management committee. With the initiation and intervention of the CA and the Ward chair, the health-post in-charge was recently made to return the ambulance to the health-post. The CA members have been actively taking steps for enhancing effectiveness of public service delivery and making public service providers accountable for ensuring their rights.

LDAG contribute to awareness raising on sanitation

The Khaptad Listening Discussion and Action Group (LDAG) in the Gauriganga municipality in Kailali district visited the

Ward No. 8 office to seek information on budget allocation for health services and other health

related programs. The Khaptad LDAG initiated this meeting upon listening to a Sajha Boli radio episode which focused on local health services and how challenges can be overcome in coordination and partnership with the government service providers and officials. Representative members from the Khaptad LDAG also participated in a one-day interaction on ‘Malaria Reduction Program’ organized by the District Public Health Office and Gauriganga municipality. Following the interaction, the

LDAG conducted a sharing meeting within its team and decided to act for malaria reduction and discussed possible efforts for prevention. The LDAG coordinated with other local groups like child clubs, female community health volunteers, mothers’ groups and students and led community sanitation programs in nine settlements of Ward No. 8 of Gauriganga municipality. Additionally, in coordination with the local Ghodaghodi Sanskritik Natya Samuha (cultural group) the LDAG members organized street dramas to raise awareness on prevention, control and treatment of malaria, with the primary message – ‘prevention is better than cure’. The LDAG is continuing its efforts with the municipality in leading actions on other social issues as well.

Public Hearing in Bhatauli Ramechhap HURADEC collaborated with Manthali municipality to conduct a public hearing on earthquake related reconstruction in Manthali, Ramechhap on May 19, 2018. Ward chair Sudarshan Prasai, Ward secretary Shyam Kishor Saha, and principal of Rudraksheswar secondary school Dhurba Mainali were respondents in the public hearing that focused on households missing from beneficiary list despite their houses being damaged or destroyed; and irresponsible behavior of technical staff responsible for recommending second instalments of housing grants. The public hearing was successful in bringing current challenges to the attention of service-providers and in soliciting their commitment at a public forum for revisiting beneficiary lists and ensuring that the names of genuine beneficiaries were added and that the process of service delivery was made more efficient and systematic. Public Expenditure Tracking (PET) of Scholarship for Kamlaharies In coordination with the District Education Office (DEO), the Ward office and the school management committee (SMC), RWDC used the public expenditure tracking (PET/s) tool to assess the effectiveness of government provided scholarships for freed Kamlaharies at Shree Ganga Higher Secondary and Dadangaun Gogle School in Laxmipur, Dang. Prior to implementing PET/s, RWDC conducted an orientation about PET/s and its importance with the school

management committee and teachers and discussed the current status of the scholarship distribution. RWDC also

analyzed the policy provision for such scholarship distribution before implementing the tool. In implementing, RWDC collected documents related to scholarships from the schools, DEO and the Freed Kamlaharies Development Federation (FKDF). Findings of PET/s revealed that the DEO transferred the scholarship budget of NRs. 24,800 to the schools in BS 2074-08-16 which the schools received in BS 2074-09-10 (after about 24 days). Eleven beneficiary Kamalaharies received this scholarship only after five months, and due to poor communication, were unaware of this scholarship. A focus group discussion conducted with Kamlahari students, DEO officials, the school principals and the SMC identified a lack of coordination and communication between the different stakeholders in the scholarship disbursement process; a lack of transparency in the selection process; and the need for the principals and SMC members to play a more active role. The respective stakeholders have expressed commitment to improve upon gaps identified with RWDC agreeing to share detailed findings with the DEO, Ward offices and the schools in the first week of June 2018.

Engaging youth in the local level planning process through the SMS My Voice campaign CS:MAP launched the fourth SMS My Voice (SMV) campaign in April 2018 calling for youth participation in the ongoing local level planning process. SMV is a semi-annual campaign targeted at engaging youths in interactions with local authorities, elected leaders and policy makers at the local level on various issues such as addressing anti-corruption, promoting right to information, public service oversight and other related issues. Through Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system and SMS service, the participants in this campaign can share their concerns on related issues and the related actions taken by them.

“We collaborated with Prithvi Youth Club to organize a felicitation program for the elected local representatives where we ensured that they abide by all the commitments they promised us during the election campaigns. We also requested the Ward chairperson to make all information about the budget transparent.” [(Listening Discussion and Action Group (LDAG) facilitator, Pragatisheel LDAG, Bardiya]

The campaign is promoted through Sajha Boli and Saathi Sanga Maanka Kura radio programs, and through the CS:MAP outreach activities. Over

4,000 youth have participated in these campaigns so far. Some exemplary actions taken by youth

includes collaboration with elected local representatives to

ensure transparency and accountability at the local level, and community level awareness programs against corruption.

The fourth SMV campaign with the title ‘म भाग लिन्छु’ (translated as: I will participate) encourages youth to participate in

the ongoing planning process both as means of oversight

and ensuring that youth concerns are included in

planning. Over 400 youth have participated in this fourth

campaign as of May 2018. The responses shared by the

participants in this campaign shows their commitment to

participate in the planning process, and also their

willingness to encourage more female members’ participation in it. This campaign will conclude in September 2018.

Capacity Building of CSOs and Media

Second Round Advocacy Readiness Index (ARI) Assessments

To enhance capacity for leading advocacy efforts, three CS:MAP ISOs led the second round of ARI assessments of 14 CSOs. In May 2018 ARIs were conducted with Samudayik Sarathi, RWDC, HRPLSC and DEC Nepal. The ARI assessments of the remaining CSO partners will be completed by mid-June 2018. Preliminary findings indicate a health increase in ARI scores.

2.18

2.1

2

2.151.15

2.14

2.3

2…

2.8

2.6

2.7

2.8

2.6

2.9

0

1

2

3Governance

Administration

HumanR.Management

FinancialManagement

OrganizationManagemtent

ProgramManagement

ExternalRelation

Comparative Chart of OCA

2017 2018

“If local representatives from our community are engaged in corruption, we youth should take action. We have been meeting them when we go to the Ward offices, and ensure that they are aware that we watch them,” (Manisha Joshi, Kanchanpur)

“I am Haridatta Sharma. In order to stop locally elected representatives from engaging in corruption, I can interact with them, invite them for discussion program where youth like us can ask them for their commitments to remain transparent and accountable”.

As part of the capacity building plan for improving internal governance among CSO partners, CS:MAP ISO partners (MITRA Samaj, NEPAN and NNSWA) completed organization capacity assessment (OCA) of 14 CSOs in April and May 2018. The assessments were conducted in seven domains (Governance, Administration, Human Resources Management, Financial Management, Organization Management, Program Management and External Relations) and 39 sub-domains including a new domain on Conflict Sensitivity and Do No Harm. This round of assessment aimed to compare findings that emerged from the first round OCA conducted from April to June 2017 (refer to the comparative chart).

GESI in CS:MAP Local Structures In May 2018, GESI assessment of CS:MAP local structures including the Common Assembly (CA), Public Private Working Group (PPWG) and Listening Discussion and Action Group (LDAG) were carried out. It is the role of the CA to ensure that the needs of women and marginalized communities are prioritized while discussing the issues of public resource use and public service delivery. At present, CAs consist of 42.6% women and 47.9% Janajatis and marginalized group members. The prioritization of the

needs of women and marginalized groups, whether it be with regard to access to post-earthquake relief and reconstruction grants, or access to health and birthing facilities, have emerged as some of the most discussed issues. CAs across all 34 districts played an active role during the Ma Bolchhu Campaign to observe the International Women’s Day. In LDAGs, a remarkable 57% of members are women among which more than 90% are youth (below 30 years). The primary aim of the LDAG is to conduct regular listening sessions of radio program episodes followed by active,

participatory and facilitated discussion on the information, messages and knowledge imparted through the episodes to finally lead to some form of action aimed at improving local governance. The LDAG members have started to visit their local public offices and use social accountability tools (citizen charter, RTI) as a means of carrying out monitoring and oversight of public resources use and service delivery.

For PPWG, it has been challenging to include women and representatives from marginalized groups since the members are already from district-level networks of

government officials, public institutions, CSOs, media networks, donors, citizens, and representatives of private institutions already holding certain positions. Thus only 17% of PPWG members are women and 20% represent marginalized groups. The agenda and discussions held at the PPWG will be assessed in the upcoming months.

For Further Information Contact:

Civil Society: Mutual Accountability Project (CS:MAP) | FHI 360 Nepal

GPO Box 8830, Gopal Bhawan, Anamika Galli, Baluwatar, Kathmandu, Nepal

Tel: 977.1.4437173 | Fax: 977.1.4117475

Web: https://www.fhi360.org/countries/nepal

Types of forum

Caste/Ethnicity

Brahmin/Chhetri

Janajati

Newar

Marginalized group

CA (n=171

9)

47.9% 24.5% 4.1% 23.4%

LDAG (n=173

8)

45.6% 28.4% 4.0% 22.0%

PPWG (n=440)

65.5% 14.3% 4.8% 15.5%

Editorial team

Sajana Maharjan, Deputy Chief of Party, CS:MAP, FHI 360 Nepal Nirmal Rijal, Ph.D., Media Director, CS:MAP, Equal Access Khadga Ramtel, M&E Manager, CS:MAP, FHI 360 Nepal

This newsletter is made possible by the support of the American People through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents of this newsletter are the sole responsibility of FHI 360 and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.

42.6%57.0%

17.0%

57.4%43.0%

83.0%

CA (n=1719) LDAG (n=1738) PPWG (n=440)

Gender in Forum

Female Male