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A recent article by Ambika Pokhrel from the Insight on Conflict Blog about a training on collaborative leadership and dialogue on Women and Peacebuilding in the Eastern Terai.

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Youth & Community Peacebuilding

Transforming the Role of Youth in Nepal

Youth Participation in the Peace and Democratization Process in Eastern Terai

Youth & Community Peacebuilding

With the support of National Endowment for Democracy (NED), SFCG implemented a one year project in four districts in the eastern Terai – Siraha, Saptari, Dhanusha and Mahottari, in partnership with a local non-governmental organization, Samagra Jana Utthan Kendra (Samagra). The project was aimed at supporting young people by providing alternatives to violence and creating channels for them to be engaged in local community decision making and development. It consisted of a process of engaging youth groups and local officials in dialogue, and eventually facilitating them to work cooperatively to address root causes of conflict in their communities.

The final project evaluation conducted by an external evaluator reported concrete evidence of the change at personal and relationship level. There are many examples that show that youth have changed their attitude and behavior after the training that was conducted by SFCG and its local partner Samagra. The changed attitudes and behaviour have further led to various community actions that are beneficial to the community at large. The evaluation also shows that the youth in SFCG's working VDCs are involved in collective actions in their communities in ways that promote relationships across dividing lines, whereas youth from the non-working VDCs expressed that they don't have the knowledge and skills needed to engage with youth from across dividing lines, and also that they are not very concerned about problems in their communities. Several of the youth clubs involved with SFCG took initiatives to engage youth who had been involved in armed groups, to instead become involved in peaceful youth club activities. Informal discussions with the youth clubs revealed that they have been able to get at least 20 youth who have been part of armed groups to join their youth clubs/ networks, and are now positively engaged in community peacebuilding. Local youth clubs are also in the process of developing their youth clubs into a network that becomes a registered institution10 youth clubs from Siraha district have come together and formed the Youth Network for Peace and Development, Siraha. They have also completed a formal registration of the network in the district administration office.

In addition to the personal level and relationship level changes, the project also affected some changes at the structural and cultural level. Especially, providing training and engaging with the local decision-makers has helped to a greater extent for realizing the importance of youth participation for peacebuilding at local level. The evaluation found some examples where the local authorities have started to see youth as resources and are starting to engage and provide support to youth. Similarly, there are examples of initiatives taken by youth clubs to bring conflicting parties together; help them analyse their conflict and find alternative solutions.

Transforming the role of youth in mid and far west

With the support from the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (BMFA), SFCG implemented the 'Transforming the Role of Youth in Nepal' project from June 1, 2009 to May 31, 2010. It principally targeted youth aged between 15 and 29 who had been directly involved in, and affected by, the armed conflict; while also engaging community leaders, local government officials, and decision makers at the community and district levels. Through a combination of a popular radio drama broadcasted nationally, and community level 'youth leadership for peacebuilding' programmes conducted in eight target districts - Bardiya, Dang, Salyan, Rukum, Rolpa, Achham, Kailali, and Bajura - the project built the capacity of the Nepalese youth to resist violence and increased their involvement in the positive development of their communities. The project was implemented in partnership with the Antenna Foundation Nepal (AFN) and local youth networks for peace and development.

SFCG Nepal implemented activities in two separate but integrated activity streams: 1) broadcast and production of a national radio soap opera focused on youth ( see section above on radio drama) ; and 2) community-based youth leadership workshops and dialogues including:

The programmatic evaluation carried out by external evaluators, report that

"Many of the SFCG programmes on youth and community peacebuilding have been able to develop a strong leadership base among youth in its working districts and promote their participation in decision making mechanisms at local level in most of the places it has worked. Many youth clubs which were limited to organizing sports activities SFCG and its partners have been able to develop the youth participating in their capacity building activities at multiplier youth at their community level to transform the skills on peacebuilding/conflict transformation and common ground approach to their peer groups and other community people including community elders and leaders."

Some of the findings highlighted by the final programmatic evaluation carried out during July-September 2010, by a team of evaluators led by Mr Tulsi Nepal are:

"The Youth Leadership and Peacebuilding Training (YLPBT) have been able to encourage youth to engage in community peacebuilding work through the youth clubs and networks existing in their communities."
"Many of the SFCG programmes on youth and community peacebuilding have been able to develop a strong leadership base among youth in its working districts and promote their participation in decision making mechanisms at local level in most of the places it has worked. Many youth clubs which were limited to organising sports activities SFCG and its partners have been able to develop the youth participating in their capacity building activities at multiplier youth at their community level to transform the skills on peacebuilding/conflict transformation and common ground approach to their peer groups and other community people including community elders and leaders."
"SFCG youth and capacity building program have worked to bring changes at the personal level of youth, local decision makers and media professionals. Most of the participants have changed their individual behavior and have initiated actions (community projects and media programs) towards building peace."

For a story on the program's success, click here.


Women Building Community Peace in the Eastern Terai

With support from the National Endowment of Democracy (NED), SFCG is starting a 12 month project titled Women Building Community Peace in the Eastern Terai. Addressing the fact that women in the Madhesi community rarely take part in community activities due to their socio-cultural situation, this project builds on the experience gained from the recently completed Youth Engagement in Nepal's Democratization Process project, also funded by NED, but shifts the focus to women. The project aims to empower women and girls to participate in peacebuilding processes, build the capacity and interest of local decision makers in promoting the role of women, and support women and girls to engage in dialogue and cooperation with youth groups and local government institutions.

An initial needs assessment has already been completed, providing direction for the project, and will be followed up with more focused research in the selected VDCs of the working districts. SFCG will conduct two four-day trainings on basic conflict analysis and peacebuilding tools and on leadership and women empowerment. A planned total of 50 women and girls from 4 districts will participate. In addition, there will be a regional workshop for selected participants to build linkages across districts. To reinforce the trainings, the participants will be encouraged to develop an action plan, to be supported by SFCG, to carry out local community peace building initiatives. A series of community based dialogue programs will bring youth, women and local decision-makers together to discuss community issues and the role of youth and women in community peacebuilding. Finally, SFCG will convene local decision makers for two day training on Gender Sensitivity and Peacebuilding.


Pathways to Peace (p2p): Civic Education and Leadership Development of Youth

SFCG and its partners are working to develop the skills of youth to participate effectively in democracy, to work together across dividing lines, to develop leadership skills in the next generation of leaders, and to play a role in the country that is supportive to the government's objectives of peace and development. This was part of the Pathways to Peace project funded by State Department of Democracy and Rule of Law. SFCG in partnership with Youth Initiative (YI) completed ten 5-day Civic Leadership Schools where 238 youth in total, from the security sector, student wings, civil society organizations, and business community actively took part. The training brought young people from urban and rural areas together on a single platform where they were able to meet the set objectives and activities outlined for the five-day training on civic education. The overall aim of the training was to convene youth from across various castes, class, political and ethnic lines, with an opportunity to build trust, teamwork and leadership skills as well as bring the young people together for cooperative actions. There are total of 25 leadership initiatives that these youth leaders took which contributed towards the creating social harmony and building blocks for democracy. SFCG and Youth Initiative also conducted 120 seminars in various colleges of ten strategic locations that were selected in early phase of the project. These seminars have been a popular among the students of these colleges SFCG and YI had to manage the overwhelming application for these seminars. The objective of these one-day seminars was to sensitize and increase the knowledge of youth/students on issues like democracy, peace and development, constitution making, rule of law and governance, as well as on other contemporary political and social issues such as youth contribution to the peace process, violence in colleges, reducing the impact of strikes/ bhand in college, Vision for Nepal as federal state, youth participation in decision making etc.


Youth Participation in Democratization Process (P2P)

SFCG in partnership with Youth Action Nepal (YOAC) and Association of Youth Organizations Nepal (AYON) brought together youth leaders from rural and urban areas including young CA members to discuss and solicit suggestion for the new constitution. During the project period, YOAC conducted 10 district level and 3 regional level meetings. Similarly, AYON conducted ten regional level meetings and one national level meeting. One of the significant outcomes of this process is the development and publication of a 'Nepalese Youth charter'. This is the broad document which covers the concerns of youth and role of state, political parties, and civil society that youth envision should play. The Youth Charter is widely discussed and accepted document among Nepali youth. The 'Youth Charter' is a compilation of the suggestions collected during district level and regional level consultations conducted over the project period. The compilation has been put together as a Youth Charter and has been widely discussed among the various youth leaders across the country so as to create shared ownership of the document.


Seed Grants Support to the Youth Clubs

SFCG and its partner organisations supported the youth clubs that have been trained in youth leadership and peacebuilding by disbursing small grants to support community development and peacebuilding initiatives. Support was provided, in kind for specific costs, via the partners, to the youth clubs for amounts reimbursable from NRS 10,000 to NRS 30,000. Participants elaborated action plans based on the skills they learned, which would then be further developed and implemented through their respective youth clubs. Youth clubs have organised various community dialogues and other peace initiatives based in their stipulated action plan during the workshop. All of these actions required cooperation with adult community members, government officials and youth groups themselves and geared towards contributing to building peace in the communities. SFCG through its local partner organisations then supported the implementation of these local initiatives.