Women Building Community Peace in Eastern Terai
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Women Building Community Peace in Eastern Terai Project Evaluation Report Submitted by: Search for Common Ground Nepal Submitted to: National Endowment for Democracy (NED) Date of submission: 28 June 2012 Effective date and end date of grant: February 1st, 2011 – January 1st, 2012 Total amount of the grant: $39,940 USD NED Grant No. 2011-078 Contact information: Serena RixTripathee, Country Director Search for Common Ground Nepal P.O.Box 24905, Kathmandu, Nepal Tel: (00 977 1) 4002011 Email: [email protected] List of Abbreviations APM All Party Mechanism CA Constitution Assembly FGD Focus Group Discussion LDM Local Decision Maker LPC Local Peace Committee NED National Endowment for Democracy SFCG Search for Common Ground VDC Village Development Committee Table of Contents Executive Summary ............................................................................................................................................... 2 I. Introduction and Project Overview .................................................................................................................... 4 II. Evaluation Objectives ........................................................................................................................................ 5 III. Evaluation Scope and Methodology ................................................................................................................ 6 IV. Major Findings by Activity ................................................................................................................................ 7 A. Peacebuilding Training for Women Leaders/Networks ................................................................................. 7 B. Gender Sensitivity and Peacebuilding Training for Local Decision-makers .................................................. 10 C. Women-led Community Peacebuilding Initiatives ....................................................................................... 11 V. Reflecting on Results ....................................................................................................................................... 12 VI. Challenges ....................................................................................................................................................... 14 VII. Conclusions and Recommendations ............................................................................................................. 15 Annex 3: Women’s Groups Formed as a Result of the Project........................................................................... 20 Annex 4: List of Women-led Local Peacebuilding Initiatives (Most of the names of the groups are in Nepali) 21 Executive Summary In February 2012, Search for Common Ground (SFCG) concluded a 12-month pilot project entitled, Women Building Community Peace in the Eastern Terai. The project, funded by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), had the overall objective to strengthen the role of women and girls in the Eastern Terai to be a positive force for peacebuilding at the local level. The project was implemented in partnership with Samagra Jana Utthan Kendra (herein after called Samagra) in four districts including Saptari, Siraha, Dhanusha and Mahottari. The project involved three major activity components: (i) Women Leadership and Community Peacebuilding Training for Women Leaders/Networks; (ii) Training to Local Decision Makers on Gender Sensitivity and Peacebuilding; and (iii) Women-led Community Peacebuilding Initiatives. This report presents findings from the final project evaluation that was conducted from January 2nd – 7thand led by Mr. Shiva K. Dhungana, Program Advisor, with support from Meena Sharma, Senior Program Coordinator and Shradha Rayamajhi, Associate Research & Monitoring Coordinator. The evaluation was carried out in four districts - Dhanusha, Mahottari, Siraha and Saptari- where SFCG has operated since 2008. To evaluate the results, various methods were used, including, Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), Collection of Case Studies (CCS) and Field Observation (FO). All activities were implemented as planned, including district based research and engagement; leadership and peacebuilding training for women and girls; gender and peacebuilding training for local government officials; and women-led community peacebuilding initiatives. Overall, the evaluation found that the project was largely successful in achieving the desired results. More specifically, the leadership and peacebuilding trainings for women led to a greater understanding of the importance of women‟s leadership, their potential role in the community, knowledge and skills on conflict transformation and peacebuilding, specifically the basics of conflict analysis and win-win solutions, and the realization that they can be “change-makers” in society. Furthermore, in reference to their relationship with local decision makers (LDMs) and government agencies, the women participants are more aware of their roles and responsibilities with other community members, and how to engage them in understanding their rights. The „joint action plans‟ by LDMs and the women participants not only strengthened their relationship but they are now more receptive to women accessing local government resources and ensuring their participation in decision making mechanisms. Furthermore, the formation of women‟s groups bringing women from different castes, ethnic groups, religions and political affiliations, led to the creation of joint action plans that were presented to Village Development Committees (VDCs). This empowered women to voice their concerns in an organized and collective way and many of the women are now working with a broad range of actors like the government officials, civil society members, and political party representatives to advocate for women‟s access to the local decision making mechanisms. It also demonstrates the women‟s leadership capacities, traditionally considered „incapable of leadership roles‟ by many men in leadership positions and in doing so, their leadership capacities are now recognized by male leaders and VDC Secretaries who are inviting them to the local decision making meetings. The seed grant activities of the project have increased mobilization and recognition of women and girls at the community-level. A total of 1,080 women and girls have actively participated in those activities. The women were involved in peacebuilding activities, including peace rallies, art festivals, street dramas and debate competitions, and were able to bring large numbers of people together, including youth, women and government officials. They also generated 2 broader awareness among the critical mass about community harmony, empathy, reconciliation and coexistence. Despite the encouraging success, the project was not free from challenges, particularly from the existing social and cultural context in Terai which continues to impede women from stepping out of their household activities. Many women still encounter a lack of trust from their own family and the existing social and cultural boundaries that are hard to break. Furthermore, women are traditionally not allowed to go out of the house without Ghunghat (the use of a portion of Sari to cover their head) to conduct daily activities. More recently, many women can easily step out of their houses without Ghunghat and have been encouraged to join the women‟s groups by family members, reflecting a significant shift in the social dynamic. Even after providing women with leadership training and sensitizing the local decision making authorities, it was found that some of the VDC Secretaries did not change their behavior and they are still limiting their commitments to lip service only. The male leadership still prefers women‟s participation in symbolic terms and in many meetings women hardly participate in decision making even if they are allowed to be present. If women are to be empowered in real terms, they need to be supported with long term plans and continuous engagement. In a situation where the women and their families are not economically stable, income automatically becomes the first priority and trainings on other areas like leadership and peacebuilding becomes secondary for them. However, it was found that the participants used the leadership training to take new initiatives in income generation in some VDCs. The project has given new hope to the women participants in the Eastern and Central Terai and has shown them the boundless possibilities they are capable of. In addition to measuring the results of the project, the evaluation has drawn following recommendations based on the lessons learned. First and foremost, it is important that SFCG continues to engage women in democratization and development activities in order to sustain their efforts in building relationships with local leaders and get access to decision making mechanisms. Further intensive training on women leadership, peacebuilding and negotiation skills for larger number of women and local decision makers seems essential. Similarly, sensitizing more decision makers on gender dynamics, peacebuilding and women‟s role in democracy and development is vital in achieving SFCG goal of bringing women in decision making role. The most important thing that the women require at this stage is “exposure”. Because women have traditionally been limited in terms of access to the decision making process, they naturally lack much of the requisite knowledge, experience, and confidence for