Technical Assistance Consultant’s Report Project Number: 38059 January 2007 Nepal: Promoting Pro-Poor and Gender Responsive Service Delivery Project {(Financed by the <source of funding>)} Prepared by Lava Kumar Thapa For the Department of Women Development and Asian Development Bank This consultant’s report does not necessarily reflect the views of ADB or the Government concerned, and ADB and the Government cannot be held liable for its contents. TA 4353 NEP PROMOTING PRO-POOR AND GENDER RESPONSIVE SERVICE DELIVERY PROJECT Completion Report (16 June 2005- 30 November 2006) by Lava Kumar Thapa Project Advisor Report Prepared for the Department of Women Development and Asian Development Bank January 2007 List of abbreviations used ADB Asian Development Bank APF advance payment facility CBC Community Based Committee CBO Community-based Organization CCDC Chhahari Community Development Centre CLDP Community Livestock Development Project CPN-Maoist Communist Party of Nepal - Maoist CTRD Committed Team for Rural Development DADO District Agriculture Development Office DDC District Development Committee DLS Department of Livestock Services DLSO District Livestock Services Office DOA Department of Agriculture DWD Department of Women Development GMCC Gender Mainstreaming Coordination Committee GON Government of Nepal IFCD Indreni Forum for Community Development IGA Income-generating activity MLD Ministry of Local Development MOAC Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives MWCSW Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare NECS Nepal Environmental Conservation Society NGBK Nepal Gramin Bikash Kendra NGO Non-governmental Organization NRM Nepal Resident Mission NRs Nepalese rupees PA Project Advisor PIT Project Implementation Team PMC Project Management Committee PNGO Partner Non-Governmental Organization PRA Participatory Rural Appraisal PS Participation Specialist PSC Project Steering Committee PSDS Poverty and Social Development Specialist SOE statement of expenditure TA Technical assistance TOR Terms of reference US$ United States Dollars VDC Village development committee WDO Women Development Office WDOff Women Development Officer ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to extend my sincere thanks to Mr. Mahendra Prasad Shrestha, Director General, Department of Women Development for his strong support provided to Technical team during the eighteen months long implementation of this TA. From the starting period of TA implementation Mr. Keshab Regmi actively involved for the inter-agency coordination, Steering Committee meeting preparation, Inter-department MOU and Implementation Guidelines preparation. I am indebted to Mr. Regmi both for his friendly dealing and for his sound academic and managerial contribution to the TA implementation. Similarly, I am thankful to Ms. Devi Maya Ghimire, TA Focal point of DWD for her support to the TA. Cooperation received from ADB NRM staff mainly Mr. Govinda Gewali, Project Implementation Officer, Dr. Ava Shrestha, Gender and Development Specialist and Ms. Rajani Tuladhar, for continued support and backstopping is highly commendable. Sincere thanks also go to Ms. Kamala Sharma, Women Development Officer, Nawalparasi, Ms. Gita Mahat Women Development Officer Lamjung and their staff members for providing technical input and logistic to the TA team both at district and at the villages. District focal points Ms. Nirmala Poudel and Ms.Renu Nepali from WDO Lamjung and Ms. Meena Lama from WDO Nawalparasi for their active involvement both at the district and also during the field visit. TA team members; Mr. Surya Prasad Khanal- Participation Specialist, Ms. Neerala Tiwari- Poverty Specialist and Ms. Jenny McGill-Project Management Specialist (international Consultant) deserve special thanks for their active involvement to carry out their function in a team and support provided to me, implementing agencies, partner NGOs and community based organisations. In order to support smooth fund flow mechanism, Mr. Gautam Regmi (WDO-Nawalparasi) Mr. Tek Prasad Bhandari (WDO Lamjung) and Mr. Dhruba Thapa (DWD) supported by timely submission of SOE. They are thankful. Similarly, support provided from, Mr. Kamal Mani Acharya (Account Officer-DWD) and Mr. Madhu Sudan Shrestha (ADB NRM account officer) for the fund disbursement and liquidation are highly appreciated. The TA was a joint endeavour of DWD, DLS and DOA. I would like to thank Dr. Laxman Sherchand, PM-CLDP, Mr. Dala Ram Pradhan DG-DLS, and Dr. Dip Bahadur Swar DG-DOA for their active participation and generous effort to make the TA successful. Similarly, effort from district level PIT members and GMCC members are highly acknowledged for the generous effort of collaboration and monitoring of the TA activities. Logistic support from DWD and WDO staff are heartily appreciated. Mr. Prem Gurung-Peon WDO deserves special thanks for his accompanying during the field visit in Lamjung. Last but not least, 800 CBO members and 14 PNGOs of the TA districts have occupied a piece of my mind. They disclosed their personal setting to become target groups, and are thankful for their cooperation and friendship and patience for the IGA grant which was delayed due to several reasons. I owes for any omissions, misinterpretations and errors in the report. - Lava Kumar Thapa iii TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION................................................................................................... 1 A. Background ..................................................................................................................... 1 B. Terms of Reference ...................................................................................................... 2 II. IMPLEMENTATION SCENARIO AND INSTITUTIONAL LINKAGES...................... 4 A. Implementation Scenario ................................................................................................ 4 B. Institutional Linkages ...................................................................................................... 5 III. TECHNICAL AND FINANCIAL INPUTS .............................................................. 8 IV. ACTIVITY IMPLEMENTATION......................................................................... 11 V. LESSIONS LEARNED......................................................................................... 24 iv I. INTRODUCTION A. Background 1. The Technical Assistance for Promoting Pro-poor and Gender-responsive Service Delivery has been successfully piloted in Lamjung and Nawalparasi districts to explore ways to increase the meaningful participation of rural poor women and disadvantaged ethnic groups and castes. The TA implemented for eighteen months started on 16 June 20051 to 15 December 2006. The TA is financed through a grant of US$200,000 from ADB’s Poverty Reduction Cooperation Fund. The executing agency for the TA is the Department of Women Development (DWD) within the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare (MWCSW). The implementing agencies for the TA are the Women Development Offices (WDOs) in the two TA districts, Lamjung and Nawalparasi. TA implementation is guided by a Project Steering Committee (PSC) and Project Management Committee (PMC) at the central level, and by the Gender Mainstreaming Coordination Committee (GMCC) and Project Implementation Team (PIT) at district level. The TA had been designed as a follow-up to the Third Livestock Development Project (TLDP) which achieved substantial progress in reducing poverty through increased productivity of the livestock sub- sector in general and goat raising in particular. During TLDP, the District Livestock Services Office (DLSO) and the Women Development Office (WDO) cooperated in many ways for addressing gender issues in livestock management. The TA Project is complementary to the ADB assisted Community Livestock Development Project (CLDP), which aims to reduce rural poverty through gender-sensitive and socially inclusive development intervention in animal husbandry. 2. The goal of the TA Project is to institutionalise an approach to pro-poor and gender-responsive service delivery in agriculture and livestock sub-sectors. The purpose is to build the capacity of the concerned line agencies/local bodies (WDO, DLSO, DADO, DDC) as well as enabling community-based organizations (of ultra- poor women and deprived men), to undertake gender-friendly community actions. Specifically, the expected outputs of the Project are as follows: Quick impact producing homestead agricultural/livestock activities implemented Organizational capacity of community- based organizations enhanced Livelihoods of poor rural women and men improved through income generating activities Capacity to mainstream gender and poverty of line agencies and local bodies strengthened An approach that effectively promotes the participation of disadvantaged groups, while systematically mainstreaming gender, identified and tested. 1 With the recruitment of Project Advisor 1 3. Key activities supported by the TA include (a) building the capacity of the WDOs to mainstream poverty and gender concerns in sector programs and projects; (b) building the capacity of line agencies and local bodies in this area; and (c) improving the capability of CBOs through action learning. 4. The target group of the TA consists of women and populations belonging to disadvantaged ethnic groups and castes from the marginal and small-scale farming households, and landless families. More specifically, the target group of the Project has been defined as landless households or households